March of 2020 changed the face of the world we live in. For the first time in generations our lives were brought to a halt due a worldwide pandemic. Pandemic – we really hadn’t used that word in our current history. We were dealing with (and still are) unprecedented times.
For a few months uncertainty ruled our lives – what will the future look like? We had to learn how to work from home; how to socially distance; how to stay inside, away from other people. One of the hardest things some of us had to learn how to do was how to work from home and be a stay at home parent. Two very challenging jobs – mashed together while we dealt with uncertainty and fear, illnesses and financial burdens.
After some time, with the nice weather, came some news – child care can reopen! But the face of child care has been changed and possibly forever! So how do you know if sending your child to child care is the best idea during a pandemic?
As a mother of a five year old (who has actually licked the windows in the frozen aisle at the grocery store…twice during this pandemic) I can’t tell you what is best. Because while I am a mother, I am also the supervisor a child care center – I’m on both sides of the child care coin. What is best for my family can be vastly different from what is best for yours.
I can say it is a personal choice that no one can make for you. I can tell you what we are doing in our centers to give you peace of mind and I can tell you that as a community, Early Childhood Educators have stepped up to the plate to make some amazing lemonade out of the sub-par batch of lemons we were dealt in March.
Government regulations make up the majority of what RECE’s do in a day. We are regulated by the Ministry of Education and by the local Public Health units. We have lists and policies and rules to follow – and in between those lines we create an environment that is unique to each center.
With COVID-19 we have all had to sit back and rethink how we do things.
For instance, cleaning – this used to be a weekly event. Every center, every classroom – once a week toys, laundry, walls – you name it. We’d sanitize weekly. Tables, diaper stations, dishes, door knobs – that was all done daily.
Now we do daily toy cleaning – every single toy in every single classroom gets cleaned and sanitized. Every single item of laundry – bedding, towels, and dirty clothes – is done every day. Our tables, diaper stations, light switches, door knobs – that’s now done a minimum of two times a day!
Just imagine how clean our centers smell!!
Aside from cleaning you may be wondering how we are managing COVID.
First – we encourage social distancing. That does not mean that our educators are distant – we still spend time with your child! We still hug, we still comfort. But if we notice a group of 8 children on one carpet, we may encourage some to move a few feet away – “bring that bin this way Bella”. The children are encouraged not to trip over each other, but instead to spread out, take the space we have and use it!
Second – our educators are all wearing their PPE and while this seemed difficult in the beginning our children have become comfortable with it. Our educators ensure to show their smiles to those children who appear apprehensive. A quick slip of the mask to show them we are still human underneath is all that has been needed! And then back on it goes to ensure we are keeping those children safe!
A lot of us have adapted to wearing goggles instead of face shields – an easier and less obtrusive way to protect ourselves from the hard to see but dangerous wet particles. The children appear to not even notice that we’re wearing new “glasses”. It’s quite charming how unaffected they are by these changes.
Nothing says resilience like a small child.
Third – traffic and in out of every center is regulated. We have limited who comes into our schools. We are giving virtual tours so that we don’t have any strangers with unknown contact tracing coming in to our building.
We are screening every single person who enters – children, staff and ministry/public health officials – no one escapes the screening process! Educators are limited to contact with one classroom at a time – there is no educator-sharing going on right now. We have assigned classrooms and we are limited to smiles as we walk by to tell the entire school that we are happy to see them.
We are doing everything in our power to keep child care the same during a time when change is inevitable. We are making small, necessary changes to our daily routines but all–in-all your child will still receive the love, care, attention and education that they deserve every single day!
We have adapted to this new normal, just as our children have. Humans have an uncanny ability to survive when the odds are against them – and during this pandemic we are proving that we will not lose our humanity. Instead we will alter it – we will change our normal to be what is needed to keep those vulnerable safe.
The normal of child care has changed. What hasn’t changed is the love our educators have for your children. We do this every day for you – your child and your family are the most important thing to us. So while I can’t tell you what is best for your family, I can tell you that we are here waiting if you do decide to try child care out again – and we will welcome you with hypothetically open arms – we do have to maintain our 2 m distance after all!
