January 16th - Meredith

One of the joys of parenthood, as I've discovered so far, is the midday call from daycare saying that your child is sick and you need leave work to come get them.  I work about 30 minutes away from Elliot's daycare, so when I've gotten that call I get a little frantic because I'm worried that things will only get worse during the time it takes me to get there.  Most of the time, the calls are nothing more than the fact that he's running a fever.  The worst call I got was when he got his finger caught in the door and was currently on his way to the ER (that was a rather white-knuckle drive home).

I got a call yesterday from Elliot's daycare, Partner's In Childcare, and luckily it was of the "not feeling well" variety. When I got there he was already down for his nap, which was a good sign that he was already on his way to feeling better.  While I was there, I realized that Meredith, his teacher, takes care of one of the two most important people in my life, and I had never really talked to her.  We'll say "hi" in the mornings when I drop Elliot off, and she'll tell me how his day went if she's still there in the evening when I pick him up (Meredith usually leaves in the afternoon and another shift takes over).  But that's about it. I made use of nap time to talk with her yesterday.



Meredith

Meredith is one of the primary teachers in the Toddler 2 room, which Elliot moved up to after the first of the year.  I've seen her around the daycare for about as long as Elliot has gone there (April will be Meredith's one year anniversary of working there). She's always got a smile on her face, and is always on the go (for how much Elliot keeps us on our toes, I can only imagine what a whole classroom of kids can do to you).

Meredith was born and raised here in Greensboro.  Her parents still live in the home where she grew up, which is about 5 minutes from where she lives now.  She has one daughter, who will be thirteen in March. "She already acts like a teenager, she's just not official yet!" she said, laughing ruefully.

Lars: How did you get into childcare?

Meredith: I have been doing it for 20 years, I love it.  I love children.  Unfortunately, I only got to have one because of a variety of reasons.  But now, I get to have all of these other children throughout the day and that I can love on and guide and teach...and then send home so I can sleep!



What's a meal that reminds you of home?

Meredith: This is gonna sound crazy, but my grandmother has this recipe that was passed down through the years.  Her family was huge, she had 9 brothers and sisters and not a lot to go around for everyone.  So to stretch an ear of corn or two...make it go a long way...she would make corn gravy.

You take the corn that is just budding on the ear, scrape it all off and make a gravy with it and put it over biscuits, kinda like a sausage gravy.  It's so good!



What is the funniest thing Elliot has done in class?

Meredith: I don't know about the funniest, but I can tell you the sweetest thing he's done.  I was changing his diaper, and afterwards I stood him up to put his pants back on.  He put both hands on the side of my face and kissed my forehead.  He's really affectionate!



Will the world be a better place in 20 years?

Meredith: There's no telling.  It depends on how these next four years go, and these next four years are going to be really interesting.  What will happen is going to happen, I just hope that it turns out ok.  I'll be interested to see how a business man really does things.  Will Trump be all that different than the career politicians, or will he act just like them?



We've had a wonderful experience with the folks at Partners In Childcare so far.  I've joked that the two breweries right next door to it are a big factor in our going there, but in reality it's because they've always been warm and welcoming and helpful.  During the aforementioned ER trip, the director of the school, Kathy, road up with Elizabeth and Elliot so Elizabeth could sit in the back seat with him to try to calm him down.  Kathy also stayed with Elizabeth until I was almost there so she wouldn't have to be there alone.  It's the fact that they have gone above and beyond for us that makes me happy to have Elliot there during the week.

It also makes me happy that Elliot enjoys going to "'cool" so much, and a great deal of that enjoyment comes from his teachers.   Meredith is a great example of the people that are there at Partners.  She, along with her colleagues, does this because she loves it. It's a great comfort to know that when Elliot isn't with us that he's still surrounded by kindness and love.