An Open Letter to my Childcare Provider – Mommy Blogger

10/31/2018

I’m a 24-year-old wife and new mom to our daughter “Baby G”, as I refer to her in my blogs.  She is the new adventure in our marriage and the smile bringer to our everyday.  She is the main character in my stories lately, as she teaches me something new every day.  I love writing about her and the everyday happenings of mommy life, so I’m extremely excited to join this blogging group!

Dear Childcare Provider,

There are some jobs I really hate.  Cleaning bathrooms: it’s the job I find absolutely no joy in and dread having to do.  I’ve heard people say they like the sense of accomplishment this horrible job provides in the end, but I don’t see past the annoying scum that needs way too much muscle power to come off and the smell of rubber gloves that sticks with a person for way too long.  Or vacuuming out the vehicles: Picking fish crackers out of the cracks of the seats and washing pint-sized boot marks off the back of our seats isn’t rewarding in my mind.  If it wasn’t for my husband’s talent for cleaning vehicles, I would probably pay good money for this job to be done by someone else.  In fact, I pay money for all kinds of jobs I don’t like to do myself.  I pay for oil changes, for dry cleaning, for sprinkler blow outs- the list goes on.

But to my child’s care provider, you aren’t like the guy who changes my oil at the Great Canadian, or the company I pay to come winterize my sprinklers.  They do jobs I don’t want to do and would rather pay someone else to.  You, however, provide a service I really enjoy doing.  You do a job for me that to be totally honest, I’d much rather do myself than pay someone else to do.

Dropping my little girl off isn’t like driving away from a vehicle shop, in a moment where I think to myself, “I’m so glad I didn’t have to do that myself”. I have a nagging at my heart every time I drop her off, wishing it was me doing this job all of the time.  I’d like to be the one encouraging the outrageous stories she tells while she plays playdough.  I’d much rather be the one sitting beside her having lunch and talking about Paw Patrol.  I’d prefer if it was me getting all sandy in the sand box with her outside.  But I pay you to do all these things, because in our fast paced world of mortgages and RESP’s, and the knowledge that it will cost more than all our current assets combined to put our little one through college someday, this is just how it is.

You’re also the one, child-care provider, who puts her well being before anything else.  You’re the one who thoughtfully makes her feel special and comfortable and happy while I’m at work.  You’re the one who allows me to feel calm and anxiety free while I can’t be with my little girl, because you, child-care provider, do one amazing job.

The guy who changes my oil, and the company who winterizes my sprinklers provide services I don’t want to do, and also jobs that although important, I really don’t care that much about.  You, childcare provider, do a job that matters to me more than any other single thing in the whole world.  The care you take for my daughter is worth more than anything else.

Know that I value your service way beyond anything else I pay other people to do.  You take tiny little humans into your home and give them a happy, healthy, safe place to be while us moms and dads are at work, and for that I couldn’t be more thankful.

Thank you

Thank you

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Her mom