Drama Free Zone

Vacation!! Vacation!! Vacation!! I LOVE a break from the stresses of child care. AND I made all the decisions I needed to. I now have a full daycare, with one preschool opening in October and a new infant starting in February. Yeah!!

I've decided to claim my daycare as a DRAMA FREE ZONE (child drama tolerated, parent drama forbidden!). I tend to take on the energy of the people I associate with. Because of this other people's drama makes me literally ill and keeps me up at night. I am sick of having other people's energy influencing me!!

Carrera had her first birthday yesterday. We had a party and it was really fun. This year has gone by SO fast! It was a wonderful year though.

Daycare Dilemmas

dilemma: predicament requiring a puzzling choice between two alternatives.

Daycare dilemmas. I really hate daycare dilemmas. Right now I have TWO. First, I need to decide about taking back a preschooler that I haven't watched in six weeks (It is more complicated than that). Secondly, I need to choose which family I want to take in December for my infant opening. I really like all three couples that interviewed me. The first couple REALLY want me, and the other two I interviewed today, so I will find out in the next couple of days if they are interested. They both sounded very interested though. I think I may need to sleep on it.

My new infant started this week and it has been WONDERFUL! She is so much happier and easier than the last infant I had. I am really enjoying child care again.

Next week we are on vacation. I am really excited to spend some time with Shane and the kids. I hope that we can relax and not be too busy with activities. I am trying to get all my projects completed before vacation. We are having Carrera's 1st birthday party on Saturday, which is in fact her birthday. I am excited, but it is keeping me really busy this week trying to clean and get ready.

I built a really amazing swing set for the kids two weekends ago. I will post pictures soon.

Silly Post

Ok, so the Scattergories post was silly. It was really fun to do though.

Scattergories

SCATTERGORIES: Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following...
RULES: They MUST be real places, names, things...NOTHING made up! Use different answers if the person before you had the same 1st initial. You CAN'T use your name for the boy/girl name question.

Your Name: Rachel
1. Famous singer/band: Reba
2. 4 letter word: Rule
3. Street name: Rolling Ridge Road
4. Color: Red
5. Gifts/presents: Roller Skates
6. Vehicle: Rolls-Royce
7. Item on a menu: Rachel (it’s a sandwich) - Hey, there is no rule about not using your own name for the sandwich!
8. Girl Name: Rebecca
9. Boy Name: Richard (a.k.a. DICK)
10. Movie Title: Robinhood
11. Drink: Rum and Coke
12. Occupation: Robber
13. Flower: Rose
14. Celebrity: Robert Downey Jr.
15. Magazine: Reader's Digest
16. US City: Roanoke, VA
17. Pro Sports Team: Raiders
18. Reason for Being Late for Work: Rolled my car
19. Something U Throw Away: Rabbit feet (cause we all know they ain’t lucky!)
20. Things You Shout: RUN!!!!

Kids Cope

I got an e-mail that was sent to all child care providers about the bridge collapsing and how to help your kids cope. It really angered me.

QUOTE: Preschoolers through age 5 may have seen reports on the news. Begin by saying, "That looks pretty scary, doesn't it? What do you think about it?"
By Rose Allen, University of Minnesota Extension. Rose Allen is a family relations educator with University of Minnesota Extension.

As a parent of preschoolers and a child care provider I would NEVER begin a sentence with "That looks pretty scary" unless they are OBVIOUSLY scared. I asked my kids what they thought/felt and they said "That's cool." It awed them and it should. A bridge collapsing is AWING and for them, not scary at all!! We did talk about people being hurt and going to the hospital. Especially since they showed unconscious people on the television and a little blood. But, as almost five year olds, they think about it for four minutes and then run off and play Ninja Turtles. They probably will bring it up again and ask about the people that were hurt, esp. Calvin. He remembers everything and brings things up months later. In reality we watched maybe five minutes of the news when they were awake and don't talk about it much in front of them. It is not important to make a big deal out of something that isn't a big deal for them, and especially not scare them when they have enough fears - like of monsters in the dark.

Air Traffic Control

Currently listening to Patty Griffin. I LOVE her!

So, I have had the shittiest week ever!! I will not bore you with the details. It could always get worse, right? I didn't have a bridge fall out from beneath me, although, figuratively I feel like I have. Side note: when I was in massage school I frequented that bridge on a regular basis, so I am a contributor to its collapse.

Little story: This is borrowed from a good friend, but I will not include her wonderful name. A friend of mine was talking to a BOY (not a MAN... as you will learn from my story) about what it is like to be a woman. And the BOY said that women have it made. We get to have kids and stay at home on our asses all day. Okay, I am paraphrasing - I don't remember the exact words he used. I am sure that "asses" would not have passed his lips. He seems like a really nice BOY. My point is, a real MAN would realise that staying home with kids is the hardest, most emotionally taxing job ever know to man... oops WOMAN! I learned at a child care class that Air Traffic Controllers make the most decisions in a day than any other profession and also have a high suicide rate. The second highest decision making profession is anyone that works with early childhood, which includes child care, which would also include stay-at-home moms that SIT ON THEIR ASSES!