Nothing else matters.

As I lay in bed preparing to fall asleep on the bottom bunk and a little voice from above whispers "Auntie, we forgot to water our flowers", I feel 5 again. She brings me back to childhood. Being carefree. Relaxing. Taking it easy. In the middle of the day I take a second and play some music. She sits on the couch and watches me dance around silly for a few minutes, smiling. Finally she gives in and comes to dance with me. Nothing else matters in that moment. We go for adventure walks atleast once a day, usually 3 or 4. Finding bottle caps, paper clips, pretty rocks, string, pennies, pebbles, cool leaves. In those moments, nothing else matters. Playing at the park and seeing how high we can get her on the swing. Having a picnic and making up songs. Wondering why Auntie is "so slow" when she is on her bike. Giving kisses to her boo boos. Fixing her hair, two "balls", one braid in the back, one "ball" on top. Nothing else matters in these moments. Tickling sister. Getting sister to "fetch". Watching sister crawl so fast to follow us into the kitchen. Finding ways to make her laugh. Nothing else matters then. Being creative. Being happy. Loving. Sharing. Teaching. Growing. Laughing, Crying.

How could anything else matter in these moments? I realized how much influence I have on my nieces today. Watching them 5 days a week, for about 7 months now, I see the impact I've made. I see myself in Noelle often. I hear her say she wants to do things to be like me. She watches me closely, as I dance, brush my teeth, fix my hair, get dressed, play outside, talk, laugh. I have to be a positive influence. I have to teach her to be happy and to share happiness. To be open to meeting new people and constantly being friendly. I try to talk to people so she see's there is nothing to be worried about, yet still teach her that some people are bad. I want her to laugh and play, let her imagination run wild. I try to find creative things to make with her. Get her outside as often as possible. Play games she makes up. I want her to be honest about her feelings, never holding anything back. I want her to remember these days forever. I feel so lucky. I have such an amazing family.