With a Chick Chick Here and a Chick Chick There

It's a girl! Times six! We are official chicken owners as of yesterday afternoon. If you had asked me 15 years ago what I would be doing with my life I can say with certainty that playing chicken farmer was NOT on that list! How things have changed.

Our friend, Greg, lives on three acres not too far from us. He enjoys wildlife and is a country boy at heart. He approached us a few weeks ago, asking if we'd like to get some baby chicks. We'll keep them in our home in a brooder until they are ready for the coop he is making (which is quite the coop!). We have six chicks here and our other family friends have six more chicks. Together we'll have 12 chickens to lay eggs. You know my stance on animals therefore none of these babies will ever been harmed or used for meat. They will live a long, happy life eating an all natural diet and will have access to sunlight and clean water and they'll be free to roam when they want and of course they have access to lots of love (hehe!). Yes, I realize how hippie that sounds, but if you have no idea of the horrid conditions chickens are exposed to in mass farming, please educate your self right away. The deplorable conditions are not only inhumane, but they pose a serious health concern to both the animal and the consumer.

Here are my sweet girls: Shelly, Sandy, Emily, Lola, Hippie Chick and Betty White. Aren't they precious?! They are so sweet and love to play with us. I have a feeling we'll miss these little darlings when they graduate to the coop, but luckily we are close enough that we can visit a few times a week.

Not Just a Snow Day

This winter we've been hit HARD with bad weather. I don't believe we've had this many snow days in quite sometime. Kids are restless, parents are scrambling to find sitters for their kids so they can go to work and schools are trying to figure out how to juggle a multitude of school related issues that are effected by these lost days. I bet many of you didn't realize that one of these school related issues is food. I'm not talking about food budget or what to plan for lunch, I am talking about the children who will go without a meal or two when school is not in session. For many students, school is the one place they will receive breakfast and lunch. School is the place where they are guaranteed access to milk, protein, grains, fruits and veggies. Sure school lunches may not be the best source of nutrition, but that food sure does feel good to a hungry belly. I was absolutely blown away when I popped on the computer tonight and read this article:

 http://www.ksdk.com/story/news/2014/02/17/school-lunches-st-louis-cold-weather/5567571/

Children should be playing in the snow or building forts out of blankets on their snow days, not walking the frozen streets in hopes of scoring a meal or money to buy food! Imagine this scenario: a child ate breakfast and lunch at school on Friday, February 14th. He was off school Saturday and Sunday and again on Monday for the holiday/snow day (many schools were going to use this holiday as a make up day). Who knows and what this child has eaten since Friday afternoon. His first real meal may very well be Tuesday morning when he walks through the school doors. No child should ever have to worry about when and what he will eat. No parent should ever have to wonder how they will put food on the table. Hunger is a social issue that not only pisses me off, but it saddens to the core. There has to be something we can do to help this innocent children. I give regularly to the local food pantry and I also hold several food drives in my preschool, but I can't help but wonder what else we can do to to help. The next time you are at the store, pick up some extra cans of food and donate it to the local food pantry, help make a difference!

Is It Worth It?

It is 11:11pm on a Saturday night. The house is silent and still. I sit here by the glow of the computer going through my paperwork, trying to place 77 preschool students into prospective classes for the upcoming school year. I have already physically worked a 40 hour work week in my early childhood program. As the teacher and director, I work a double load. After my kids go to bed each night I sit up answering emails, writing lessons, going over employee needs, all of the things I couldn't do while teaching. I am tired and wearing thin, yet I love my job. My sweet Alex claimed to have a bellyache earlier so he is sprawled out on the couch next to me. I look at his little face as he slumbers away and I wonder if this is all worth it. Sure, my salary double this year and I've been able to provide my boys with so much more. Yes, I have job security as far as I know. True, I work in a very positive, healthy environment as opposed to what I walked away from. I love my staff, my students, my families and the foundation of what has become in my program. I can say with 99% certainty that I "heart" my job. Yet, I cannot help but wonder if my kids are suffering. They are in school full time now so working makes sense. I miss a lot of special events like last Thursday when Brennan read a petition at the all school Mass. Or the days when they had a noon dismissal and I needed our college aged sitter to get them from school. Part of me thinks, "They love Danielle and had fun, it was ONLY three hours!" The other part of me thinks, "You should be the one they come running to each day, not a babysitter!" I look at Alex's sweet features and wonder if I am screwing up my kids. Is this job and all the work all worth it in the end? One day they will be all grown up and won't need me when they have a bellyache at 10:00pm. That really pulls at my ol' heart strings. How do I know if I am making the "right" choice for my family?