A Good Ending

So my day started out grouchy. I'm happy to report......it ended up being a good day. Praise God!

The biggest thing that changed my day happened at work around 10:00 this morning. One of our officers brought a little curly blond headed, blue eyed 2 year old little boy into our office. The little boy (we later learned his name is Will) had been found wondering in his neighborhood with three pretty protective dogs. The officers spent about an hour knocking on doors in the neighborhood looking for Momma, but had no luck, so they brought Will to the station.

Now let me just say...this happens more often than what you would think. Sad, but true. I have a heart for any baby, but especially the lost/neglected babies/kids that we bring into the station. So many times, lost kids, no matter what age, are afraid of officers. Hello-most of our officers are men, they wear all black and aren't always the most loving things in the world. The older kids have sometimes seen these officers in a negative light and remember that. So my goal is that any child we come in contact with in this situation is to be a friendly, motherly, comforting face. The poor child is in a bad enough situation as it is-I want to be a light in that bad situation.

So back to my new little buddy Will. It took him a minute to warm up to me, but we became friends pretty quick. I got him a snack and some Sprite out of the machine and we sat in the break room together "talking." Just as my officer was about to call DHS, the Mom called dispatch frantic looking for her baby.

She showed up a few minutes later and let me tell you, I've NEVER seen someone so hysterical in my entire life. She was sobbing, shaking, trying to speak...oh my word, I thought for sure we were going to have to call a squad for her! (Thank goodness her neighbor drove her to that station!) Will, love his heart, sat there and just kind of looked at her and continued to drink his Sprite.

When this type of situation happens, you never know how the parent is going to react. I've seen them spank the child for getting out of the house, I've seen them cry and just be happy they're home. I've even seen the parent not really react at all.

This lady though....................oh.my.word. Yea, she was genuinely hysterical and I honestly feel like she was genuinely sorry. She was shaking so bad she couldn't even hold Will. I finally got in her face and said "Look-he's ok. You need to calm down and get yourself together for him" and then we did the "in through the nose out through the mouth" breathing technique together.

Evidently when Dad got up this morning, he got Will around. As usual, Dad got Will dressed and put him in front of the tv while Dad went to work and Mom slept. I guess this is the usual routine and it's never been a problem before. A friend of the parents spent the night last night and got up and left after Dad. Well, friend didn't lock the door and my buddy Will, along with the family Golden Retriever opened the door and went awandering. Mom woke up, Will was gone and Mom freaked out.

Though Mom was so hysterical, she wanted to know if we knew the name of the woman who found him. When we didn't have that information she wanted to know where she lived. She said she wanted to go thank this person for finding her baby and for not hurting him. She asked the officer's name and shook his hand, thanking him. She asked my name, hugged me and thanked me for taking care of Will.

Very rarely do we get thanked for the job we do.

I guess it was a turning point in my day because I stepped back and thought "my day isn't that bad." Yes, I woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Yes, I've got a ton of things on my mind and I feel stressed beyond belief. Yes, I'm tired. But you know what.......when I woke up this morning, my baby was safe in her bed. I was worried and basically having a pity party for myself and yet in the grand scheme of things.............my day was fine.

From that point on, I had a better attitude. After work, Tanner and I got school supplies and did some power shopping for school clothes. We ended the night with some ice cream from Cold Stone Creamery. YUM-O!

I've had my long hot shower with my stress relief bath gel, I've got the stress relief oil simmering, my girl is tucked nicely in her bed, the hubster is working and I'm enjoying some much needed relaxation.

Turns out life is pretty darn good after all.