delegator. If given the opportunity to put someone to work, I will -
gladly. I once put two kids to work on a mailer we were trying to get
out, two kids who had wandered into our building to use the bathroom
and whose mom ended up waiting for them outside for a half-hour while
they dutifully folded and stuffed envelopes.
So it's actually a little surprising to me that I didn't think of this
before with Aaron. But when I took him and Jada to the park the other
day, a little girl - we'll call her Sue - came up to us and told me
how cute Aaron was. She made funny faces with Aaron, who was sitting
in his stroller while I pushed Jada on the swing. I asked her if she
wanted to hold him, and she eagerly said yes.
She proceeded to tell me that though she was but six years old, she
had had lots of experience with babies, having babysat for her cousins
plenty of times. And the way she handled Aaron, I could tell she was
telling the truth. She asked if she could put Aaron in the swing and
nodded yes. She was very careful with him, even more careful than I
would be.
I asked her, if I gave her a bottle, would she mind feeding Aaron.
Again she eagerly said yes. So while Jada kept swinging and Aaron was
accounted for, I was able to prepare a bottle - with two hands and
without a screaming baby to add pressure to the task! I handed the
bottle to Sue and she competently took things from there, leaving me
to resume pushing Jada on the swing.
So, like when good delegating happens, everybody was happy - Jada got
more of my attention, Sue seemed to genuinely enjoy caring for Aaron,
Aaron basked in the attention of a new person, and I got to save my
ears from shrill crying for a few minutes. Special thanks to Sue for
lending a hand. Now hopefully Sue's mother wasn't waiting for her
somewhere else in the park!
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