She lives! She lives!

Yes indeed, I made it through my last two weeks in the daycare. The girls were cheering when I told them Miss Leah would be back on Monday.

I was too.

But before the daycare becomes a distant, fond memory, let me just inform you that E doesn't like her crists. And yes, I spelled it right. She just couldn't bring herself to eat them.

And the girls love animals. All animals. Seriously, they hunt for ants in the gym and let them crawl up their arms, name them, put them back where they found them when it's time to leave and say, "See you tomorrow!" E walked over to Mrs. L to share her joy in the latest little find and Mrs. L promptly snatched the ant off E's arm and squished it. E gasped in horror. Mrs. L just doesn't understand.

When we were out at the pool today and saw a bumblebee struggling in the water on the deck, we just had to help it. We tried to scoop it up with a leaf, but it kept falling off. The entire group stopped swimming and splashing to watch the unfolding drama. One girl was able to get the bee to hold on to a stick, and transported it to the garden. She declared (clutching hands to chest, and I am not making this up), "I saved its life!"

When we were leaving the pool I told the girls to walk around the patches of clover because I had stepped on a bee just 30 minutes earlier. I was describing the sting and how it really didn't last that long, but that now it was starting to itch, when R., terribly concerned, asked, "Did you kill it?" When I reminded her that I had stepped on it, she was crestfallen. I can now honestly say that I have apologized to a child for killing a bee.

Tomorrow I get back to my adult life. I am surprised that, though most of the kids can be little tarts quite often, I've learned to care for them. I imagine I'll go back to visit once in a while. But I'll leave before I get hired again.

Be thankful ~

Karen