Exhale....the Licensing Visit is Over!

It is that time of year again...we just had our license renewal inspection today.  We have known that it was coming since August when we filed the renewal paperwork.  Then about a week ago the licensing agent called and verified our operating hours and our whacky university schedule.  We are confident in our program and know we are doing what we need to do...but knowing someone is coming in to inspect sends us all into a nervous frenzy.  But by 3:30pm...our almost 2 hour visit was over for the year.  We exhaled and smiled.  This is just  preparation for when we are up for our accreditation site visit...anytime between...oh...say...now and the end of March 2012. 

As I relax after the good visit I think of all that could have been...what if all the crazy days some how all got combined and that was the day that the licensing lady pulled up to visit.  I am going to take a trip down memory lane and reflect on some of my past crazy times. 

So glad she didn't visit when:

• J chewed all the feet and tails off the animals in the block area.
• I had to remove a Polly pocket shoe from P's nose.
• I hit my head so hard on a shelf that I had to send a child to get me an ice pack.
• I caught a running mouse with a butterfly net in a classroom.
• I trapped bat number one...and bat number two in butter tubs on the celing of the playground patios.
• I picked up the dead baby skunk (on the playground) with my gloved hands to show the kids how cute and non-stinky they were.  The mama skunk had been trapped and removed days earlier...her den filled in with gravel...only to have the strongest of her babies crawl out only to die on the playground.
• Two children at naptime commented, "Hey, Mrs. T's asleep", darn cold medication and music by Enya...if I was asleep I wouldn't be able to recall this information...would I?
• We tried flour in the sand table...in the classroom...can you say "ghost children"?
• J ran into the rock wall and bled on my white shirt before they stitched him up.
• When I carried a child back to the center from a walk while she screamed, "I hate you" to me and everyone that walked by.
• I called a child's parents to have them come take him to the emergency room after a fall...he complained of his side hurting...we were afraid he broke a rib...turns out he was so constipated that the fall caused pain...expensive way to figure out you need more fiber in your diet.
• I hid a toddler size doll in a co-worker's backseat.  :)
• B told me he liked my "bwreast"..."Oh, you like my dress?"...."No...your bw-reast".  Guessing my dress enhanced that area that day!
• I finally beat K playing Pokemon Memory only to have her dad walk in while I was gloating over my win.
• E demonstrated the birthing process during circle time...complete with legs up and Lamaze breathing....no words to describe my thoughts.
• Mr. Critter (classroom hamster) had escaped for the umpteenth time.
• J brought me a live scorpion in a yogurt container.
 

I am sure that there are more moments that I have blocked out...and I know there will be many more to come.  I am certainly glad that I am in a field where every day is truly an adventure...no boring desk job for us early childhood people!