@$?@+%!+#$#+&{«£¥]¿]}§¡¡¡¡¡!!!!!

That, my friends, was a very long expletive.

No, nothing to do with OD’s ‘now you see me, now you don’t’ attitude. I can live with that.

No.

To do with the people who choose to care for children.

You can do all the amazing planning and activities, you can be efficient in all you do but if you look after pre-schoolers you HAVE TO GIVE THEM LOVE!

At the music group this morning, a girl – hmm… let’s call her Sunny as that’s her usual disposition – was there with her childminder who I have known for several years. I think that, on paper, she’s fab but when we went to sit down with the group I noticed Sunny standing, slightly apart from everyone, looking incredibly sad.

“Are you okay?” I asked. The Childminder made a bitchy comment about Sunny’s parents (this is one of my big bug bears with this lady, constantly bitches about the parents in front of the kids).

So I persisted “you look so sad, what’s up?” I asked.

Her bottom lip began to wobble, tears started to fill her eyes.

“Now you’ve gone and done it!” said childminder. The whole time ignoring the child.

I opened my arms and said “come and have a cuddle.” She ran to me as she started sobbing hysterically, she snuggled into me and cried her little heart out. I never did find out what was wrong and suspect (from childminder’s bitchy comment) that she was tired, but that doesn’t make her sad feelings any less valid! Once she’d had her cuddle and her cry she seemed loads better.

Because sometimes that’s just what we need.