Strangers hold my baby and a panhandling experiment

The weather has turned colder and it is officially fall as of last week.  I realized as I was putting away Sophia's sweet little baby summer dresses, that she will probably never be able to wear them again. Do many mamas cry when this happens?  I sure did.  

Having a sweet baby to laugh at all day, makes it a wondrous time in a persons life. Many old ladies with dementia in the nursing homes I visit revert back to this time and will coo and ah over baby dolls all day long. In the market place, I see the grimace in old ladies' eyes when they see my Sophia because it has been so. Long. Since their babies were babies.  For many, this includes even their  grand babies.  

Call me crazy, but just about every elderly stranger in the marketplace I meet that gets that longing look when they see my baby gets to hold her.  My only prayer is that someday when my hair has greyed, my eyes have crinkled at the corners, and my babies are not babies anymore, some strange young girl with a new baby will return this kindness to me.  

Today was an amazing day with my little family.  We decided to moonlight as street musicians at the farmers market and make a little money. We got to the market at the crack of 11:30 with baby, music stand and baby stuff in tow when I said, "Drew, did we remember your guitar?"  He began laughing because with all the preparation of the morning, with packing up the baby, timing her feeding and diaper blowouts and spit up on her outfits and the craziness of still getting used to having a baby in the first place, we forgot the one tool that would help us accomplish our panhandling musical plans. 

I decided to sit at a local coffee shop with Sophia while Drew ran home for his guitar.   A middle aged lady got that longing look that women get when their own babies are grown, and out of compulsion, she began fawning over my 4 month old snuggler.  Honestly my gut reaction most times when strangers reach for my child is to turn into a mama tiger, but I pushed that instinct down, and gave the woman a warm smile and introduced myself.   Her "babies" are in their twenties now and the woman can hardly wait because one of her children is finally expecting.  I'm so thrilled for her as I can tell from the sparkle in her eyes, that it has been a long wait.  

The barista has been yelling that the woman's coffee order is ready for several moments before the woman realizes,  because she is so focused on my daughter.  She finally wakes from her dream like state and looks a little sheepish as she realizes her coffee is ready. She excuses herself to go retrieve her coffee and as she passes me again on her way out the door, she drops a gift card for the coffee shop in front of me on the table and says, "Here! Get whatever you want!"  I'm blessed beyond words. 

Drew returns, we walk down the market street and find a good spot to play. I wear my daughter in a baby sling as we perform because it is the only way to get thru the songs with her content the whole time instead of screaming.  I lead a nursing home music ministry which I love and feel called to do but It was so fun to perform covers of up to date songs!  It felt exhilarating to see the smiles on people's faces as they stopped to listen to our music. 

 A young teenage man that we see playing guitar and singing quite well at the market stopped by our spot for a song or two. He had a great grin on his face as he listened. I gave him a wave and a shout and told him we were fans of his and he returned the complement by dropping a dollar in the guitar case.   I tried to return it because we had already enjoyed his music without dropping a dollar in so I felt we owed him but he waved and ran away.  To those who think all the youth today are lazy and entitled, I think that I found a young man who is neither!

 I'm fairly certain having Sophia in the show increased the amount of passersby who stopped to hear a whole song or two. Everyone smiled at the fact that I was singing while wearing my daughter. I could hear comments from the audience about how adorable she was.  We had a little tongue in cheek sign for the tips thrown in the guitar case that read "Sophia's college fund (if she wants)" I think people really responded to that.  One enthusiastic youth exclaimed as she threw in a dollar, "If my parents had done that I wouldn't be paying back $50,000 in student loans!" 

 At one point during the performance, I even put Sophia  under the nursing cover and fed her during a song.  Some friends came to see us as we played and some of their unpretentious kiddos danced their little hearts out. So joyful!  It was the funnest day I remember for a long time.