This past Summer, I worked at a child development center. However, this was no ordinary child development center, this was the same center that I attended when I was little. My mom worked there and now I work there. A woman who worked with my mom about twenty years ago is working me. Part of my childhood is now a major part of my current life and my future career.

First off, and the most obvious point as to why I love working at the development center, is that I love kids. I love their energy. They build me up. I can come to work feeling tired and lethargic, and within twenty minutes, I am wide awake. I love jumping up and down with them, dancing and doing yoga with them, and leading them in physical activities. These kids know how to make you smile. They know how to make you laugh. I love when I am greeted with hugs.

Another reason I enjoy working at the daycare center is because it challenges me. As much as I love playing with the kids, sometimes my patience is challenged when they fight with one another or if they are whining. It can be difficult to maintain patience when you are feeling overwhelmed, but it weeds out those who are able to work with kids and those who can not. I have learned many different strategies to managing classroom behavior. One strategy that I have learned to deal with whining kindergarteners is to use “whine straws.” Each kid starts with a certain number of straws, and if they whine, a straw is removed. At the end of the week, the straws are counted and the students are rewarded based on how many straws remain.

One of my favorite rooms to work in was the baby room. Some days were definitely more challenging than others. Some days, it seemed like the crying would never stop. Talk about headaches. Other days, all the little ones wanted to do was cuddle and play. My favorite part about working in the baby room was laying on the floor and playing with the kids. I loved playing peek-a-boo with the infants. Seeing their smiles when you appeared from underneath the cloth was the absolute best. There was no way to frown when they have those big old grins on their faces. I can’t lie though, some days I question how I will be with my own kids when I have them because sometimes I just don't think I am doing a good job, but other days reassure me that I will do just fine.

I loved working at the child development center. It brought back so many fond memories from my childhood, and I am confident that I will be successful in the future as an educator.