Bye Bye Miriam

Fiona's favorite (non-family) babysitter, Miriam, is moving home to Mexico. She and her husband had been discussing returning for several months, and when his mother became ill they decided it was time to go.

Miriam has been a hugely important figure in Fiona's life. She was an assistant at Fiona's day care starting when Fiona was about 18 months old. We started hiring her to babysit occasionally, and I still remember our shock when we left Fiona with a babysitter and she didn't scream or cry.

Things got even better recently when Miriam had a son, Jeomar. We started joking that, from Fiona's perspective, the only thing better than having Miriam babysit was having Miriam-with-baby babysit. As many little girls do, Fiona adores babies, and she loved playing with Jeomar. The first time after the birth that Miriam came over to sit we all lost it when we said good-bye to Fiona and she called out after us "don't worry, Mommy, I won't hurt the baby!"

But now Miriam is leaving, and Fiona and Andrea headed over to her home yesterday after preschool to say farewell. Miriam gave Fiona a card and a pair of earrings (which she'll have to grow into since Fiona's a few years away from having her ears pierced). Fiona gave Miriam a picture she drew.

I didn't scan that picture, but Fiona's drawing has definitely taken off. She likes to draw flowers, butterflies and suns, and I think all of those are readily identifiable in her pictures:

Thank you, Miriam, and good luck with everything.