Happy Time Daycare

Chapter 1
Chapter 1

Happy Time Daycare

Allison

I hadn’t seen my brother Darrel for weeks. I didn’t get along

with him well, he was shacking up with some dead beat woman with

a little girl. He was trouble, and I had spent a good deal of

time distancing myself from him. The only time I had seen him

was for the little girl, Alex’s birthday party which I was somehow

invited to. Having just turned 20, I was going to college part

time at the Junior College, and working the rest of the time at

Happy Times Daycare. I had been living with a classmate, Heather,

in a pretty nice house. Heather’s dad was a doctor, and he liked

to help us out, so it was a pretty decent three bedroom that had

belonged to Heather’s uncle (also a doctor) before he had upgraded.

Then last night I get a random call late in the night from

Darrel. He and his girlfriend had been arrested for DUI and

public intoxication and some miscellaneous minor drug charges.

They were going to have to spend a couple of months in the county

jail. The problem was, his girlfriend, Alicia, had no family,

and they had no where to send the Alex. She was spending the

night with a neighbor. He asked me if I would go by when I got

off work tomorrow. The neighbor was elderly and while she didn’t

mind keeping the little girl, Alex, for one night, she couldn’t

take her in for any amount of time. I normally wouldn’t have

done this for him, he wouldn’t have done it for me, but I already

felt sorry for the kid, and it is the first responsible thing I

have seen him do for a ling time.

Darrel spent a few minutes telling me about Alex, I had only met

her once... he said that Alicia had been home schooling her so I

wouldn’t need to take her to school, (I don’t now what he thought

I was going to do with her then). The little girl was 7 years old.

She was pretty small for her age and really sensitive about it.

I would have to pick up some clothes for her because the police

had the house locked up, but he promised to get me some money

(yea right). He concluded my little orientation by saying,

“oh yea, you better get you a rubber sheet, I have to go my time

is up.” I assume he meant she wet the bed. This is just what I

needed in my life. I didn’t know how I would explain it to

Heather.

The next afternoon when I got out of class, I went to Ms. Miller’s

house. She was Darrel’s elderly neighbor who was watching Alex.

I knocked on the door and a sweet old lady teetered over to the

door. I could see the little girl in the dining room coloring a

picture at the table. Ms. Miller politely, but quickly scooted

Alex out the door wishing me well. The girl was shy, but you

could also tell that she was ready to be out of there. I keep

saying little girl, but little isn’t quite descriptive enough.

I work at a daycare center that caters only to preschool aged

children. I have four year olds who are bigger than this girl.

She was adorable, but tiny o say the least. She had short dark

hair and eyes to match, you could tell that she had cleft palate

fixed early on that gave her a the look of someone a little

younger, and also, a bit of a lisp as well. I would never have

guessed that she was 7 in a million years.

I told Alex that she would be staying with me for a while, we

got into my red Volkswagen bug and headed to my house. That

was when two things hit me. The first was what to do with her

during the day while I was in class. She didn’t go to school,

so I could drop her off at Happy Time. My boss Sharon is a

stickler for the rules, but a sucker for a hard case.

The other thing that hit me was the smell. This sweet little

girl wasn’t quite so sweet. She reeked of urine. I asked her

if she slept in those close last night, to which she only

nodded. I figured this wasn’t the time to embarrass her about

the bedwetting so I just let it go. We would grab a snack at

the house and then I would get her a bath and some new clothes.

Alex

It was pretty late when Darrel and the police officer dropped me

off at Ms. Miller’s house. Darrel told me that his sister Allison

would be coming by the next day, I was really glad. Ms. Miller was

kind of a quiet creepy old lady who always yelled if the neighbors

dog played in her yard. She put me right to bed on a pallet in

her living room floor. Darrel didn’t have time to pack me some

clothes, so I just went to sleep in the clothes I was wearing.

When I woke up the next morning, the sheet was all wet. I had

accidents at night a lot, but usually my mom washed the sheets for

me and I just had a bath in the morning. This morning, I didn’t

have a bath, and I didn’t have any other clothes to wear.

Ms. Miller didn’t say nothing, just slipped them off and wrapped

me in a towel and threw my wet clothes into her dryer for 20

minutes while I ate some really gross corn flake thingys without

any sugar... blea. When she gave me my clothes back, they were

dry, but still smelled a little like my accident.

I was so excited when Allison finally got there that afternoon.

