Dear My Daycare Lady aka Other Mother aka Miracle Worker,
Where do I start? How do I properly thank someone for loving my children and treating them as your own?
I guess I should explain to our readers who you are and what you do. Simply put, Jesse is my everything. Yes, she’s my daycare provider but that doesn’t even begin to touch who and what she is to me and my family. She is the one who has watched both my daughters from the time they were 3 months old, and it was time for me to go back to work. She is the one who has watched me ugly cry and struggle horribly during the first week of drop-offs while trying to get readjusted. (Well for the first daughter, at least. The second one is a little wild, and I was ready to drop her off. Kidding. Kind of.)
Jesse is the one who sends me texts, pictures and videos throughout the day to show me funny things my kids are doing. She’s the one who has never made me feel guilty for working and who has done everything to support me because she is also a full-time working mom. She’s the one who has my kids before and after I start my 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. job. She’s the tireless, patient person who is beyond a blessing to me and my family.
As you might be able to tell, Jesse provides love and care not only to my daughters but also to me. She is darn near the first person I go to when deciding whether to take my kids to the doctor, to enroll them in this preschool or that one and for advice as I’m freaking out about the latest bedtime battle. She is the person I text at 6 a.m., 10 p.m. and any and all times in between. I go to her for advice, guidance, to share silly moments and to get through difficult ones.
Jesse’s bond with my daughters is undeniable, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. She teaches them things I would never think to teach them. She does their hair way better than I do. She is the reason “Jesse” was one of the first words both of my girls ever said. She is the reason my daughters get unbelievably excited for “All Jesse Days.” She is the one who shuttles them to weekend birthday parties of other daycare kids just because she knows they’d have fun. And don’t even get me started on their special Walmart runs that are somehow just SO much more fun than the errands they run with me. Jesse lets them ask Alexa to toot, which leaves them all in full-on giggles on the floor. She serves the best breakfast sandwiches known to man and the entire neighborhood keeps an eye out for them as she somehow manages to walk the entire crew to and from school when the weather is nice.
So as we get closer to this Mother’s Day, tell the Other Mother in your life how much they mean to you. I didn’t even scratch the surface in explaining how much mine means to me. Surprise her with a Starbucks or a pedicure or something equally as fun every once in a while to remind her what she means to you and your family.
Other Mothers are the ones who help you raise your children. So how do you properly say thanks for that? I still haven’t figured that out but hopefully this is a start.
Love,
Julie
Way to go Jesse!