Guaderia

In the soft morning sunlight the Arbolito guarderia seems to shine with excitement and wonder. The children rounding the corner with their parents catch a glimpse of their magical oasis and grow in excitement knowing that once they cross the purple threshold they enter into their very own special place. A place where the children are cared for on an individual basis, where they are given nutritious food and snack, where they have access to an education as well as a healthy environment in which to grow, and most importantly where they are treated with love and respect. At times I too have to stop myself and think “wow, this guarderia really is top of the line.” So for those of you who worked at the guarderia, or passed by it every day, or maybe knew a child who went there, know that it still is a peaceful, loving and positive place in the Arbolito community.

Now although I say that the guarderia is a peaceful place I would like to stress that I do not mean that one will find themselves at peace while inside the walls of the guarderia. In fact it's quite the opposite and rightfully so since 60 children, ranging from ages 2-4, will leave you drained of everything you have both mentally and physically. There is never a dull moment, and you can never let your guard down at the guarderia. Just the other day I was helping Diana, the maternal teacher, cut out classroom decorations while the children played with play dough. As we were working we heard a loud crashing noise from the bathrooms. We both stopped what we were doing and looked around the classroom to see if it was one of our “ositos” could have been making the noise. Within an instant Diana jumped up from her chair and ran to the bathroom.

Seconds later I heard Diana scream, “Eric, no!” When I ran to see what had happened I found Diana standing in the last stall with tiny 2 year old Eric. She had him by the hands with a shocked looked on her face, Eric had a mischievous grin. Diana looked at me and then pointed to the toilet. When I popped my head in I saw that the heavy porcelain toilet bowl lid had been cracked straight down the middle. Apparently Eric was lifting and then dropping the lid as hard as he could until it broke. Luckily nothing happened to Eric but now the guarderia is down one toilet and all the teachers are unsure of what to do with the “terremoto” that is Eric. The latest idea was to put a short leash on him and have him always connected to Diana, but that didn't seem to go over to well with some of the teachers.

The story of Eric is just one of many from my morning job at the guarderia. It seems as if every day the children are perfecting their mischievousness and shenanigans. If anything gets me out of bed in the morning it’s the knowledge that I will most likely come home with another endearing story about the chaos that is the guarderia.