An open thank you letter to all those who watch my baby

It was Teacher Appreciation this last week, and it really got me thinking about how much I truly appreciate those who teach my son Ben, those who watch him, those people who are helping me and helping raise him into the little human he is and will become. Thinking about appreciation non stop for a week, I jotted down some thank yous I was going to send, and the list kept growing and growing.

All the love my son Ben is surrounded with truly brings tears to my eyes. I feel so lucky he gets to know many amazing people. So today, I wanted to write an open thank you letter to all those who watch my baby!

Leaving your little one in the care of someone else can be scary. Are they getting the love and attention they need? Are they being looked after? The questions that run through your mind can really make you feel crazy. All those that have looked after Ben have eased those worries away and made me into a more trusting person, thank you for that.

I will be the first to tell you that the only reason I am able to work, have this blog, work on special projects, meet with friends or attend any event, is because of the amazing support system and people there for him.

In the spirit of Mother’s Day and appreciation, THANK YOU!

Here is my short worded list of thank yous, because really I could go on and on for each and every single bullet point.

• Thank you for providing a safe and loving environment for my child
• Thank you for sending me pictures while you’re watching my child – little pictures give me life, and I view them and re-view them at least 100 times
• Thank you for changing diapers – especially after he’s eaten prunes or any other wonderful food I’ve made him
• Thank you for feeding my child – we all know it’s a mess
• Thank you for reading to my child – he loves flip open books, and we all know if you don’t turn the page fast enough, he will let you know
• Thank you for smiling at my child – he sure loves smiles and will return the smile
• Thank you for making endless towers of toys he will knock over
• Thank you for wiping my child’s endless runny nose – I know I’ve accidentally forgotten tissues in my pockets and had to clean up the washer, I’m sure you have too
• Thank you for loving my child
• Thank you to my husband Nick. A million thank yous for everything. I love you. Thank you for indulging me as I take ‘one more picture’
• Thank you to Captain and Nana. I am endlessly grateful. You live less than a mile away and are always there for us. You’re the only reason Nick and I have been able to go on date nights without worrying. The home cooked meals and homemade bread on Sundays are already appreciated by Ben (I’m pretty sure bread will be his favorite food for life because of you Captain)! Thank you for always watching Ben with such love and care.  Thank you for including him and taking him to so many cool places (I am secretly jealous of all the adventures he goes on with Nana). Captains funny faces and jokes make me know he’s going to have a good sense of humor. Thank you is an understatement. We love you
• Thank you to day care. The artwork and projects are so thoughtful (I display them proudly in my house and show off Ben’s artwork to everyone and keep pieces at work to look at every day). The daily reports are an endless source of appreciation (and laughter) between my husband and I (when the report says “blow out” we text each other and giggle-thank you for dealing with that)
• Thank you to day care teachers – I’m not quite sure how you do it dealing with babies all day, but you always make my day by telling me about the amazing day Ben had, when I get a notification of a picture for Ben’s report, my day is instantly made
• Thank you to a sporty aunty who got him the coolest little hat he wears every day in the sun and a little sport station toy where he does slam dunks and who shows him so much love and takes him on the coolest outings, also, thank you for showing me how to change a diaper in a public restroom, I’m a pro now because of you
• Thank you to a fellow mom aunty who knows all the cool songs and gets him to sleep magically in a little nest behind the couch, multiple times. Ben is so lucky to have such an awesome cousin
• Thank you to my dad who requests (demands) daily pictures and leaves me a scolding voice mail when I forget
• Thank you to aunties who all hold and coo over him via text and at holidays when we get together, Ben cannot wait to meet his adorable new cousin
• Thank you to my husbands aunt and her family for watching him and taking him on the longest walks – and teaching him how to be a little European gentleman
• Thank you to my mom who taught me how to be a mom
• Thank you to our pediatrician, you’ve been there since day one, and I could not imagine Ben getting better care anywhere else
• Thank you to Ben’s great-grandparents for sharing generations of love and support
• Thank you to his Serbian godparents (Kum + Kumas)
• Thank you to my bestie Lynn who flew out to meet him and help me when he was born. Now that you’re a mom, we have even more to talk about, which I did not think was even possible. Also, I cannot wait for their wedding
• Thank you to my bestie Jo who always sends him the coolest clothes – we all know he dresses better than his parents
• Thank you to Sarah (and Sarah’s mom) for the coolest gifts and finds. He still carries around his starbucks’ teething toy and mommy gets jealous lol
• Thank you to all of Nick’s manly friends who are so good with baby Ben, and of course a special thank you to Megan who babysat him for our first evening out when Ben was a baby
• Thank you to Nick’s cousins, family, extended family and all of the family friends. Stories of little Nick, advice, humor and love are always so appreciated
• Thank you to Bridget, you help bring ideas to life, and I love the real mom life stories we share. I still laugh when I think back on some of the stories you’ve shared
• Thank you everyone of you who asks how he is doing when he’s sick and shares in the joy he has brought to our lives
• Thank you to all of our friends and family, if you’re reading this, that includes you!

THANK YOU! I LOVE YOU AND APPRECIATE EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU!