Thursday
Karen stepped onto the fifth floor with a sense of wonder, all thoughts of the daycare far from her. She walked to her desk, deposited her purse, and floated down into her chair. She answered Judy’s questioning look with “I just got a call on my way here from Megan Wright. She was my best friend in junior high-- we were inseparable until her family decided to move to Ohio. Get this. She just called to say that she is in town and wants to meet for dinner tonight.”
Judy was so excited she actually clapped. “The gift of the Chinaman! Read me last night’s fortune again.”
Karen pulled the paper from her purse and read “Friends long absent are coming back to you.” She smiled and tacked the fortune to her board along with the others.
“So, I’m guessing you and Megan will be dining on Chinese food tonight?” Judy was alive with excitement.
“Yep. And maybe this time I’ll get riches!” She glanced down at her watch and the smile faded. “Oh. I better get down to the daycare. Wish me luck.”
**
Karen stared at the floor indicator at the top of the elevator, willing it not to stop on the second floor. She didn’t know how she was going to endure this. It’s not like she had any practice being around kids. None of her friends were even married yet. She only had one brother, and he was way too focused on making money on Wall Street to think about having kids, so there were no little nieces or nephews around.
The elevator doors opened, and she stepped out and walked over to the daycare. She decided to watch from the window in the door for a while first, to prepare herself for the kind of day she was about to have.
She watched little kids playing with toys, and noticed that the adults sitting amongst them appearing to be enjoying themselves. Seeing them so happy around kids made her think of her mother. Her mother thought that the entire reason to have children was to raise them up to be financially successful, and to have someone with whom to pass on the family legacy. They weren’t there to have fun with. Everything was about show for her mother, including the children. They were like trophies; something to show friends how successful you are as a parent. She often wondered if her mother would have stopped having children after her brother was born if it hadn’t been for her dad.
She watched the kids playing a few minutes longer, then decided that she had stalled long enough. She took a deep breath and opened the door, hoping that she would make it through the day in one piece.
Karen was exhausted by the time six o’clock finally arrived. She glanced to the window in the door and saw Judy standing there, holding her purse. She waved, then turned to the manager of the daycare. The manager told Karen she could leave, even though all the parents hadn’t come to pick up their children yet. Karen gratefully left, restraining herself from running out of the room.
“How was the daycare?” Judy asked as she handed Karen her purse.
“I’ve never felt more incompetent in my life. So many kids kept coming up to me for help with things. I know they came to me because they knew I didn’t know what I was doing. I swear, Judy, they were doing it just to torture me. They hate me!”
“They don’t hate you.”
“Yes, they do. This one kid, Jeremy, kept throwing things at me.”
“What kind of things?”
“Balls mostly.”
Judy smiled. “And how old was he?”
“I don’t know... two? Three maybe?”
“Karen, that’s just the kind of thing a kid that age does. It doesn’t mean he hates you.”
“Well, maybe,” Karen said. “But he wasn’t the only one. This little baby, Maggie, crawled over to me and then put her arms up for me to pick her up. So I did, and she spit up all over my jacket! And then this little boy Jared burped right in my face!”
“Really, Karen, all that is just normal kid stuff. Didn’t you ever babysit as a kid?”
“No. My mom said it wasn’t a good use of my time. It would take time away from my violin lessons or my art lessons or my french lessons.”
“Was there any part of it that wasn’t terrible for you?”
“No,” Karen said resolutely, then wavered a bit. “Actually, there was one little baby who was only about two months old, and she curled up in my arms, and I just looked at her and thought about how this little child didn’t have an ill will in the world. But that didn’t make up for Jeremy or Jared or Maggie.”
“Tomorrow will be better. Just tell Jared not to burp in your face, and ask Jeremy to tell you when he wants to play catch before he throws the ball.”
“Yeah. I just need to lay down the law with these kids.”
“You’ll do fine, really. Just go and have fun at your dinner tonight, and don’t even think about the daycare until tomorrow.”
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