Even though I run a daycare in my home for 10 1/2 hours of the day, 5 days a week ... I don't like for my home to have the look of a daycare when I'm off duty.
I have many routines that signal 'off duty' in my mind. A toy chest that I can close the doors on, at the end of the day. The front door is locked and the blinds are closed. The house is vacuumed and clean. All remnants of the day are dealt with and put away. When the last child of the day leaves, I breath a huge sigh of relief, as all of my signals tell me 'my work here is done'.
On weekends, I tuck away the extra high chair and booster seats so that my kitchen doesn't have the look of 'daycare'. I put the stool (that I have so the kids can reach the bathroom light and sink) in the bathroom out of sight. I wash all of the kids bedding so that it is fresh and clean for whatever the next week has in store. But for the weekend, it is all out of sight.
I bring out things that signal how I want to live the weekend. An end table in the living room that I can use to put my coffee, books and any little project that I may be working on. Pillows in the spare/TV room that support my neck and back as I sit back and relax and watch my favorite taped shows. The remote control isn't put out of the reach of small hands, bedroom doors are left open, the cat is free to roam the entire house and just a general sense of 'adults live here' about the house.
As the weekend winds to a close, I gradually bring the daycare world back into my physical view. It sets the wheels of my mind in motion to gear up for the week ahead. The house has the look of 'kids live here', the wash cloths and diapers that I need for the day signal who and what to expect in my mind, the phone starts ringing (with the incessant changes to the expected schedule changes), the blinds open and at last ... the front door is unlocked.
These signals that I have outwardly, set up my mind set for whatever may lie in store. As the house takes on the outward appearance of 'daycare', so does my mind. I find that I need to be in the right state of mind to take on a full day of kids.
And so a new week begins ...
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