Daycare Lady

I know many people have children that they need to take to daycare while they work. These "Daycare Parents" have very many choices: in-home or center, what schedule, organic or not, who provides the supplies, etc. Somehow through all of the hundreds of little preferences I have ended up the ideal "Daycare Lady" for several of the most adorable kids in the city of Phoenix. These kids have been a great joy in my life and I feel very blessed to have them in my home. However, I cannot help but ask myself if their parents realize what the "Daycare Lady" thinks of them.

There is something that I would like to share with all of the parents who take their kids to daycare each morning. It is taboo for a "Daycare Lady" to tell anyone (let alone the parents) if her daycare kids' behavior was less than desirable. I learned a long time ago to answer the question "How was Johnny's day" with the most positive answer I could give. For two years I had a kid that would give me hell all day. He would fight, yell, throw, break toys, anything you can think of he tried. Then when I would reprimand him, he would laugh! I don't think there is a response more annoying from a child than laughing when you tell them that they broke the rules again! It was very hard, but everyday when his Mom came to my door to pick him up, I wouldn't dwell on the bad. I would give her the daily count (How many time outs he had) then give her several highlights of his day.

Some people might gasp at this so I should add that we had several meetings to discuss behavior modification plans and how we could work together to help him improve. I know that a lot of people would say that I should have said more each day but the truth is, when parents hear something "bad" happened when they left their kids with me, no matter who was the doer or what happened, I look "bad". It never looks good no matter how you put it the parent always blames the "Daycare Lady".

So just for any "Daycare Parent" out there that might come across this. . . keep in mind that although your child is the center of the universe, they are still very much capable of mischief when they set their minds to it and it has NOTHING to do with the "Daycare Lady's" choices. Trust me, the "Daycare Lady" is striving to give you the good report as much as you want to hear it.