Good Morning, Little Saplings

Our adventure begins when we start picking everyone up.

Usually, someone has very important news before they're even completely buckled into their car seat.

“I GOT NEW BOOTS!”

“I SAW A BUNNY!”

“MY DINOSAUR SHIRT ROARS!”

Every announcement is delivered with exactly the level of importance you'd expect from breaking national news.

And we love it.

Once everyone is safely buckled, we turn on some music and start our day.

But even the drive is part of the adventure.

We count horses.

Eventually, all that exploring produces one universal toddler emergency:

We're hungry.

We'll find a comfortable place, wash little hands, settle in, and eat lunch together.

Lunch with young children is its own adventure.

One child finishes before everyone else has managed to open their lunchbox.

Another carefully eats every blueberry first because obviously blueberries have priority status.

And every once in a while, someone opens their lunch and stares at the food they specifically requested with absolute betrayal.

Apparently yesterday's favorite food has committed an unforgivable offense.

That's okay.

Toddler logic has humbled us before.

We carry healthy backup snacks for exactly those moments.

After a morning spent climbing, running, exploring, laughing, thinking, talking, and using approximately 147% of the energy available to the average human...

Little eyelids start getting heavy.

The child proudly announcing,

“I'M NOT TIRED!”

is frequently asleep before we've made it out of the parking lot.

For children who still nap, our travel time between adventures naturally gives tired little bodies a chance to rest.

The music gets quieter.

Blankets get tucked around sleepy legs.

And for a little while, the adventure gets peaceful.

Then those eyes open again...

And we're off.

Somewhere during almost every adventure, something happens that we couldn't have planned.

A child reaches back to help a friend over a log.

Someone comforts another child who's sad.

A Sapling proudly shows a friend how to do something they've just learned.

Someone cheers when another child finally accomplishes something they've been working on.

Nobody had to tell them to do it.

These relationships grow because the children have real time together.

Those are some of the most important lessons of our day.

Kindness.

Patience.

Empathy.

Communication.

Confidence.

Friendship.

You won't always find those written on our lesson plan.

But you'll find them everywhere.

One of the things we love about being a nanny share is that we can support families in ways traditional childcare sometimes can't.

Life doesn't always cooperate with the calendar.

Traffic happens.

Meetings run late.

Schedules change.

If we're already in town and you need us to grab your grocery order on the way home, we may be able to.

If you need a little flexibility one afternoon, talk to us.

We can't promise that every request will always be possible, but we'll always do our best to work with our families when we can.

We're a team.

Childcare shouldn't make an already complicated day harder.

By afternoon, our Saplings are usually wonderfully tired.

The kind of tired that comes from climbing rocks, watching bugs, spotting wildlife, laughing with friends, splashing through water, asking questions, using their imaginations, and spending the day experiencing their world.

And there are usually treasures coming home too.

A feather.

A smooth rock.

A leaf.

A pinecone.

Maybe the greatest stick anyone has ever discovered in the entire history of sticks.

Please check pockets before doing laundry.

We accept absolutely no responsibility for surprise geology experiments in your washing machine.

Your child may come home telling you about the fish.

The puddle.

The bug.

The deer.

The friend who made them laugh.

Or the stick that absolutely, positively had to come home.

They probably won't tell you they spent the day practicing problem-solving, communication, independence, patience, resilience, empathy, science, language, and friendship.

Because to them?

They were just having fun.

And that's exactly how we think childhood should feel.

Trail Tip from Robin

If your child comes home dirty, tired, full of stories, and proudly carrying “the coolest rock EVER”...

I'd call that a pretty successful day.