Hi, I’m Sarah. I am 19 years old, and I spend the majority of my time hanging out with people who have yet to say a word that isn’t gibberish. I am a babysitter and day care worker, and I couldn’t be more thankful for the opportunity to be apart of these kids’ lives, even if it’s only for a short time. I can wholeheartedly and truthfully say that I have been taught more by taking care of them than I could ever teach them in our time together.

I got my start taking care of babies in the nursery of my church. The process seemed simple enough: Be there when parents drop off their children, supervise playtime, serve the kids a snack, and maybe help with a craft. Easy, right? WRONG. I swear I’ve never been more wrong in my life, and I realized this as I was failing to get super glue off of an Optimus Prime toy. Suddenly, the parents couldn’t get out of worship fast enough. And it wasn’t because the kids were bad; it was because I underestimated what it means to care for someone every second of every minute. My first group of kids in the nursery taught me the fundamentals of babysitting: patience, love, how to get lost in make-believe, patience, patience, and MORE PATIENCE.

My time in the nursery offered an opportunity to work at a Mother’s Day Out, caring for a class of 3-year-olds all by my lonesome. To say I was excited was an understatement; I had graduated from high school the week before and wanted a summer job I would love. I was also ready for the responsibility of having nine toddlers under my care. It was like having nursery duty all day long, and I learned how to care for kids in a whole new way. I wasn’t used to being held accountable for a child’s well-being in such an important way before. It was perfect for me; I wouldn’t have spent that summer with anyone else.

I am currently a work-study at the University Day Care, and I couldn’t have been offered a better work-study position. When college is just too much and I need stress relief, I go to work. I know when I walk in the door that I’ll be greeted with a huge grin, complete with drool, from 10 toddlers. They just light up my whole day! I also work with the best people I could have asked for. I met one of my current roommates at work last year, and she is one of my favorite people to babysit with because of our background at daycare. It’s an experience that brings you closer to people than you would have thought possible, and it’s all because of the children.

From the good, to the bad, to the ugly, day care work is 100 percent worth it. It’s worth every scream, tear, spit up, throw up, poopy diaper, and everything else in-between. The struggle of taking care of other peoples’ children isn’t the temper tantrums, but the feeling of handing them back over to their parents. I know that I’ll see them again soon, but they always take a piece of my heart with them. That’s when I remind myself that it’s worth it, because one day a day care worker will be handing my own child back to me.