It has been almost one year since I took a leave of absence from operating my daycare on a full basis.   I needed time to rejuvenate. Running a full time  – mixed age group daycare, attending full time university, keeping up with my own children and running a household got a little bit too hectic. I had to stop for a moment…..breathe and smell the roses.  Oh how time flies, it has been a happy, enjoyable and long deserving break. Some of the things that happened while on this long break:

• I said goodbye to some of the children that were with me for years.  It’s always sad to see them leave to attend ‘Big School’ – happy sad moment in every sense. I know the knowledge and social skills they gathered while attending Lil Bebe Academy has prepared them to be adaptable, brilliant, and social children.

Last day at the daycare for some. We had a party – playing in shaving cream…oh what fun they had!

• I potty trained my son (he was 2.5 years old at the time).  He loved it and thought pee pee on the grass was the most fun adventure.  He even asked to use the potty while on a transatlantic flight- awesome!

• We took a summer vacation to London and Paris – that was the best thing we could do as a family.  For three years we deprived ourselves the luxury of a family vacation. I worked during my pregnancy and after I gave birth to my son (c-section) I was back working within 4 days. Everybody needs time to heal and with some patience, I got the time to recover and renew. It was worth the wait and we had no regrets touring the wonderful city of Paris
  

  A day at the Eiffel Tower

  

  Kids at the Tuileries Garden at the Louvre

  

  Discovering Pigeons in Paris

  

  Kids at a phone box in London

  

  Sunday stroll in the English Countryside feeding the Swans

• In the fall, I decided to cut back on the day and hours spent in the daycare and limited my time to 2 days per week. Cutting down the number days, children and staff helped me in the last challenging year of my Psychology degree. It was also a decision that helped my daughter adjust from home school to public school.

Fall foliage walk through the woods

• My daughter left the comfort of home and ventured to Kindergarten (all day school).  At first she did not like it and wanted to stay home to have mommy teach her.  After a couple weeks she adjusted very well and looked forward to attending school everyday.

First day of school for her…she was sick for the official start of Kindergarten.

• My son turned 3 years old – oh how time flies.

• My daughter started piano lessons.

Play Me I Am Yours

• I completed my degree cum laude and is proud that I did not quit while under pressure.

• April 2014 – I decided that I had enough rest and is ready to start operating full time  again as of August 2014.  My future goal is to open my preschool in July 2015 (still not sure of the location as yet).