Catch-Up

It's been a while since I last blogged and I thought I better take some time to catch-up on the last couple of weeks. I must say that time has flown by so quickly. I haven't mentioned much about my new job since I started, so I will tell you a little about how that is going.

When I took the director position at the daycare, I knew that things were in pretty tough shape there. I just didn't realize how screwed up every aspect of it was!! My first major change was to increase the tuition and change most of the payment policies. I can't believe that the hourly rate for childcare was only 40 cents more than 15 years ago. We did lose several families due to the increase (and I feel bad about that) but we can't give our service away for free.

We've been slowly purchasing equipment and toys to replace worn out stuff. We just got cots that are more sanitary to store than the old ripped up mats they were using. I can't believe how excited the kids got over "new beds". We also bought a toy kitchen set with dishes and pots and pans. Arranging the room into learning centers and switching out the toys has also helped reduce behavior problems.

We have a long way to go to be considered a "quality" childcare center, but we are slowly making progress. Most days I really enjoy my job. When I get home in the evenings, I struggle to get my mind turned off and usually look forward to going to work each day. The downside is that I have a hard time figuring out how to get laundry and housework done when I am gone so much. Mostly I miss not seeing Jeff all day every day like I have for the past 2 1/2 years.