In honor of Labor Day here in the U.S., here is a special thank you note:

           Not much thought, if any, have I ever put into child daycare centers; until now that is.  This Labor Day, I suppose, more often than not, I notice the silence. I hear no singing. I hear no laughter or crying. Just next door to my home-office is a home that runs a daycare center. I remember a time when I would use earplugs so often that my wife would get upset because I never responded to her questions or comments.

            Nowadays, for the most part anyway, it has become simply background sounds. It pretty much dies down in the latter part of the day, as parents and grandparents come by and pick up their children.

            I can hear nearly each child saying their goodbyes to their friends as their parents arrive. Several days a week, as the sounds of playful children turn silent, then begins the gospel music and choir singing coming from a church just a block or two away. I enjoy this as well.

           To be honest I’ve never paid that much attention to daycare centers. Even though my wife and I raised five children of our own, we never had an occasion to use one.  Either I or my wife was always home, as we consistently worked opposite work schedules.

           While I suppose those running this daycare center require a day off here or there, I still find it eerily quiet when there are no children playing.  One of the children’s names, in particular, sounds just like one of my boys’ names. Every time I hear the name, I half-think my son is here; one sounds similar to my one, which of course always gets my attention.

          Even with the occasional typical screaming and crying associated with children at play, it strangely enough never seems to bother me. As I mentioned, this daycare playground it right outside my window.  Surprisingly, I find myself thinking about those children and their caretakers.

         I occasionally think about walking around the block and talking to someone there. Why? Because I want to thank them for teaching the children every day to pray. As I spend many hours in my office studying, reading and writing, I never fail to hear the children praying at meal times.

        As a minister, I truly appreciate hearing the caretakers leading the children in prayer every day. Furthermore, should anyone ever enquire, I’d highly recommend this neighborhood daycare center to anyone in the area.

         Not only are they always respectful to the children, they do an awesome job teaching the children to be respectful. While I have observed over the years, that this is something that many children have come to lack, I have great hope in these children and the fruitful parts they will play as they get older. Just a thank you to this child daycare center. 

©2016 Clayton Moore