the village people

I walked into one of the programs the other day and the guy at the front says your kid was really funny yesterday. I am bewildered, my kid was here without me? How could that be? My kid? Yep, she's crazy, all that hair. Another dude chimes in. Yeah, she was tearing it UP. I am puzzled, I still can't figure out how my kid was here. Who was she with, I say and he tells me and all of a sudden it makes sense. One of M's aunties is a volunteer, she's always running around gathering things we need and she'd taken M on a playdate so they must have made a stop but I still couldn't believe neither of them mentioned the visit.

When I get home that night I ask M, so I hear you went to mama's work yesterday. No, she says firmly. I did not go to your work. That alone isn't that surprising, this project is geographically inconvenient from our house, M has only been there once or twice. I think you did, baby. Didn't you see all the beds and all of our friends? No, she says. I was with Auntie at HER work and we had oranges and bananas and bread. I am laughing now, I tell her it's my work too but she clearly isn't buying it.

No, she says. You put people to sleep. Auntie feeds them. It's NOT the same thing. Yesterday we helped people have food but we did NOT help them go sleepytime. I drop it because really, it's no use trying to convince her otherwise but between me and her Auntie, she must think we travel in odd circles sometimes or perhaps hey, it just is what it is. A little while later Auntie calls and says that she forgot to tell me they stopped in with a load of donated food, double checking perhaps because the program is a bit rough on the edges and wanted to make sure I didn't mind. I didn't and I don't as long as she keeps a close eye and I know she does but I admit it did throw me for a minute. I told her the story, both the confusion and the funny bits and she was laughing, laughing. It does take a village, doesn't it she said in reply.