I teach one day a week at a music store. With the advent of Hazel, Ted and I have a new routine on that day: he takes a half day and drives our car to work, and then, after he returns in the early afternoon we do a workout (each person takes the baby while the other does a spell on the treadmill), we all go off to my workplace for the rest of the day and evening. We can't keep this up indefinitely, as Ted's vacation is not unlimited, but we are grateful to be able to do it now.Recently, a new student has started taking lessons from the teacher across from me. His mom brings him and his brother, and they arrive sometime during my first lesson. The two boys love Hazel. The first week they arrived I popped out of my room during the lesson, because I was hearing a bunch of Hazel sound and wanted to check that she was ok. She was more than ok; she was giggling up a storm as they played with her. When I came out of my studio, the younger boy came up to me and declared, "I helped with Miss Hazel!" I can't tell you how much it warmed my heart to see his pride and delight, and to hear them all enjoying each other.
I hear them coming now (I listen for them), and it's so fun to hear them enthusiastically great my baby, "It's Hazel!" The younger one is autistic, and his engaged interaction with her seems wonderful for him as well as for her.
Last week, they brought a quilt and two baby books with them, and when I came out between lessons there they were on the floor with her, having a party. They left us the quilt and books to use for the rest of the day, and I stored them in my room for re-use next week. That sort of love and generosity is one of the wonderful things you sometimes run into in this life, and it's one of the things that makes life worth living, imo.
