I went to visit the new babe and her family yesterday afternoon, dropping off a card and a handmade “boo boo balm”. They have a young son who has taken fondly to me, melting anyone in proximity. He insisted I read some of his Calvin and Hobbes because I mentioned how significant those books were when I was young, but unlike him I am not bilingual so we just looked at some of the pictures in his French edition until he tugged my hand to lead me back to his room and show me some of his other neat stuff.
This birth facilitated getting my diploma for the 270-hours of training I did last fall, there was a ‘Preceptorship’ component requiring two supervised births before the school issues that piece of paper.. When I went to do an interview with the family in April the money side of things wasn’t that significant to me, I was very focused on the experience. I also learned they were most interested in having someone for the birth itself and not in need of much prenatal or post partum care. Between throwing different albums on and serving some of his ginger ale home brew the father passed some folded cash my way, I stuffed it in my pocket and continued giggling on the couch with their boy. Later in the afternoon I had a pic-i-nic with Coco and realized they gave me over double what I asked for. I initially thought it must be a mistake, it is the largest tip I’ve ever gotten. Coco was confident as she looked at my wet eyes and said “they want you to have that, they appreciate you. It wasn’t a mistake, and you can thank them for their generosity.” And like that, Sappy Spice has her head in the clouds on this mother’s day.