Working mom's blessing

As a working mom (during the non-summer months), I am absolutely dependant on childcare for my kids. Millions of moms are/have been in my situation. I have got to be one of the luckiest moms who use a childcare center but are blessed to have my two children loved & cared for like they are with family. Thomas started going to "CCN" when he was 6.5 months old and Abby has stepped into the hands of the same caring staff where we started way back then. CCN is a small facility with an extremely LOW turnover rate of teachers and teacher's aides. Matter of fact, all the lead teacher's have been there for a minimum of 7 years, and it goes up from there to approximately 15 years. The teachers LOVE their job and LOVE the kids. Like I said, Thomas and now Abby, have felt the kind of love and nuturing from the CCN staff as I could only hope he would receive from the closest of family & friends caring for them.

I know all of the teacher's/assistants as well as the director quite well. They are so friendly and focused on giving as much individual attention, instruction and care to each child as they possibly can. It warms my heart to know that these teachers help shape who Thomas & Abby are every single day. "Thank you" doesn't even begin to say enough.

A few months back, my good friend Beth asked about where I bring Thomas & Abby for daycare. After explaining how close it was, how convenient it is for me (who ends up being the main point of contact because of all of the TDYs/deployments Brian is on) and how personal everyone is at CCN - she was intrigued. I gave her the phone number and told her to ask for Ms. J, the director. Later that week, Beth came up to my classroom and had the most amazed expression on her face. She proceeded to tell me that she had just returned from a brief visit to CCN and was so pleasantly surprised to see what she saw. She explained that after introducing herself and inquiring about a possible opening for her son, she was welcomed with warm smiles and greetings throughout the building. She told me she purposely did not call ahead before coming because she wanted to see what went on "as is". She was given a tour and along the way, saw Abby in the infant room where she noticed she was invovled in 1-in-1 art with the lead teacher. Beth told me she was awe struck they would do that in the infant room. I, of course, was not surprised, but so pleased that she saw a glimpse into what I see everyday.

Then later on in the tour, she walked through Thomas' classroom where she saw something quite similiar where there was small group work with the teacher right on the ground in the middle of the kids "working, enjoying and teaching". Beth told me that she thought that is how is ought to be and was so excited to see that but was still amazed that it was happening in a childcare center where she was hoping to bring her son in the very near future. Once again, I gleemed with pride. That is where my children go each day and learn and are loved by all of those teachers.

My two munchkins are home with me now for the summer, but it won't be long before our summer vacation is winding down and we are heading back to school. With that, Thomas & Abby will head back to the teachers who love them. As a working mom, it brings such relief, warm-hearted feelings and true appreciation for the teachers at CCN. A huge thank you for another wonderful year.