Confidence

Yesterday I was again reassured that I am in the right profession. I love children, and I am a good caregiver.
I spent the day babysitting two little ones (9month old girl and 11month old boy), who were strangers to each other and to me. The parents were in town from Chicago and Toronto to see the U of M game, and these two were not old enough to be away from their mommies all weekend. A friend of a friend put them in contact with me to babysit for the day and some how they felt confident enough in that judgment to leave their treasures with me.
It was a fairly long day with the two babies, but I was able to handle it and give the parents a positive report of how the day went.
The big confidence booster came from the Toronto mom, who had never left her baby for that long before. She told me that with an older child with special needs and the little one being a handful, she was not comfortable leaving them to go back to work, or even for short periods of time so she and her husband can go out. She said from the instant she met me she was comfortable, she enjoyed her day at the game without worrying about her baby. I am very honored that a complete stranger would be so comfortable with me, that she would leave her baby for the first time, in a strange environment, and feel like he was safe and she could enjoy the game. She even joked about how nice it would be if I lived in Toronto and they could get out more often.
I know that I am good with children, but I am not all that great with adults. It is very comforting to know that protective parents find me a safe person to leave their little ones with, even with only a few minutes of meeting. This gives me comfort for how it will be when I go to interviews and need to impress all sorts of adults (parents, administrators, teachers, school board, and whoever else is invited to sit in the interview), I can stand firmly on the knowledge that I know what is good for children and it shows.