European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - January 10, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse Care this is the second in the stars and stripes five Day series on child care. By Deedee Arrington Doke staff writer y 8 . Most weekdays a collection of Small shoes is clustered outside Celeste Edwards front door. Inside Edwards apartment another 10-hour Day of minding other people s children As Well As caring for her own 5-year-old daughter Latoya is under Way. I never thought i d work in child care says Edwards As she plucks a toy off her Coffee table and puts it away in the spare bedroom. There were eight children in my family and i m the eldest so i had to help raise the younger ones. I did t think i d have the time or the patience to take care of someone else s but somewhere along the line the 30-year-old Mother of two found time to become a certified family Day care provider partly for the additional income and partly to provide the High spirited Latoya with a couple of playmates. Those playmates begin arriving Early at Edwards immaculate apartment in Patrick Henry Village in Heidelberg West Germany generally Between 7 . And 7 30 . There s Denisha Watson 4, and Eddrea Pillman 3. Sometimes Brothers Steven and Dustin Gibson 10 and 8, appear briefly in the morning returning later in the afternoon for several hours. Then there Are the two Edwards children Latoya and Jermaine 15, plus the occasional visit from siblings of her Young charges. Her career As a care giver requires her to tackle numerous diverse roles substitute Mother chef preschool teacher recreation Leader storyteller Semi wan kids Independent businesswoman janitor and referee. As a referee she enforces standing orders to refrain from what she terms nonsense tattle telling. If it s not about blood and guts it s while playing janitor she mops up the stairwell s front stoop after an inconsiderate dog deposited a mess just Ripe for tracking through her living room. It gets hectic Edwards admits As she plaits Latoya s hair during a Lull in activity. Recorded gospel music swells into the living room and the spare bedroom used As a combination playroom taproom toy storage facility. The toys available to Edwards paying guests Are bought specifically for her Day care operation. We Don t bring anything into the guest room that we Don t want everyone to play with Edwards says. Latoya has been instructed not to bring her own toys in unless she intends to share them. By the time an hour of free play ends at 9 10 . This Friday the girls have built a Wall of cardboard bricks and played a round each of two Board games with a Brief loud debate Over who should win. They Don t make a lot of screaming noises Edwards says. That s about As dizzy As they the end of free play is signalled with the arrival of snacks Graham crackers and a drink. On some Days outside play May follow the snack time cleanup. On others like this particular Friday a special indoor activity a science Experiment is planned. Edwards cuts up dehydrated sponges in her Kitchen and fills several bowls with water and mystery ingredients that later Are revealed to be food colourings and detergent. Candles and a set of Small plastic scissors round out the accessories placed on the dining room table. You know sometimes you can t always believe what you see Edwards says As the girls drop the Flat dried sponges into water Only to see them burst into Many times their original size. The experiments Are designed to encourage the girls to use All their senses except taste and to impart a better understanding of what floats and what does t float Edwards says As she plops the candles scissors and sponges into bowls of water. Once the spectrum of colors in the water bowls has been fully discussed and the last sponge has plumped into a new shape Edwards Calls for a fire safety Drill. Even Eddrea the youngest knows to Stop drop and Roll if she should be caught up in a Blaze. Check the doors to see if they re hot. Wet towels should be placed under the doors. Head for the alternate exit. It s a routine they know Well. It s 11 30 . When Edwards moves to the Kitchen to begin preparations for lunch after putting a child oriented Teddy Ruppin video in the family Var. Usually i Don t put him on until it s nearly time for their naps Edwards says. Teddy Ruppin puts me to under child care regulations television viewing to Al love care provider fills Many roles " a / / Imai Iii Imi jt/1 including video watching is limited to a maximum of two hours a Day. The main course at lunch is Chicken Noodle soup. The girls help out by setting the table with place Mats silverware and plates. Quieted by the All too soothing voice of Teddy Ruppin they Dine in comparative silence until there s a Knock at the door. The visitor is Clantis Watson Denisha s 12-year-old sister. Clantis has forgotten her lunch Money what will she do Edwards sits her Down at the lunch table with a bowl of soup while Latoya Denisha and Eddrea collect silverware plates napkins and tumblers and return them to the Kitchen. They re in the mood for naps and is Lynda w. Sparks above Celeste Edwards has her hand drawn by her daughter Latoya As Dee Dee Watson Center and Eddrea Pillman look on. Left 2-year-old Francesca Jeffery is the picture of relaxation during one of the quieter times in the child care Day. They head off to their Nap Chambers just As Clantis Heads out the door. For the next two hours the girls in Edwards charge will sleep. But the time does t belong to their care giver. She must Check on the Trio every few minutes according to family Day care regulations. She cannot leave her first floor apartment even to do her laundry in the basement. She May use the time to straighten up her Home. Or being a religious woman read her Bible. After finishing lunch time cleanup Edwards airs her thoughts on the Joys and Pitfalls of being a