May as well be a good place...

I have Mark* and Maycee* this year.

Mark is in 4th grade, Maycee in 2nd. They're nice kids, although it took a little work to get Mark to come directly to my program after school instead of wandering to the pickup area to hang out with his friends.

They were playing together this afternoon, and Mark told me that I have "a lot of cool toys here."

I agreed. Told him that I find a lot of great stuff at Goodwill. Maycee said, amazed, "You buy things with your own money?"

"Sure do." I told her. "I like to have stuff around for you guys to have fun with."  Then I told them about my own day care experience as a kid.

There was a lady who went by the name of Beezy, I don't know what her real name was. She wasn't mean to us. She just wasn't really engaged with the kids she cared for. There was nothing for a snack after school. There weren't many toys. There were no art projects. We just got there and... waited.

I sat next to the front door on the couch with my coat on and waited for my mom.

"So," I finished, "I decided that if I was going to do day care, it would be a fun place for kids to be. That they'd be able to enjoy their time after school."

Mark smiled up at me from the rug he was sitting on. "And look!" he said. "Your dream came true!"

How cute is that? :)

When their mom arrived and showed an interest in what they were doing, Mark told her my little day care story.

She told me that her husband had been hesitant to enroll them in a large group day care because of his own experiences as a child in an after-school program. "But John and Addie's mom said that they just love it here. That you're amazing. So we decided to give it a try. We haven't been sorry, that's for sure. The kids just love it. They never want to leave when I come to pick them up. I used to try to rush to get out of work so I could come rescue them from their day care. I would go pick them up and then go to the grocery store because as much as they hate grocery shopping, they hated day care more. Now I can stop at the store on my way here and know that they're having fun and that I can take my time. I appreciate what you do SO much."

And that, my friends, is a performance review I can live with.