NEED TO KNOW
- Madalynne Scott began babysitting Oaklee Hale when she was just a few months old
- The 22-year-old first met Oaklee during her freshman year of college, when Oaklee’s parents, Jordan and Casey, were fostering two other young boys
- Now, years later, Scott had a very special question for 3-year-old Oaklee
Madalynne Scott began babysitting Oaklee Hale when she was just a few months old.
The 22-year-old first met Oaklee during her freshman year of college, when Oaklee’s parents, Jordan and Casey, were fostering two other young boys. She quickly formed a close bond with the family. While Jordan and Casey were staying at the hospital with Oaklee, who was dealing with some medical complications, Scott brought them coffee and Chick-fil-A to show her support.
Now, years later, Scott, who’s originally from Georgia but currently goes to school in Cleveland, Tenn., had a very special question for 3-year-old Oaklee.
“There was one day I was babysitting her and she was holding some fake flowers and I thought to myself that she would be the most perfect little flower girl,” Scott, who is currently engaged, tells PEOPLE. “I actually took a video of her walking with them and sent it to [my fiancé] Gavin and said, ‘Practicing to be our flower girl.’ ”
“While Oaklee is still so young, it has been so much fun getting to watch her grow up,” Scott continues. “She is truly such a little ball of joy. She always has a smile on her face and is constantly wanting to play and laugh. I think what I love the most about her is that as a baby she went through so much, and even though she was so young when all these things happened to her, she is still the happiest little girl ever. You would never know that she walked through some very hard health things.”
After brainstorming some ideas, Scott eventually got permission from Jordan and Casey, and popped the question to Oaklee. When the day came, she and her fiancé pulled up to Oaklee’s house, and as soon as Oaklee saw her, she ran outside for a big hug.
Scott handed her a gift bag. Inside, Oaklee found a note that read, “Will you be our flower girl?” along with a pair of flower-themed pajamas.
“I was honestly just so excited because I knew how happy she would be, and I just knew that she would be the cutest flower girl and the sweetest addition to our special day,” Scott says.
“My parents thought it was the cutest idea and would be so sweet of me to ask her,” she adds.
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Jordan captured the moment on camera and later Scott posted it to TikTok, where the video has since gone viral, amassing more than 2.7 million views and hundreds of comments.
“She was so happy! In the video, you can see when she pulls the pajamas out and looks at me and Gavin,” Scott recalls. “I so wish I had recorded my angle because she looked at us, smiled so big, her mouth dropped wide open, she was just so excited. When I showed her the dress she would get to wear, she was so happy and smiley!”
Reading through the comments on her viral video, Scott says it made her heart full to see just how strong the bond between babysitters and the children they care for can be, and how common it is for others to include those children in their special moments.
“I don’t think I realized how many people ask the kids they nanny or babysit to be part of their day,” she says. But, she adds, “I think one of the comments that stood out to me the most and got the most likes as well said, ‘The way he looks at you holding her.’ I thought that one was just so sweet and so tender.”
“Gavin loves Oaklee and Oaklee loves Gavin,” she says. “It makes me so excited thinking about marrying him and having our own kids one day, because he is going to make the absolute best dad — and I think people can tell that just from the way he looks at me.”
Looking ahead toward her wedding day, Scott says she knows it will be the best day ever and she’s so thankful that Oaklee and her family will be with them to celebrate.
“I hope that people see true joy,” she adds. “There is so many negative stories and things out there about babysitters or people watching your kids and not being able to trust them and those are definitely real, but I think sometimes we don’t highlight the good things enough.”
“There are so many people who will love and cherish children,” she continues, “and want to care for them and make them a part of our lives.”
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