I had spent the day bored out of my mind. There aint nothing

to do at an old ladys house. I colored with a pen on a pad of

paper and watched her old black and white tv with her, some crazy

soaps or something really boring like everything else. I had

just finished some mac and cheese when Allison came up to the

door. She didn’t say anything about my mom and Darrel, just

that I was going to be staying with her and her roomate for a

couple of weeks. I had only met her once, but she seemed like

a lot of fun, and anything is better than old Ms. Miller.

Allison asked me if I had to sleep in these clothes last night,

and seemed a little mad that I didn’t have any clothes or a

toothbrush or nuthin, but told me on the way to her cool red

slug bug car that she would pick something for me later on.

Once we got into the car, Allison told me that it took about

fifteen minutes to get to her house, then she made a phone call.

I could hear her talking about me to the person on the other

line, she told them that I was small, duh, everybody knew that,

and something about getting me checked out by “her dad.” I

didn’t know what that meant, but it was a little scary.

It turned out to be not quite as scary as I thought. I guess

that Allison was worried about my size so she wanted me to get

looked at by a doctor. When we got there I first met Heather,

Allison’s roommate, and then Allison’s dad Fred who was a doctor.

We sat at the kitchen table and Fred asked some questions and

looked me over a little bit and wrote some stuff down, then he

started talking to Allison...

He explained to her that while some kids are just naturally

small, there are also several childhood problems that could

result in delayed growth or short stature. He drew some blood

(ouch) that would take a while to get back, but he figured I

had a pediatric growth hormone deficiency, he explained some

of the problems a kid who has it may have...

? Short height and or weight for his or her age (I was)

? Poor growth velocity (he didn’t know yet)

? A poor appetite (I always got in trouble for not eating)

? Delayed bone maturation (would have to take x-rays)

? Emotional or upset about his or her height or weight

(I guess I was)

? The child may have an immature facial appearance look,

appearing younger than other children his or her age because

of a small midface and frontal prominence (I did)

? Cleft lip and palate (I did)

? Delayed onset of puberty (didn’t know yet)

? Delayed tooth development (hadn’t lost any baby teeth yet)

Fred stood me up against the wall and used a tape measure to

see how tall I am...; and then on the bathroom scale to see how

much I weighed... Fred looked at some charts and said that at

7 years old: I was is 40 pounds, and that is at the 4th

percentile for weight. I was is 42 inches, and that is at

less than the 3rd percentile for height.

(http://pediatrics.about.com/cs/usefultools/l/bl_kids_centils.htm)

He said those numbers would be about average for a girl who was

around 4 and a half. I knew I was small, but not that small.

Then she also told him much to my embarrassment that I wet the

bed... I didn’t even know that she knew. Dr. Fred must have noticed

that I turned a little red, he just smiled a kind smile and

explained that 15 percent of girls my ages 3-7 wet the bed and

it just wasn’t something to be concerned about. Just get a

rubber sheet for the bed, some plastic pants and help remind me

to not drink much and to use the potty before bedtime. I would

probably grow out of it. He was more bothered by the fact that

I appeared to be malnourished and told her that it was important

that I eat well. After checking me out, he said that overall I

was pretty healthy, aside from not eating good and not to worry

too much about the size yet, he would look into the blood work

and he would see me again.

We all sat around the table and had some cool aid and Fred said he

would make me an appointment in about two weeks for a more thorough

checkup. He said that I might as well be healthy if I am going to

be staying with Ally... (she told me I could call her that). Then

Dr. Fred said his goodbyes.

After we left, Ally said she wanted to discuss what I would be

doing when she was at class during the day. She explained to me

that she worked for a daycare two days a week, and went to college

all day long the other three. She said that since she was an

employee, they would give her a huge discount, or even let me stay

for free if I wanted to, and it might be fun. It sounded exciting

at first but...

The problem was that this time of year, her daycare only had infants

to four year olds. Kids my age were usually in school all day, but

because of the homes chooling, I wasn’t. Still, she was sure her

boss, Susan, would take me.

There was no way she was going to get me to go to a daycare where

I was the only “grown up” kid who had to go to the “babies”

daycare... and I told her so. She said that was fine, she didn’t

know what she was going to do with me if I didn’t go to daycare,

but asked if I would look at some pictures of the place.

She showed me the daycare brochure...

It looked like a pretty fun place, it had pictures swings, and in

a sand box. Pictures of a nap area and lots of books and stuff.

