Two Steps Back ... One Step Forward

Sometimes ... you have to take a step back in life.

In my case, I am going back in time. Back to a life which had its share of limitations, frustrations and drawbacks. But it was a life that fulfilled me. It was a life that enabled me to feel in control of my own destiny. It was a life where I took time to stop and smell the roses.

I am reopening my daycare.

Yes, I ventured out into this brave new world. I educated myself in more ways than simply going back to school. I tested the waters in a few new areas. I learned a lot. I grew alot. I will never regret trying. But after two years of giving it my best shot, I am going back to a life where the rewards were small but plentiful.

I will see the world through children's eyes once again. I will sit and absorb the small wonders of the world through eyes where everything is new and exciting. I will take what I know, take what I've learned over the course of the past few years and bring it with me into my new and improved daycare.

My daycare has mission statement: Infants to Independence. A one-stop-shopping kind of deal. A daycare where I grow right along with the children who come here. Right up until the time comes that they no longer require daycare.

I took one additional step back in time and signed on to deliver flyers to our neighboring streets. The minute I stepped onto the curb with my cart full of papers and headed out, I knew that it was exactly where I needed to be.

I walked down familiar streets and for the first time in a very long time, I appreciated the view. I reminisced about the many times I walked these very streets with my daycare family in tow. I walked past house after house after house where my daycare families live (or used to live). I remembered that my daycare years were the years that I truly started to feel like I belonged in my neighborhood.

I talked with neighbors. My Youngest Son joined me on my second time out (I had the opportunity to deliver Saturday's paper on Friday) and we ran into a family that I used to babysit for. We stopped on the street and talked for an hour.

It may look like I'm going backwards. But after two years of testing other waters, I know that I am finally moving forward again.

This feels like a good fit for me. I feel like I have truly come home again ...