A Dream Finally Realized

Almost exactly 7 years ago, I quit a very stressful and all-consuming job as the residential coordinator of a few group homes serving individuals with developmental disabilities.  My job was so stressful that I quit without finding another job.  I had built up enough leave (because I wasn’t ever able to take any time off!) that I had 6 weeks built up.  I was confident that I could find something in that time.  This was the first time I remember looking up the requirements to become an in-home daycare.

Obviously I found a different job and did not follow through with the in-home daycare idea at that time.  But, I came back to it several times at various points in my life.  Generally, I would revisit it as I became dissatisfied with my job or following the birth of one of our children. 

After Delilah was born, we had to reevaluate our childcare situation.  In order to afford to pay for childcare, I would have had to switch to work full-time, which made absolutely no sense to me.  Russell switched to an overnight shift, that way one of us was home with the kids at all times.  However, after about a year of working nights and getting up earlier than he’d like so that I could go to work began to wear on him and a new arrangement was necessary.  We knew that we wanted to have a third baby; therefore we didn’t want to make any drastic changes prior to that.  But, the idea kept lingering in my mind and I just couldn’t let it go.  Could I actually go through with my plan to become an in-home daycare?

Then an opportunity arose for me to watch a few kids in the morning before I had to go to work.  I thought this was a good plan because I could get me feet wet in regards to the whole daycare thing and I could make a little extra money!  I had such a fun time doing activities with the kids, and my kids liked having friends come over every day.  I really felt like I was on the right path.

Once I became pregnant with Ephraim it was time to start planning the transition.  We decided that it made sense to just quit my job when I would have left for maternity leave and start the daycare process.  It took a few months after he was born to get back on my feet.  This made me nervous and I did, at one point, worry that we would never get everything together.  But, we did.  And once the worker called to schedule an inspection, I was ready to go!  Actually, I think she was impressed with how prepared I was.  And all of our hard work paid off because we were licensed later that day!  Little Sprouts Clubhouse is officially open!

It’s a thing of beauty, isn’t it?

Ephraim is 5 months...and 6 days... :-)

Sorry, things have been a bit hectic and I got a little behind on E's monthly posts.  Eek!  So, as usual, my Buddha buddy is a big guy.  I recently found the stats from Jameson's 9 month appointment.  At that time, J weighed 18.8 lbs.  What??  Ephraim weighs over 19 lbs at 5 months!!  Craziness!  Anyway, as I posted earlier, Ephraim is a rolling fool.  He easily rolls from back to tummy, but he gets frustrated on his belly.  He CAN roll from belly to back, but he has to get mad first.  At bedtime, I let him his fuss for a little while, and he usually goes to sleep on his own.  However, it cracks me up because I'll lay him down with his head facing East on one side of the crib.  Then later, I will go check on his and his head will be facing South West on the completely other side of the crib.  Apparently he's really on the move, but only in secret!  :-)

Ephraim looooooooves attention.  He'll make noises until you look at him and once you do, he'll flash you his big gummy smile.  He also started doing what we call his "happy dance."  He'll shake his head back and forth super fast while flashing a huge smile.  It's pretty much the funniest thing that I've ever seen.  Ephraim seem to be a lover of music.  If he's not happy, he'll often cheer right up if one of his siblings sings to him or if Daddy plays the guitar for his.  At bedtime, I can get his to settle down and relax into sleep by singing softly to him.

Poor buddy has had a rough few weeks lately.  The kids have all been battling this upper respiratory junk for a while.  A couple of weeks ago it developed into a yucky cough.  All of that, plus he's working on his first tooth.  But really other than just before bedtime, he doesn't let it slow him down too much!

Next month, Ephraim will be 6 months and starting solid foods.  Simply unbelievable!

New Year, New Me!

I'm surprised by all of the hate toward New Year's resolutions that I have seen over the past few days.   It's funny to me because it goes something like this - I hate New Year's resolutions, but here are mine...  Honestly, I don't really get it. It's just coming up with a list of goals that you hope to accomplish in the next year.  It's up to you how lofty you want to make them or whether or not you actually follow through.  Maybe it's the life coach in me, but I feel lost if I'm not working toward something.  And although I don't think it's necessarily essential to make a New Year's resolution, I do think there is something cathartic about starting fresh and looking forward to a new year.

For me, 2012 was...educational.  It was a twisty, turvey, and at times, painful journey, but I believe that it ultimately led me right where I needed to be.  I also feel like, for the first time in a very long time, that I'm on a clear path toward becoming my ideal.  I take great comfort in both of these things.  In thinking about my resolutions for the New Year, I am struck by how different this year is starting than prior years.  In the past, I'd set the typical "I want to eat less, exercise more, and organize my house" -type resolutions.  But not this year!  I'm already well on my way with those things.  (Yay me!)

But here's the big area that I plan on focusing on in the coming year (and beyond) - myself.  I have always been a caring person.  In fact, I have been known to give and give to those around me at my own expense.  Up until this last year, I was under the misguided belief that people were inherently good.  I did anything in my power for the people around me and I truly thought that, if the situation arose, those people would do the same for me.  I was wrong.  A chain of unrelated events occurred this year that nearly brought me to my breaking point and I needed to rely on strength from my support system.  There was a very distinct divide between those who were willing to support me and those that were far more concerned about themselves and their own selfishness.

This discovery made me realize that I needed to get the negativity out of my life.  I came to the realization that I was more concerned about the needs of others more than my own.  I was sacrificing myself for the benefit of my circle of trust - no matter how poorly they treated me.  Once this all became clear to me, I decided that it was time to focus my energy on the positive and uplifting people around me.  I need to make myself a priority and treat myself as well as I treat others.  I'm to the point now that I've let go of the hurt and anger - which is HUGE for me because I have a tendency to hold a bit of a grudge (I'll pause to wait for anyone who has heard the story of my 8th grade solo to stop laughing...).  Anyway, I now know that their loss is far greater than anything I'm missing.  Because I have come to accept that I'm a good person and a fantastic friend and everything that went down was in no way a result of a flaw in myself...other than choosing to associate with negative people, I suppose.  :-)

So, the short story is that my resolutions are to continue what I'm doing.  I want to continue to track my food, make getting some sort of daily activity a priority, continuing to streamline and simplify my house, continue to put some effort into my appearance, to focus my energies on the positive people in my life, to continue cutting the toxic people out, and to continue treating myself with the love and respect that I show to others.

As you can see, 2012 was a wild ride for me.  I am so excited to see what 2013 has in store.  Happy New Year to you and yours!