A Do-Over Kind of Daycare Day

Remnants of a rather challenging daycare day were awaiting me this morning.

I got up at 5:00 a.m. so I would have a chance to scrub down the couch that needed to dry out before I could even begin the process of cleaning. Hopefully three towels worth of "blotting", a generous sprinkling of Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda, covered up with a beach towel in between all the cracks and crevices of the two cushions and back of the couch, did their job of wicking up any moisture left in a urine-soaked couch last night.

I followed this up by scrubbing down the infected affected areas with a 50/50 solution of hot water and rubbing alcohol and hoping this does the job so the couch may survive yet another "day at daycare".

I did what any mother would do, to test the effectiveness of my work thus far. I unzipped the couch cover, felt the inside of the cushion for any sign of wetness and then nuzzled my nose into said "insides" and did a smell test. I am not a cat, nor do I have a black light to support my theory, but this fifty five year old nose has given it the go ahead. The couch has been saved to face another day.

My first thought yesterday afternoon was "We NEED a new couch!" But thirty minutes into the blotting and washing of said couch and child, my saner and wiser inner voice revealed the true answer "WHY?! Because this is just going to happen again and again and again. You run a daycare. Remember??"

Is it really any wonder that I want to turn one area of our home into a daycare-free zone??

I wondered why I am loving my new "suite" downstairs so much. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that I can sit down at the end of my day on a couch that has no trace of children's urine, vomit, saliva nor nose juices. Sure, I may be covered in cat hair and who knows what "dog history" this lovely little portion of a sectional couch may have in its history. But it doesn't scream "daycare" to me.

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I walked away from this and came back with the memory of what was happening when my fully trained, almost three-year-old, with a full bladder was doing when this happened. I think she was annoyed because she didn't get the first turn on the iPad. She was sitting beside her buddy, waiting for her turn when "this" happened. Instead of getting a turn on the iPad, she got a bath and a time out while I cooled off (honestly, I think time outs are for the sake of the care-givers). All I can wonder is "Who won that round?"

Oh, the joys of running a daycare. There are a lot of them but yesterday was a "day" of spilt milk, dropped bowls of Alphagetti, running in circles and much challenge.

When is it going to be summer again?