Why I Love My Daycare Mommies So Much

If you talk to me for very long you’ll probably hear me say I am thankful for my wonderful families that I serve in my home daycare (or something along those lines). I am super-blessed by these awesome people, but not surprised… God has always been faithful to bring the most awesome people into my life when I needed them the most. I could fill pages with examples of this, but I think I’ll save that for another blog entry. This entry is just about the awesome Mommies who trust me to help them with their little ones while they work.

Each of “my” Mommies is someone who I learn from and look up to in some way, but they also show me that they respect my own hard-won knowledge from years of experience with children, reading, and classes. We often bounce ideas off each other or give each other advice on parenting issues.

They are also very appreciative of my work with their kids and they each show it in their own unmistakable way.

One Mommy wrote a beautiful letter of recommendation for me in which she told all about many of the things I do for the kids which I’d thought had largely gone unnoticed. She listed so many of my ideas that reading it makes me feel very validated and valued. She’s also very artistically creative and makes fun goodies (t-shirts, little pillows, etc) for holidays which make them even more special. She also helps me with craft/gift ideas for my kids and their families.

One Mommy is a great giver of gifts. She often brings good food for me to share with the kids (fruit, chicken, cheese, etc). She’s also WONDERFUL at finding the treasures we need at garage sales or as curb-pickings. I never know what she or her husband will show up with from day to day, but we always appreciate it. A quick look around my playroom, lanai, and backyard reveals lots of things they have contributed.  She, also, makes holidays more fun by supplying fun activities that engage the kids (cookies to decorate, gingerbread house kit, etc).  I have not been good with the thank-you notes, but I hope she knows how much we do appreciate it all.

One Mommy is intellectually challenging to me and I love talking to her. She often stays to visit at pick-up time and sometimes gives me a different way of looking at things. Her perspective has helped me clarify, and even changed, my thinking on several parenting issues. She is very socially conscious, with a tender, caring heart and I always enjoy the time I spend with her. I know I can come to her with any cause or request and she will go out of her way to contribute or to help me.

My newest Mommy is out to make a positive difference in the world, and she absolutely will. I am sure her hard work and dedication will inspire me to be a better person.

Most of my Mommies have brought extended family to meet me and their child’s friends. This seems only natural since I feel related to them all anyway. I really do love their kids as if they are family and I’ve been told more than once that THAT is what makes my child-care so valuable. My MIL says, “They (the parents) know that they could pay someone three times as much money and not get better care for their kids. You can’t pay someone to love your kids while you work, and Diana… you DO!”

I consider all of these strong, beautiful women my friends and thank God for the little problem I had which led me to the lactation consultant at Bayfront (She was also a God-send to my life.), which led me to the New Mommies Group, which is where I met them all!

My dads are awesome, too. I think I write a different blog about them, though. This one’s just for the Mommies.