Looking Back...

I wrote yesterday about winding down my school, and getting ready for new learning adventures.  Letting go of 21 years of teaching materials is not a quick or easy process... letting go seldom is.  Going through every shelf, every notebook, each piece of paper is an overwhelming task that winds through a lot of "Memory Lane" territory.

I thought I'd go through pictures, to find a few for the post I was writing yesterday, but that brought back so much, and looking through thousands of pictures over several hours helped me see some themes that have run through many of the 21 years I've spent working with children.  I got teary... several times... and found myself thinking about the song Seasons of Love, from Rent.  The song asks: how do you measure a year in a life?

I wonder, how many birthdays have my kiddos celebrated with me?  How many cupcakes have I helped children to bake?

My best guess is about 108 birthdays... which is about 2600 cupcakes!

How many field trips have we been on?

 My estimate? about 1500 field trips!

How many meals have I served?  Breakfast, lunch and snack for 15 1/2 years... this number blows my mind...

99,900 meals!!!

How many goats have we milked?

That one is easy, just one!  We all got to hold a baby kid, and then took turns milking the momma goat - that was a pretty memorable field trip!


How many pumpkins have the children scooped the guts from, and carved at school?

 One jack-o -lantern each year... next week will be my 16th daycare Halloween, and our 16th pumpkin to carve...

How many Easter egg hunts have I hosted... and how many eggs have the children and I stuffed for them?

Like the jack-o-lanterns, one egg hunt each year, so 15 egg hunts.  When I first started I had the children bring a dozen eggs each, but over the years I've kept the empty eggs, and reused them... I have about 400 of them now (anyone want to buy 400 pre-loved Easter eggs?!)... My best estimate is that we've stuffed and hidden about 3500 eggs.

What about masterpieces - or "mess"terpieces?

... a LOT!  I've uploaded 819 to our Artsonia page in the last 2 years alone.

How many children have I taught?  That number is easy to estimate.  I've had 132 daycare kiddos, and about 120 first graders, so around 250 children have called me teacher.

Even as some of these numbers are pretty impressive, they don't tell the most important parts of the story of my school: things learned, friends made, and smiles shared. 

Those are numbers no-one can know,  but my heart tells me that they are enough. 


If you are a family member of one of "my" kids, I want to thank you for sharing your child with me!  I'd also love for you to leave a comment about what your child(ren) remember about their time with me.

Community Building, Our Annual Daycare Pool Party

Let me start by saying, that while I am indeed all kinds of crazy (taking 6 kids to the zoo at a time, wallowing in mud with them, dancing the Tooty-Ta, etc.), I am not crazy enough to take a group of preschoolers swimming.  That's a level of responsibility that is beyond my comfort zone, which is actually how our pool party came to be.

Eight years ago, when my family put in a pool, the daycare kiddos watched the process of pool building, and, of course, anticipated getting in.  They drooled at the fence, wanting that cool blue water, while I, meanly, provided only an occasional sprinkler or water table.  Cruel woman!

Eventually, I realized that the kiddos weren't going to be able to let it go until they had a chance to take a dip.  My family and I talked about it, and decided we'd invite the daycare families that were here at the time to come to a pool party one weekend.  Parents would be responsible for their own children, and we'd serve some burgers and hotdogs.  Easy-peasy.  Once and done.  Right?

It was a huge hit!  The children got to swim, which they loved!  The parents had a chance to see all the children playing together, and to visit with each other.  I got to visit with the families for much longer than we could at drop off or pick up time, and of course, we all got to eat together.

The parents asked me to make it annual tradition, and it has been now, for 8 years - so far.  We'll keep doing this for as long as there are children in our lives.

 Each year I invite the families that are enrolled, and the families who are planning to join us the following fall, so we can begin the process of building community, getting to know each other as more than just client and teacher.

 

 These kiddos, these families - these friends, play such a big role in our lives!  Sometimes the kiddos call Ms. Julie and I "mom" - not because they are confused about who their mom is, but because that word, mom, also means "caregiver," or "woman who loves me as her child."  It's only appropriate that we take some time to know each other as the surrogate family that we are.

 Some families come back for many years.  This year we had 56 people attend the party!  The oldest of my preschoolers who returned this year is now 12 - and taller than me!!!! (I actually told her she might not get invited next year if she keeps growing!  Truth be told, that family will be here with us when they're grown and bringing me their own children.  Just think how cool that would be, 3 generations of a family here!)

 And really, that's where I'm going with this post.  Some of the parents have kiddos who are about to head off to kindergarten, or who have recently left because they're about to move on to the next stage of their learning adventures.

 The parents were talking about how neat it is to have some of our "old" families come back each year, and hoping that they would be invited to come back next year, and in the future.

 Oh, silly parents!  You have it completely backwards!  You are hoping that I will want you to come back.

It is, in fact the other way around.  I am honored that you still, after moving on to other schools and new stages in your life, want me in your lives.  I love you all!