Wednesday, August 15, 2007

before the kids

When i walk into the room i can tell immediately if someone (groups of kids) were in here while i was gone, from Monday to today it usually isn't bad, there is only one day inbetween. Its the Wednesday to Monday that is a little more worrying. But surprisingly, even though the tell tale sings are there, the room is clean. Straightened at best, as it has been for the last 2 months almost. School begins again in 3 weeks, summer programs are coming to a close so it will be quiet here again... well our version of quiet.
After last summer i thought i was going to get a quiet time of year, I figured out it doesn't really happen. There were a few weeks in the Spring where it was dead, it was inbetween the moms and the day camps. And it was nice... I got other things done. But it will be interesting to see how long it will take me to recover from this summer. I have bins and bins of messes, shelves that are crammed with toys, because even though we are so busy, circulation is waaay down.

And now i sit here, I'm sure only moments before kids arrive and i breathe it in like candy sweetness. I take a look at the guestbook, make sure it is up to date, haven't yet began to look at the pile of toys next to me that need to be counted up and i know that i could do anything today, i make somewhat of a plan for what i need accomplished, take a quick glance at the bins of mess behind me and then turn around, knowing i am not ready...yet. 3 more weeks til i can clean up.

Here are numbers from last month. it was an amazingly busy month. I gage it in how many children played in here, while others look at how many adults checked out toys. We reached a new high: 692 kids. Last summer's high was something like 498. And that is mostly summer camp kids, so the only time they take up is after they leave, when we clean. The other part of my job is dealing with returns and charges and since that is mostly parents and home care providers, that part is a little slow.
Here comes the kids....