Monday, February 29, 2016

Monday? Already?

Here in Key West it's literally impossible to take advantage of all we have to offer during your stay -- people often ask me why I still live here and my honest answer is; I still have so many things I haven't done yet.  We may be a small place; but the opportunities here are endless and they are always changing and expanding. 

This weekend; Theme Runs kicked off Saturday morning with a FINtastic 5K run/walk to benefit Gerald Adams Elementary School.  Participates were splashed with colors from the sea and; adults and children clearly had a wonderful time.  The 51st Annual Old Island Day Festival was a 2-day event filled with local artists; street performers; and food vendors.  Night life over the weekend included choices such as; a stunning performance by Lyle Lovett and Vince Gil at The Tennessee Williams Theater.  Meanwhile, just across town, Nick Cearley, had audiences laughing in the hit production "Buyer and Seller" at the Red Barn Theater

On Sunday, a fabulous musical performance was put on my the BadkeQuartet; at St Paul's Episcopal Church; or if you prefer something more upbeat; La Te Da has a standing Tea Dance where you will find a fun crowd dancing and possibly even singing; enjoying the afternoon breeze.

I know you could be thinking.. but that all happened this weekend; I missed it! Trust me, if I told you all the things I missed this weekend, you would stop reading; because, let's be honest, who's attention span is really that long anyway?

Next up...  great stuff to look forward to in March! You know..when you are actually going to come and visit!

PS: If you prefer to just sit at the beach, or by the pool, I totally get it! We have plenty of that here too! And, I'd love to watch the kids while you relax.

Thursday, February 25, 2016

Stopped dreaming, Started Doing

I'm a planner.  I'm terrible at making decisions.  I can be a perfectionist to a paralyzing extent.

The only things in life I recall doing "without a plan" include the real big decisions in life; the ones that were super hard to make, that I just had to close my eyes and jump in -- a few examples include transferring to Arizona State University 3,000 miles away from home, another example is when I bought a brand new car right after I graduated from Curry College; no cash down, 5-year loan. The third example that comes to mind, is moving here, to The Florida Keys, unemployed, without a solid housing plan, basically because my life was in turmoil and it seemed so crazy; I thought, it just might actually work!

Key West Childcare was a dream; for it to become reality I had to start doing and stop dreaming. This meant closing my eyes, and jumping in. Planning, decisions, perfectionism... all of that out the window.  Push through the fear and take the actions; understand I will make mistakes, I might be wrong and things are probably not going to go the way I'd like them; and most importantly, other peoples intentions are almost always good.

Wednesday, February 24, 2016

They Say A BLOG...



A BLOG! They say this is the next step to let the world know about me; Erin, this women that started watching children at 16.. now, 20-years later, after several careers, both undergraduate and graduate school, has somehow landed at mile 0 http://www.milezerokeywest.com/; with the Title "Business Owner" Key West Childcare http://www.keywestchildcare.net .

Contrary to many, I enjoy families; every family is a little different; you and I both know you have that "odd uncle" or that you get super stressed over the holidays.  Maybe you have that child that will always ask for one more goodnight story.  Or, maybe you have an infant you haven't left with anyone except your mother.

No matter what the situation is, more than likely, in the 20-years I've been taking care of kids, and families, I've probably been through a similar situation and therefore it's my pleasure to take on whatever the situation may be. Like, just this week, I was at The Pier House, https://www.pierhouse.com/; and I was introduced to a child with a vegan diet; I can now add that to my resume of attributes because it seems we made it through the dinner portion of the evening just fine!

I'm going to keep in short and simple. I love kids; I knew at a young age I didn't want to raise my own children --- however, as I took a look around, it was clear I was involved in hundreds of families life's; and watched so many children grow.  If anyone were to tell me one of the first little girls I took care of would be in the halls of a high school today, I would never have believed you. 

With that said, in January 2015, I took a good look around, I made an intention to turn my love of children and families into a career rather than a Saturday-night side-job. It's been an amazing ride, and I hope you join me for the journey.