Still I didn’t want to get made fun of for being the kid who had

to go to the baby daycare, even if I couldn’t think of anyone who

would know. I turned the brochure over, examining it from top to

bottom... There was also a schedule and some other boring stuff for

parents.

Happy Time Schedule:

7:45 Breakfast (if needed)

8:30 Change Diapers/Potty Time**

9:15 Snack time/Juice

9:30 TV Time/Free Play Time

10:00 Potty Time

10:30 Activity Time or Play Outside (Temp over 55?)

11:00 Change diapers

11:30 Lunch time

12:30 Change diapers/Potty Time

1:00 Nap Time

2:30 Change diapers/Potty Time

3:15 Snack Time/Juice

4:00 TV Time/Free Play Time

4:30 Change Diapers/Potty

** Diapers are checked every 1 1/2 - 2 hours or more frequently

if required and are changed when needed. Hand washing of myself

and child is performed after each change. .Ideally, it would be

great to have your child stay at home during the potty training

period, preferably until your child has been completely

accident-free for at least two weeks. However, since most parents

don’t have that option, Happy Times requires that the child

continue to wear diapers at daycare until "success" has been

achieved at home for at least two solid weeks of evenings and

weekends. This means no accidents at all at home for at least two

weeks straight.

Things to Bring:

The following items must be brought on the child’s first day at

Happy Time:

? Bottles/sippy cup/cup clearly labeled "with child’s name"

? Pacifier if used

? Change of clothes

? Diapers or two pairs of extra training pants

? Wipes

? Blanket or "comfort" item

Happy Time Play Activities:

Homeliving - Allows children the opportunity to dramatize the

biggest part of their world - HOME.

Reading - Children learn about the joy and value of reading through

experiences with books,

and activities.

Blocks, Beading, Lacing, Matching- Provides an opportunity to

problem solve and improve fine motor skills.

Puzzles - Allows children an excellent opportunity to practice

problem solving, fine motor skills, and hand-eye coordination.

Art - The children have the opportunity to creatively express

themselves while improving fine motor skills. They have access

to paper, paste, magazines, coloring books, paints, crayons,

markers, chalk, safety scissors and playdough.

Climbing/Swings/Slide - This is vital to the mastering of gross

motor skills.

This stuff all seemed like a lot more fun than I usually got to

have, but it didn’t matter, I wasn’t going to go and be the only

grown up kid... I always have to be different.

Then Allison asked, “Alex, what if none of the kids knew you were

older than them?”

Then she suggested that maybe I just tell the other kids I’m their

age. Then no one would make fun of me for being old. Also, for

a change, I would get to be bigger than the other kids for the

first time in my life.

That actually struck a nerve. I pondered it for a few minutes and

with just a little more convincing, and another look at the

pictures on the brochure, I agreed that that wouldn’t be that bad.

But there was a catch, I would have to act like I was their age so

no one would know the difference. Allison asked me if I could do

it. I asked her if she meant talking like, “thippy cup”

“Pee Pee” “Owie” “Pwease”... Things like that... she said that was

exactly what she meant. I would just have to watch the kids

around me and do what they do. After that, Ali ran to Walmart

for some new clothes. I sat down with Ali’s roommate, Heather,

and I had a bath, put on one of her “huge” tshirts, and we watched

spongebob a while.

Gosh she bought a lot of clothes.

Some Jeans, footie sleepers, Two dresses, two overalls, two

shortalls, a couple of shirt/short sets and some underwear... I

almost couldn’t believe it when I saw it.

“Those are training pants Alison!” “I know sweety, but if we are

going to make them think you are young, you have to dress the

part.” “Besides, I’m not telling you to pee your pants.” “and

you know you have some troubles when you are asleep. This way if

you have a problem when you are taking a nap it will be ok.”

I hadn’t thought about having to go to sleep at daycare, and she

could tell by the look on my face.

“it is only a little pee. I have to clean up pee all day long,

no big deal. Sometimes it seems like all I do is deal with peed

in diapers. If you do have an accident, I promise no one will

make a big deal out of it.”

Before she left, Allison looked at my clothes to see what size she

should buy... size 4, and headed off. When she got back from the

store, all the clothes she got were size 4T. I learned later,

that the “T” designation was for “toddler” and the difference in

the sizes was that they were fuller in the bottom/crotch area that

will fit my new thick underwears better, and many items had snaps

up the legs or in the crotch.

