Linda's Last Day

Today is Linda's last day with us. She's been with us for 6 and a half years and helped raise my boys and I'm going to miss her madly. I don't even know where to start, singing her praises. She's so kind, so very very kind. Never a yell, a screech, a bad word to the boys. She's good to her very core.  The boys adore her of course. Daniel calls her his best friend. And rightly so since she's been his rock his whole life (she's taken care of him since he was 6 weeks old).

She's dealt with tantrums and meltdowns and rambunctious, sometimes obnoxious behavior with calmness and kindness, always. In the past I have sometimes stood back and watched her in awe, amazed by her calm words when I'd have been screaming and losing my mind.

Next week we start a new era of having a teenager babysit after school. The teenager is a friend of a friend and is a stranger to me right now. One of Jack's friends who knows her told me she shouts a lot. Great. That makes me feel like crying. How can we leave our most precious things in the world with anybody but Linda?