The Child Whisperer

I've talked about Tina here before. I've known her for a little over three years. Her husband, Jeremy, and Will knew each other as children, but Jeremy's family moved away and they didn't see or speak to each other for 20-ish years. Then by chance we all ended up in the same church congregation in Maryland. And we've been friends ever since. And our kids are friends (I'm very much hoping her youngest and my youngest will get hitched someday). And our husbands are friends. And if we had a dog I'm sure it would have been friends with her dog, too. Fate was even kind enough to send us here to Georgia together. Tina got here about a year before I did. That gave her plenty of time to make a bunch of good friends, which I have been borrowing ever since I arrived. If not for Tina, I'd probably still be terrified of (and avoiding) Sylwia, and you people would never have any entertainment around here.

Anyway, all that isn't the point of this post.

Tina has a gift. She's a child whisperer. I've never seen anything like it. I've seen people who are really good with kids before, but they are no match for Tina. Not only is she amazing with kids, but kids love her, too. There was a period of time that Amelia referred to her as her Other Mom.

I've observed her for years. I've tried to follow her example, I really have. I just don't get the same results.

She can calm the most out of control child in minutes, and she seems to get real joy out of doing so.

If I could, I'd hire her to deal with Liam full time. I'd have her sit next to him in school all day. You may think I'm kidding, but I'm so not.

Today was a perfect example of her abilities (and certainly not the first) with my kids.

Liam's teacher came to get me during the last hour of church because he was having a full on melt down.

I held him on my lap. I hugged him. I talked gently to him to try to calm him. Things I'd seen Tina do before. Nothing. He was still crying like a maniac. Tina came out to the hallway where Liam was screaming and less than five minutes later she had him totally calmed down, and she held him for the rest of church. He didn't make a peep.

I don't know how she does it. I sometimes wonder if maybe she slips them rufies. I know that's the only way I could get those results. I mean, I'm the mom who mixed a wine cooler with Juicy Juice in Ben's sippy cup to get through a transatlantic flight. If I were Tina I would not have had to resort to such measures.

So anyway, my point is that Tina is awesome and I truly have never in my life met someone who could handle children the way she can. She needs her own TV show. Supernanny's got nothing on her.