30 Minutes or Less...

Ready, Set, Type!

I have thirty minutes before my beloved Joe steps out for a game of cribbage at the pub, leaving me to continue the day-long care of our son. We've been busy, too. This morning we went to our Monday playgroup.On the way home we stopped off at an elementary school and I sat down to cool my heels and my brain while the dear Kiddo poked a stick into the drainage holes in the wall by the basketball court. It was nice to just relax as he toodled about on the grass and a nice way to pass a little time before heading home to lunch and a very long, protracted attempt at napping. It did finally happen and I worked on a bit through this Reggio-Emilia-based book that is helping me reevaluate and reconsider my nursery-school-to-be.

Mapping out one's future professional digs seems like it should be easy, but truth be told, it's a challenge when the environment isn't actually in physical existence. This book is about rethinking the present situation, and I don't have a present situation as yet. At the moment, I can tell you what I do have: a sink of dishes, leftovers from dinner already in the fridge, and a living room that needs a bit of a pick-up and sweep. Oh, and Dad and Child playing atonal guitar to that d*mned Crowded House cd, again.

Maybe they'll get motivated and clean up for Mama? Yeah, right.

Tomorrow I start the first baby steps of getting my school (which doesn't yet exist anywhere but in my head) licensed. I'm taking an "Overview" class, which will hopefully get me pointed in the right direction. I've been really impressed with the classes that are being offered through the state's child care division, but found the information on the State Registry a bit disappointing. The Oregon Registry is a way to formalize the trainings/classes/degrees one has in Early Childhood Ed and Human and Social Development, and from what I could see, there doesn't seem to be any way to get credit for the past seventeen-odd years that I've been doing this. I can see why not, really, but that mountain of books I've read doesn't seem to count, either. I'll be interested to see if there's any sort of equivalency evaluation that would further my standing, but from the looks of it, right now I'm at big old Step Zero.

I have to laugh, in a way. I think of all the women who care for children who are just wonderful and referred through word-of-mouth and have no use for licenses and registries. Legitimizing the business is great, but I do wonder how/if hands on experiences and excellent references can count for anything on paper, when they count for everything when someone is placing their little one in your hands. The trust and partnership between caregivers and their families can't be measured and are of value beyond belief.

So, for those of you interested (if anyone is), I'm hoping to document this licensing process on this blog. Maybe it will inspire someone who feels a bit daunted by the process; I know that there are moments when I've wondered what the heck I'm doing starting this business, but that's to be expected when you are following your heart's dream. Okay, maybe my heart's dream is to have this space not be in my home, but that dream takes a little more capital than we have at present. Renting another space is part of our 3-5 year plan for the business, and it's going to be a great day when the living room looks like ours again instead of a mini-CDC.

Wish me luck! Wish me attentiveness and an imperviousness to being overwhelmed and discouraged! Oh, and a good night's sleep.

Ding! My thirty minutes are up. Off to take Kiddo for a walk...