Often, people come in and out of our lives never knowing just how much of an impact they've had on us or how much we've appreciated having the opportunity to know them. I decided, it was time for me to say, "thank you" to the one's that I've had in my life.
What I haven't spoken about much on here is the fact that I got super ill starting in 2008. I didn't speak of it because for better or worse, I've been taught that people don't want to hear about that kind of thing. People want to hear that life is a bowl of cherries. By 2009, I was in so much pain that a lot of my time was spent lying down. That's not great when you're talking about a family with young kids. To make matters worse, one of my kids seemed to be suffering from the same thing that was happening to me.
Meet Nicole Bond. Nicole became our Nanny in 2009/2010 and brought so much happiness and joy with her. She's an amazingly nurturing person who my kids came to love and who I came to think of as a friend. I've heard other people who never seemed to speak of their care givers, as anything more than an employee. I always find it very strange. I don't want someone taking care of my kids if they're not someone I like enough to be friends with them.
One of the things I love about Nicole, is how organized she is. Odd isn't it? But organization is a skill I'm sorely lacking in. She would tap into the community and find all sorts of fun and interesting things for the kids to do. She was kind and patient with them and would manage to make time at home, as creative and entertaining for the kids as possible.
I know it will sound funny, but one of my favorite memories was of her diving in to making a gluten free red velvet cake with my kids. Her fearlessness to try new cooking stuff to address my kids food allergies, helped my kids learn a love for cooking. She taught my kids how to make new friends at the park, at a time when I couldn't. Now, my son is fearless about approaching other boys to see if they'd like to play. There were days when rock paintings became front door welcome signs, and fig tree wind chimes with sea shells that hung from our back deck and most importantly, there was fun. There was never a day that my kids weren't excited to see Nicole pull into the driveway.
Obviously, I'm a huge fan of Nicole. If you ever find yourself in the Bainbridge Island area and in need of someone to help you take care of your child, I strongly recommend Nicole. She's a really lovely person who I'm so grateful to have had in our lives at such a dark time. And if you'd like to check her out some more, please visit her blog about her journey through life. Thank you, Nicole. XOXO!