family Day care provider. Becoming a care provider she says got me to learn More things and showed me i could love other kids like my own. I want to treat kids the Way i want mine to be treated. I want kids to feel love in my Edwards first became a Mother when she was in High school bearing her son Jermaine during a summer vacation. Above left the end of the school Day in Heidelberg is also time to go Home for some preschoolers in Celeste Edwards care As older Sisters Stop by to pick them up. Above Edwards ties a sneaker for 3 year old Eddrea Pillman. Patience is one of the most necessary attributes in Many child care duties. We grew up together she says. He was my Best she graduated on time from High school then moved on to a number of jobs before marrying her husband Melvin when Jermaine was 5. I d really never had to work. Of i tried to be a maid at a Motel Little she also studied to become a respiratory therapist a career Field she d still like to enter once she completes degree work. But she suspects that finishing school will have to wait until she returns to the United states and lives near a school offering More of the classes required for her Field of study. Most parents who bring their children to Edwards got to know her through Church. When she s not working she sings in two gospel choirs. When she is working gospel music often spins on the family turntable and Story time might include a tale from the Bible. I Tell parents that up front she says. Edwards generally enjoys her work but it s not nuisance free. There Are the clients who Don t pay or show up late without letting her know. Then there s what she sees As too much interference and regulation by the military s child development bureaucracy in general. And she s tired of theoretical advice from child care experts and courses required to keep up her certification that Don t always offer new material. Usa eur regulations require family Day care providers to earn up to 24 credits annually to maintain their certifications. Credits must be earned at no Cost to the Day care providers by attending workshops Reading and watching instructional videos completing special projects becoming proficient in car observing at a Day care Center and the Home of another family Day care provider and use of the family Day care rating scale. I love the classes but i Don t like feeling it s mandatory. If it s something gym interested in and something i want Fine. But when it s the same thing we be heard before we get tired of hearing about it she says. Is Lynda w. Sparks and i m sick and tired of hearing what or. Spock says. I like practical experience. You know i tried this and it worked " most of the major difficulties Edwards incurs Stern rom differences Over the contract that she herself developed and has each Parent sign. This is a common practice among family Day care providers. Causing the most unpleasant difficulties Are disagreements Over the two week notice or $110, the Cost of two weeks Worth of care that Edwards requests when a Parent withdraws a child from her care. Unfortunately parents who Don t like the contract s terms rarely voice disagreement before the contract is signed sealed and delivered. The parents have seen it signed it that s the time to speak out Edwards says. She s Happy with the current crop of parents whose children Are in her care. But it has t always been so Shell no longer take the children of single soldiers and she does t provide care for children whose parents Are away on temporary duty or in the Field. I stopped it. I Felt i did t really want to be that much responsible for someone else s child Edwards says. I Don t have the often she says potential clients try to pull stuff on me by not honestly representing their economic situation in an Effort to persuade her to charge less than her regular fee of $55 a week for full time care. Then you find out he s an e-7 and his wife s a gs-5," she says dark eyes flashing momentarily. I have Bills too. There Are things i want to do too. I Tell pm you would t go into a Job for what i m charging the Edwards family has mixed reactions about other children in their Home. Latoya likes the company. Sometimes inconveniences posed by the business say of keeping the master bathroom locked get to her husband staff sgt. Melvin Edwards. My husband loves the kids who Are Here but enough is enough Edwards says. At 3 25 p.m., Steven and Dustin arrive soon followed by Lacretia Pillman Eddrea s 14-year-old sister who has come to pick up the 3-year-old. Also there to pick up her sister is Clantis Watson. As the four Young girls bid a noisy Farewell Jermaine Edwards returns Home from school. His Mother s working arrangement he says is Fine As Long As they the children in care Don t go in my room. It s a Good Chance for my sister to make new friends and have someone to play having the additional bodies in the House during the Day is preferable to having his Mother work outside the Home. I would t like that because i grew up with my mom being in the late afternoon a phone Call from the Gibsons Mother summons Steven and Dustin Home leaving Edwards alone with her own two children. Her husband is on temporary duty and won t be Home this Friday evening. Some fridays she thanks god it is Friday softening that thought however by noting it s not that the kids Are bad it s getting up although she initially thought being restricted to her Home during the Day would be a hindrance her life As a care giver has turned out to be not so bad she says. Although she realizes that no one gets into the child care business strictly for altruistic reasons she stresses that the Job s earning potential cannot be its Only Appeal. If people Are going to get into it they should care about kids she says. Tomorrow Home based child care and tax obligations. Page 14 the stars and stripes tuesday january 10,1989 the stars and stripes Page 15
