I love being a Pediatrics nurse… I love tiny baby stethoscopes and stuffed animals and patients who smile when I give them stickers with Elsa…

I love being creative and flexible because you can’t make a two-year-old follow the rules or sleep at normal times or sit still with the oxygen mask on his face just because he needs it. I love having whole families as my patients, and being there for anxious parents, and having the siblings of my baby patients treat me like their nurse too… I love the pictures my patients color for me, and the notes they leave for me, and the giggles when they’re feeling better.

I love snuggling grumpy babies when their moms are exhausted and need a break. I love watching them fall asleep in my arms and thinking how blessed I am that I get paid to do this. I love praying blessings and protection over their lives and thinking that, even though they won’t remember me, maybe it will make a difference.

I love hearing the same song from a Disney movie over and over and over again until I hear it while I drive home at night—a sign that I am a Pediatrics nurse… It circles in my head—What can I say except you’re welcome?

He played it over and over, and that adorable grin lit up his face while it played. I love seeing children happy because some little thing, or their mom’s presence, or some little gift I gave them made them smile through their tears. I love it even when it means listening to the same Disney song twenty times in a row.

He was so much better the next day, and he laughed, and he sang his song over ten more times. I love seeing children get better.

I walked them out when I discharged them, and they turned to me—mom and boy, a happy couple, smiling through the rain. “Say thank-you,” she said to him.

He smiled and said thank-you.

I love being a Pediatrics nurse, and I am humbled and grateful that God allows me to fill this small role in His care for them…What can I say except you’re welcome?