Well Water...Part Three

Chapter 2

Chris and Nicholas walked through the foyer of their modest two story home and passed by the downstairs bathroom. The door was closed and Chris could hear the exhaust fan running and he knew that Shonda was inside putting on her makeup, which was the final step of her morning ritual. They went through the kitchen, which opened up into the family room and Chris sat Bit down in front of the TV. Before he had even turned it on, Bit was asking for “Sponge Bob”. Only it sounded more like “punbob?” He settled for Fairly Odd Parents because it was only a little after seven a.m. and SpongeBob SquarePants didn’t come on until eight o’clock. Once he saw that he was sufficiently entertained, at least for the moment, Chris started for the kitchen to start the morning pot of coffee.

Over the years, Chris and Shonda had developed a very specific recipe for coffee. They only used whole beans that they ground themselves and they had a tightly controlled “scoop of beans/cups of water” ratio that was strictly adhered to. Their recipe varied when the amount of people drinking coffee changed, and who those people were. For example, if company was visiting and everyone was drinking java, then it was grind three scoops of whole beans and then fill the entire carafe to the top. If it was just Chris and Shonda, then it was two scoops of beans and fill the coffee maker up so that the water line was half way between the “6” and the “7” cup line. If Chris was just making coffee for Shonda, then he used one scoop and the water gets filled to the “4”.

He knew they would probably be considered anal for being so picky about coffee. But the one thing that Shonda enjoyed the most on a daily basis was her morning cup. It was her moment before the madness of the day ensued. The calm before the storm, so to speak. Those few moments of peace before the work day began. And what Shonda had chosen to do as a profession, which was born out of anxiety more so than necessity, was to run an in-home child daycare.

In all the time that she had been doing this, Chris could never understand exactly where she got the energy to cope with toddlers and babies all day long. He was astounded by the fact that she could take care of so many children all day, every day, including their own. He would challenge anyone who considered what Shonda did as “babysitting” to actually put on her shoes for one day and see if it was their cup of tea or not. Not only did she care for various toddlers and infants: morning and afternoon snack, lunch, naps, potty breaks, diaper changes etc., but she also had an actual curriculum that she followed. They partook in various activities that included arts and crafts as well as learning letters and numbers.

On the rare occasion that Chris took a day off while the day care was open, he was always surprised at how hectic and non-stop the daily pace was for her. In fact, the only break during the entire day came during nap time for the children. But did she sit back and enjoy the quiet time by dozing on the couch? No. Did she enjoy and uninterrupted viewing of that day’s episode of All My Children or the previous day’s Young and the Restless? No. Usually, she did housework of some sort. And on occasion, Chris had come home from work and an entire room had been edged and painted. Or the front flower garden had been planted and mulched. It was for these reasons that he literally would get offend when people called her a baby sitter. What she did was raise people’s children for them while they were busy making a living. “Babysitter” is a term for teenage girls who are watching your kids for a few hours while you go grab dinner and catch a flick.

And the daycare was quite lucrative. So lucrative in fact, that when things were going well she could almost triple what Chris made in a year. And this never bothered him in the least because he knew that she earned every penny of it. He thanked God on a consistent basis that she found something that she enjoyed to do and for the crazy circumstances that led her to choosing this as a career.