I wasn’t convinced, but I was so tired. Allison helped me into

some training pants and got me tucked in. I was out like a light.

Allison

When I woke her up, Alex had soaked the bed. The one thing I had

forgotten at Wal-Mart was a mattress protector. I might even

have to get her some pull-ups.

Well she may be adorable, but Alex aint a morning person. She was

about the sleepiest thing ever in the morning and I really didn’t

have time for it. I had forgotten to change my alarm so I would

have time to get her ready for daycare. I just went ahead and

did it all for her. She just kind of groggily went along with it.

No time for a bath, I just dried her off with a towel and changed

her training pants. Got her dressed in some cute jeans and a

t-shirt and carried her to the car.

I had called Susan last night and fibbed about Alex’s age. They

were expecting my almost 4 year old niece. Alex didn’t disappoint

either, believe it or not, she was actually sucking her thumb when

I carried her through the door. I quickly introduced her to my

friend Stephanie who was working today and and then walked into

the play area and sat her down in front of the tv with another

toddler and went to sign her in. I gave Steph her bag (extra

clothes, underwear, wipes etc.), answered a few quick questions

for the intake form, told her to take care of my girl and I was

out the door... late for trig class.

Alex

Stephanie asked me if I Happy Time looked like it would be fun...

afraid to speak and still a little sleepy, I just nodded my head.

Allison sat me down in front of the tv. I stared at her as she

talked to Stephanie for a few seconds and then the Wiggles caught

my eye. I watched them through the end of one song and I must have

dozed back off. When I woke up, I quickly looked back toward where

Allison had been... I couldn’t see her... Stephanie had began helping

a little boy with a coloring project...

I realized that Allison was gone. I looked around, I was all of

the sudden terrified, I could feel my heart race... I had no memory

of ever being this scared before. I couldn’t do this. I wasn’t

good enough to put on this act. The tears came.

“Oh no... Alex are you ok sweety?” I heard Stephanie say in a rather

complaining voice.

She saw it before I did. I was sitting in a puddle. I had not

been there for twenty minutes and I had already done the one thing

that could really convince them that I was a toddler... I had

“pee peed” in my pants.

This wasn’t right, I thought, Im not really a toddler, I’m seven,

I can read. Stephanie came over picked me up by the arms and said,

“come on little girl, your aunt Allison told me you were potty

trained. We better get you changed. Do you need to sit on the

potty?”

I didn’t think I did... all I could do was shake my head no... Tears

were streaming down my cheeks.

“sure you do, big girls like to sit on the potty to tinkle. I want

you to sit on the potty for me.”

We had gone back into a back room. In a quick swoop, she had my

shorts off of me and I was naked from the shirt down. I saw the

chair right before she sat me down on it.

Miss Stephanie just stood there smiling at me. I would have to say

that it was the most embarrassing thing ever if she hadn’t just

taken off my pants that I had just peed in. And I had done it

first thing. Apparently Allison had brought a bag with some extra

training pants and some shortalls. At first I thought she expected

me to have an accident, then I remembered from the brochure that

all kids had to have a spare set of clothes. At Happy Time, they

have a washer and dryer and if the kids have an accident, they

clean the clothes and put them back for the next time... I didn’t

have to wait long.

The rest of the day was going great... we had fun activities... a lot

of the kids were fun to play with, and I was the biggest one so I

got to be the boss. The worst part was potty time. They didn’t

even ask you if you had to go, you would be playing and someone

would pick you up and next thing you knew... no pants and you were

down on the potty chair...

Then came naptime... right after lunch we had potty time and they

laid us all down on cots. It had been an exciting day and I was

tired, out like a light. Like always, I peed in my sleep. I woke

up and noticed... all Stephanie said was uh oh and we repeated the

procedure from before getting me changed back into my jeans.

Allison

When I got to Happy Time, Stephanie carried a smiling Alex to me at

the door. All she said was, “She is a sweety, plays nice with

everyone. But potty trained huh... you got the letter.”

Oh no... I knew what the letter was. I had written the letter to

other kids parents. I certainly didn’t expect to be getting it

for a 7 year old in my charge though.

Then Stephanie said, "Susan thought this might help, so she started

it today to send home..." and handed me a Dora the Explorer Potty

training chart with Alex’s name on it and stickers to show her

triumphs and failures for the day...

(to be continued)

 

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