Spoiled

It's a New Year, and while all my blogging friends are writing about their goals for the new year, their favorite memories of the past year, and all things related to resolutions and goals, I'm going to share with you a story.

Once upon a time there was an old, crotchety daycare worker. (Maybe not as "old" nor as "crotchety"as she feels sometimes, but no young Spring bird, either.)

This "daycare mom," as she called herself, found herself to be working overtime every week for more than a year. She didn't mind so much - for she loved her job.  The days were often long, and sometimes very hard, but they were always fun and rewarding.  Time always passed quickly in this dayhome, because the daycare mom made sure that everybody stayed busy with crafts, activities, music, and books.  Boredom was not allowed here, and neither was watching TV nor playing unsupervised. 

Over the course of a year or two,  the daycare mom somehow surrounded herself with some really generous, Christian, child-loving people. And these people became her employers, her partners on the job, and her very best friends.  She felt "lucky" to be so well situated in her business, but more than just "luck" she knew she was blessed. 

The daycare mom was always showered with compliments about how well she did her job. She took pride in her work, but never felt very deserving of all the love and attention she would get from the people around her. In particular, the parents of the children she cared for on a daily basis were always quick to show love and appreciation for all the hard work that this daycare mom put in.

Despite the daycare mom's love and passion for child-created arts and crafts, there was one winter season where the children were coming home empty-handed, with nary a craft to show off for mom and dad.  The daycare lady felt badly about this - but getting projects completed just seemed nearly impossible -- with child illnesses lingering, winter weather storms brewing outside (thus, much pent up energy exhibited by the wee ones, which requires more large motor activities and less planned, thought-out crafts), and other contributing factors. The daycare mom actually sent all four daycare kiddos home on the Wednesday before a Friday Christmas without even a gift to put under the tree... neither for the child's parents nor from the daycare mom to the child.  This really threw the daycare mom into a tizzy - she felt so awful for having neglected the spirit of Christmas juuuust enough to fail to present any gifts for the children to take home for sharing on Christmas day.

While the daycare mom just continued to procrastinate and pout about all this, the real meaning of Christmas hit her right upside the head, between the eyes, and delivered a blow so gently hard that she wept for nearly two days.  You see, while the daycare mom was stressing out and getting sad about her wee little clients not having gifts from her under their trees at home, the parents of those wee little clients were bustling behind the scenes to provide a very special gift for the daycare mom.

The next Monday (the first working day after the Christmas holiday, mind you) the daycare mom started her day like any other.  It was a bit strange because more than half the clients had called off for the day - either due to illness or a just a change in scheduling plans.  But, that wasn't going to stop the daycare mom from doing her job - and so she planned, sanitized, cleaned, prepared, and greeted her day just like any other day on the job.  Little did she know, that in just a few hours - she was going to be whisked away by a very good friend and treated to a full one-hour massage, a paid-for lunch at one of her favorite restaurants, and a lovely pedicure to finish the day.

Indeed the parents who employ daycare mom took it upon themselves to plan a whole day of pampering and showering with love for daycare mom.  Arrangements were made for the children who were to be in care that day, gift certificates were bought, massage appointments were made, timing and logistics were arranged, and all of this conspiring took place with very little hints to the daycare mom, which made the whole pampering day even more special. No worries were bestowed upon daycare mom - all arrangements were decided upon and daycare mom's only duty was to go - be pampered - have fun - and enjoy.

Imagine the appreciation and love that was felt that day.  And, really, every day henceforth.  Daycare mom finds herself feeling inadequate and yet inspired to work harder, play better, organize smarter, and plan more so that she can do her job even better now than before.

The gift of appreciation and love that poured out from the children's parents to the daycare mom was unmeasurable.  After the day of being pampered and spoiled, the daycare mom enjoyed a long (planned) weekend vacation with her family during the week between Christmas and New Years - and found herself, all the while, reflecting fondly of her friends and co-workers.... wondering how she could ever express her gratitude properly.  She's not just thankful for the day of pampering - but she's so indebted to her caring friends and is overwhelmed by their thoughtfulness.

And now, it's been nearly a week since daycare mom has been submerged in any kind of routine or consistency, and daycare mom is anxiously waiting for Monday so that she can see all the children and get back to work.  Daycare mom can't wait to earn her distinction as the best darn daycare provider in all the land. She can't wait to work hard and show herself that she is, indeed, worthy of all the sweet gestures bestowed upon her.  And most of all, she can't wait to show her gratitude to her employers by just being a stellar employee while doing what she loves to do...



.... To Be Continued