Jack & Jill Dayhome - Riverbend

Halloween in the dayhome is a fun time.  I decorated with my "not too scary" ghosts and witches, as I have very little ones in my dayhome right now.  We read Halloween books and sang songs about it all for about 3 weeks ahead of time. We did simple little crafts and coloured pictures.  I wasn't sure how everyone would react on the actual "dress-up" day we have every year.  Sometimes kids get freaked out and don't even want to seen another child in costume.  Let alone me, in my bride of Frankstein get-up. 

So when little ones started arriving, some in costume and some with their costume in a bag, I was excited, but aprehensive. Needless to say, they were soooo cute!  When we finally dressed up everyone just after snack time, we had a great variety.  I put my costume on in front of them so they could see it was still me.  I even left the wig off, (my own hair is scary enough).  No one freaked out - it was wonderful! 

In the end, we had a pirate, a bunny, a kitty, a princess, a zebra,  and a clown.  No one cried, no one wanted their costume off before I could get pictures - not one problem!  It was so much fun we all dressed up again after the afternoon snack time again. 

So now that it's all over, I hate to take the decorations down because the kids are still enjoying them.  But I saw my first Christmas commerical on TV yesterday so now I guess we have to start learning Christmas songs, and doing winter crafts.  I can't wait to see the kid's react to Santa Claus!

Thanksgiving has already come and gone, but you would never know it in my dayhome.  Yesterday, I was trying to read our new Halloween library books, only I kept getting requests to read the Thanksgiving books that we  had been reading a lot these past couple of weeks.  Finally I relented and we were reading and singing "To Grandfather's House We Go" all over again. 

Kids really don't know or care what the calendar says - they know what they like and they want it now.  I wish that us adults could make things that simple.

My favourite time of day is when the kids are getting picked up at the end of the day.  I'll admit, part of it is that I am tired and ready for my own day to start.  But I really enjoy that few minutes of time I can spend with the parents as they pick up the kids.  Mornings are far too rushed to chat, but at the end of the day I can share what happened in their child's life that day, and they often share with me too.  Yesterday, J's mom told me he has been asking "where did the sky go?" now that it's dark earlier in the evening.  She tells him the sky went "night night".  How precious their innocent little questions are! 

I love my job!  This Thanksgiving I have had much to be thankful for.  I have a wonderful family and friends who love and support me.  And I have a job that suits my lifestyle and makes me happy.  I am truly blessed!

This is garbage day... a big day in the life of my dayhome - Jack and Jill Dayhome. 

The first thing K says when he gets in the door is, "garbage day!" How does he know this??  He is 23 months old - I'm the adult here and I usually forget it's garbage day. I know it's because when the garbage and recyling trucks come around, I announce "garbage truck!' and several little feet rush to my large back window and witness the truck collecting up and down the alley behind the house.  Some of the collection men are very cool and wave at the kids when they see all the little noses pressed against the glass.  And then it's over.  Big letdown.  Now we have to wait until next week.

This is my first blog entry in my first blog ever.  So why garbage talk?  I guess it's because it's the little things that make running a dayhome out of my house both crazy and wonderful. 

My goal for writing this blog is to share with whoever wants to know, just what life in a dayhome is all about.  I hope to enlighten parents who might be looking for a dayhome, as well as caregivers (or potential caregivers) who stumble onto this site.  I hope to give some practical hints about child care to those who don't have as much experience and want to grow or improve their dayhome.  And finally, I hope to encourage parents and caregivers because raising kids is a job that no one can do alone.

Even a friendly wave from a garbage collector can make a kid smile, and that makes my day a little bit easier.