I’ve just come back to work after a week at home with a four-year-old boy.
It’s rather restful.
In spite of the fact that I have numerous emails to read, stories to write, and some phone calls to return, and more than a few projects to start, I’m feeling quite at ease.
I don’t care what anyone says — a week at work is far less taxing than a week of building a fort out of blankets, pretending to be a cat, or building a snowman, among many other activities.
Samuel and I made (and ate) cookies, invented wild stories of travelling across the country in a hot-air balloon, and pretended to be farmers, with a menagerie that included pigs, monkeys, and a tiger.
We read at least 20 different books during the course of the week, watched a variety of VeggieTales stories, and also made a trip to the Wings of Paradise butterfly conservatory, where Samuel spent most of his time counting the turtles in the pond. (We saw three. Apparently, there were five.)
All in all, it was a wonderful, if exhausting week.
It made me realize just how amazing the women are who look after my child on a regular basis.
While it took all of my energy to engage and entertain my son, they do it each and every day — and have many other children in their charge at the same time.
I don’t know how they do it.
They handle disputes with grace and dignity. They lovingly deal with scraped elbows and bruised hearts. They encourage imaginative play, but also take the time to teach. The reason my son can already spell his name has as much to do with them as it does me.
And I know this. While I enjoyed my week at home, it would be very hard for me to spend all day, every day, at home with my son.
I love Samuel, but I also love my job. There were days at home that felt long, where I wanted some space and time to myself, or to think about larger issues than what was for lunch.
Yet there were also moments of great joy and fun, of laughter and happiness.
These were the moments when I let myself act like a child, and forgot about all the “important” things I had to do.
When my holiday was over, however, I was happy about two things: the chance to get back to the job I love, and the fact that I have a great place to leave my son, each day I am at work.
For everyone who daily works with children, thank you. You are giving a great gift to the world, by helping us raise our little treasures.
Know you are appreciated — both by your charges, and their parents.