I had my post almost all finished and somehow hit a key and the whole thing disappeared.
Ok, I'll try again. I'm waiting for my boss to answer a few questions regarding payroll. There's always some questions. Usually vacation days on our company calendar that are not showing as requested in our payroll system, or vice versa. A new employee, an employee on medical or family leave.
A friend I have known almost 34 years or so had her oldest son marry his high school sweetheart over the weekend. We go way back when we worked at the same company and got pregnant with our firsts at the same time. I even remember we had a joint baby shower at work. Our boys were born about 3 weeks apart. She lived fairly near me. When her 2nd was about 1, she lost her daycare and was looking for one. I told her about my AMAZING day care lady, who just happened to have 2 openings as 2 siblings had left the week before. She snagged it right up and was forever thanking me for telling her.
I remember when I was on maternity leave and starting to look for daycare for going back to work at 3 months. Ugh. I got a list of licensed daycares in my area from that state. The first one I called I could tell no way, just from talking to her. The 2nd one I went and visited and chatted with. Still not very impressed. Her daycare was downstairs in her daylight basement and she had the tv going the whole time and school aged kids running in and out. The 3rd lady I visited, I knew immediately she was the one. Her house was immaculate. She was calm and loving. She brought up things like she never prop fed a baby, always held them. She constantly washed bedding and toys. TV was very minimum, if at all. She didn't take before and after school aged kids. You know how most new mothers cry when they have to leave their newborn at daycare the first day to go back to work? Not me. I breathed a sigh of relief that I just knew in my heart that he was in such good hands. But, when I had my dd (4 years later) and decided to be a stay at home mom, the last day he was to be at daycare, I bawled the whole way to her house! We were going to miss her so much! After dd was born I decided to keep taking him to daycare for a few hours, a couple days a week. He loved it there and it helped me out, too. He did that for the year before he started kindergarten.
She had developed COPD really bad and died several years later, fairly young, in her early 60's. I did go to her funeral and apparently there were a few others who had used her for daycare also in attendance. She was one of a kind. I was always kind of sad that my dd didn't get to go to her. She would have loved my funny, happy baby dd, that's for sure.
Having an almost 35 year old career in early childhood, your story of the wonderful child care provider warms my heart. I have relationships both with families in my preschool class (from before I left teaching) and with my children's wonderful child care providers and teachers to this day.
ReplyDeleteMy children were never in daycare, so I have no memories like yours. I did need someone to care for my four-year-old for a day now and then. She and the other kids were parked in front of the tv with cheerios to eat dry all day. I only needed someone to keep her every few weeks, but this was still too much. So, I never used the woman again after my daughter told me and I saw it, too. I was, however close to some school teachers.
ReplyDeleteMy oldest I had to put in a nursery when we moved back to Switzerland when he was almost 2. Poor little sod, didn't speak a word of French and must have been traumatized BUT I don't think he was unhappy. My neighbour kept my second son (he was the only one she ever kept) and loved him like a son. Even to this day she calls him her third child and the feeling is reciprocated. If your kid is happy you are, aren't you!
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