I went to college to become a teacher. I dabbled in other things like design because I was good at it but eventually my desire to work with kids and impact lives in a classroom prevailed so the college of education got me. Admittedly part of that decision could've stemmed from the fact that I struggled with math and I only had to take a methods course in Elementary Education to learn how to teach math, a subject I knew very little about.
Regardless, my image of myself as a teacher who would have fun summer days with my then imaginary children seemed ideal. It resonated well with my potential husband too, so a teacher I became.
Shortly after getting married in college and graduating we moved to Boise and a teaching job was no where to be found. I was told the market was saturated and I should have gone into nursing. Ugh! Who wants to be a nurse? Blood, poop, urine, illness, vomiting, crying (not to mention all that math!)
So after several months doing temporary types of clerical work we decided to start a family before a career. My husbands career was progressing nicely and so our first baby showed up, a bouncing baby boy about a year later.
When I held that little man I suddenly shared something with, I'm guessing, the majority of the population with a newborn. It's that feeling that there is absolutely NO ONE in this world who can take better care of him than ME!
In many ways I was right. But then so are all the other moms and dads that think that. What it meant was that there is no one in this world that can possibly love them more or sacrifice more for that little person than their parents. It provided me with an entirely new perspective on this business of childcare and preschool and a deep respect for those that had to use it despite this feeling that I now knew they all must be experiencing.
Fast forward through some times that we'll come back to eventually, but when I found myself needing a job, really needing a job to support myself, I worked at a childcare for the sole reason that I didn't want to or couldn't leave my 2 year old son. I thought that I'd only do it for awhile. I would grace this industry with my presence and education beyond what was needed and do myself a favor in the process.
heh heh heh...it's funny how life has a way of humbling us without notice.
Amidst the laughter, tears, blood, illness, fun, parents, volunteers, vomiting, staff, owners, urine, poop, tricycles and yes math as an administrator I found myself and my path alongside my son and consecutive 2 daughters, and those dreamy summers I'd envisioned never materialized.
That was over 27 years ago and hundreds and hundreds of children and families ago. A few of those children now bring their children to one of our facilities. It's been a privilege and a joy and here is where I've decided it's time to share some of the incredible stories of this journey.
Parenting is hard. It's made harder when we have to do it alone or in a vacuum with our significant other. It is equal parts joy, fear and anguish. Some people make it look easy and it simply isn't.
The incredible things I've learned from my parents, other parents, all of the amazing teachers I've worked with, my incredible volunteers and board members and raising my own family all contribute to the possibility that I might actually know something that might be of use to other parents.
That all adds up to an equation, that computes to a sum, that in all probability leads to a formula for success, at minimum, a fraction of the time.
And you thought my math hadn't improved in all these years.
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