First: Even though I’ve been a family childcare provider for 17 years and LOVE outdoor play, I’ve never owned a pair of rubber boots. Puddle jumping was something I watched the children do. This summer I finally bought my first pair of rubber boots so I got to jump in puddles too;
Second: Taking pictures with a phone, in the rain, while jumping in puddles is not easy. Mainly that is because, as technologically savvy as I am with a computer, my ‘smart’ phone baffles me. I owned the thing for three months before I successfully answered a phone call before it got sent to voice mail – and I still can’t figure out how to retrieve voice mail.
While I was trying to get the puddle pictures from my phone to my computer (don’t ask how long that took) I found some other pictures that I had forgotten about – here is one of them;
Three: I forget a lot of things – it is scary sometimes. If anyone out there is still waiting for me to do something…you might want to send me a reminder.
Four: September was a tough month for me. Getting back into the school routine is always rough but this year ALL my babies turned two and I had an empty space which turned out to be very difficult to fill – and then suddenly several people wanted it and I had to say no to some of them. That was hard.
Bookkeeping was hard too. Three infants moving to preschool, three school-age children moving from full days to just before/after school, and one empty space meant that my September income was almost half what my August income had been – and I worked the same number of hours.
My husband got another pay increase this September. As a school bus driver he is gone for about 7 hours per day including his travel time to/from work. That’s about half of my workday. In September he made just $2 per day less than I did. I found that depressing. Luckily I don’t like driving and I love my job more than money.
I don’t have to deal with traffic and I get to play outside. Jumping in puddles, collecting leaves, laughing – those things are worth more than money. Just look at this;
That structure hasn’t fallen – it was built like that on purpose and I got to watch every step of the process. That is pretty amazing. Those are the things that get me through months like September.
Confession Five: I love the short days of fall and winter. I love getting up when it is dark outside. I love the cooler temperatures and cozy evenings. I love the time to reflect and the time to plan.
