Have Crap, Will Run Daycare

It's been a year since we moved. We used to live in a cute, quaint little pink brick, 1200 square foot home. I loved that little house. It was small but nicely decorated. I also liked the mortgage! But, there came a time when I realized that as much as I liked living in my tiny little house with my even tinier mortgage, there just wasn't enough room. My daycare business was spilling into the rest of my home and that made me anxious and cranky at the end of the day. So, amidst a falling market and for far less than was fair we sold our pink paradise for the large red brick a few blocks away.

One of the key factors when considering what house to buy was a bright, airy daycare space. I didn't want the kids to be on my main floor as they had in my other house. But I also did not want to feel like I was spending my days in a dark dungeon of a basement either. When we stumbled upon the house we now call home I knew immediately that it was the winner. Two hours and a bidding war later we owned our gem. I was excited and reeling with anticipation of never having to see daycare items once 4:30pm rolled around each and every day. Oh, how disillusioned I was!

We're funny people, we daycare providers. As much as we gripe and complain about our jobs we can't seem to leave our chosen career with the close of business every day. Just like how my daycare is mainly contained in a dedicated space it still tends to spill out and evidence of what it is I do can be found in just about every room in my house. How does this happen? Send us to the DollarStore to pick up some baggies or Walmart to purchase a ream of paper and we will always - ALWAYS - come out with some terrific find or deal that has absolutely nothing to do with anything but daycare.

As I stand in my laundry room I see high up on a shelf a booster seat. In the corner, closed up in its bag is a playpen. My garage houses my quad stroller and my sled. My yard displays a play set, sandbox and slide. My walk-in closet contains some Wal-mart deals I could not resist that will serve as gifts for the kids. My kitchen cupboards hold sippy-cups. My pantry stores arrowroots. And we won't even get into what lies in lurking of the back of my craft cupboard. In short, as much as I might like to lie to myself daycare is everywhere.

Recently during an interview a parent asked me where all the "stuff" was. In my head I was thinking, "Duh! Well, look around!". After I had some time to reflect I realized that while I know there is evidence everywhere I am also a master at hiding the clutter. In fact, one of the best compliments I ever received was, "If I didn't know you ran a daycare I would never have guessed it. Your house is so tidy". Hmmm....I'm not sure if that is a positive comment on my tidiness or a message to heed that perhaps I put my home first and my daycare second.

I will tell anyone who will listen that I hate to shop. However, my lies deceive even me. If I took a minute to show you my tax receipts from last year I would be embarrassed to tell you how much I spent on play-doh, feathers, stickers and yard sale treasures. It seems that the world is abundant in daycare crap I just have to have. I don't consider myself a hoarder but once again, I'm obviously lying to myself. The old bows from my Christmas gifts that I think will become useful at craft time this holiday season would beg to differ. There they sat for the past eight months just begging to either be used or given the mercy of a dumpster death. When stumbled upon my husband just rolls his eyes and knows better than to ask.

Perhaps I never needed a bigger house. Maybe I just needed to purge some of those bows and the third playpen I keep "just in case" I decide to go completely insane and take on three 12 month olds at the same time. And, I guess I could also toss the nine or so dish soap bottles that have a permanent residence under my deck to be used by tiny hands who can not pull the triggers on the water guns but still want to partake in water squirting fun. And of course, there is always the ten sets of extra clothes and rubber boots my own children have long ago outgrown but might be needed by a child in a rain emergency. It is my philosophy to always be prepared for DEFCON 1. Just take a look at the contents of the side pockets on my quad stroller if you need proof. Hey, you never know when you might be on your way to the park with seven kids and suddenly find yourself in the middle of an all out nuclear event. I know that the seven of us would make it through for at least the first thirty days with just the contents of my stroller. And heck, if I packed some exceptionally nutritional snacks that day we might make it to day 45.

Yes, we are daycare providers. That being said we have a lot of crap. Have you ever seen a mother and sized up the ratio of her body mass with respect to the size of her gargantuan diaper bag? Well, we have five kids so we can have as much crap as we damn well please. Besides, the value of a great daycare provider is directly proportional to the amount of crap she houses.

I am about to celebrate the anniversary of our first year in this big, red brick house. I'm glad we bought it. I sometimes think I could have purged more and stayed in our old house but then again I would have just replaced all the crap with one stop at a yard sale and two trips to the Dollarstore. At least now I can't see it. It's all neatly contained in some door or drawer or room out of eyesight. So, please don't judge me as being a poor provider because I don't have enough crap. Because I do, really, I do!

For concerns, advice or suggestions I welcome your email at judytrickett@yahoo.ca