The Girls: Thank You XIV

My first teachers

The particular girls I have in mind are the three daughters of a former co-worker and a good friend. We met over ten years ago when they were 4, 7, and 8, and I was enlisted as a once-weekly after-school babysitter the next year. 

My first day babysitting was a joke. I was in my early 20s, and the oldest girl walked all over me. As she was climbing on the counter to obtain forbidden crackers from the top shelf, I remember repeating something I’d seen a babysitter say on TV — "I’m a huge tattletale!" She smirked at me and said, "No, you’re not!" She had my number.

As the kids grew, my job became less about watching the kids and more just hanging out with some cool people. Every bit of foundation I have as a teacher and as a parent comes from these three girls — they may not know it (or maybe they do), but I was learning way more from them than the other way ’round.

Now two are in college and they need me less than they once did, but I still admire them for accepting an unfamiliar avuncular character into their lives so thoroughly.

So, for today…

Thanks, girls!

I think we all need some outside kids in our lives. I’ve been lucky enough to have a lot, but these three were my first, and I’m grateful.

in A Month of Thank-Yous ·