Ode to a Caregiver

You are the one I trust with my child.
I trust you the way I would want to be trusted.
I trust you with my life.
Because all I am living for is entrusted to you.
I trust you to love my child.
I trust you to kiss away hurts, cuddle away sadness, wipe noses and backsides for a child that you have no blood attachment to.
You are my child's protector, when I cannot be.
You are my child's soft touch, a firm hand, a gentle whisper, a stern order.
You are everything I want to be.
You stand for everything I want my child to be.
Because my child is priceless.
Your work is priceless.
You will witness moments in my child's life for the first time that I will not.
You are underpaid, and often underappreciated by others.
No amount of money is sufficient for the work you are charged to do.
No words can ever fully express what you mean to some people.
You have made room in your life for my child's life.
You do what you do out of choice, not obligation or duty.
You play a very substantial role in what my child will grow up to be.
You and I together will watch my child grow.
For we not only want our children to survive in this world,
we want them to thrive.
To do better than us.  To go further in life.  To have more opportunities.
You are a partner, and never an adversary.
I close by saying this:
Thank you.


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