Maybe I could set up a little quiet corner during naptime?
Mr. Moon is diligent and walks around a lot, but some of the other kids need longer contact in order to stay asleep. It's not like Mr. Moon can cuddle every child at the same time, while also keeping track and making sure everyone is accounted for.
The shifting noise of metal catches my attention again and I find Sun in Mr. Moon's place.
"OHHH Friend! You're still here!"
Huh?
"Uh yes? Why would I leave, it's my job to be here?????"
"Oh silly silly newbie! Naptime is when most hires leave for a break!"
"I'm sorry? I wanted to meet Mr. Moon, I totally forgot about getting something to eat!"
"Nonononono New Friend you shouldn't skip meals!! You need at least four breaks a day! When was your last break!?"
"After the ninth game of tag I grabbed a granola bar? Does that count?"
"NO! It does not! You didn't even eat when it was snack time!"
"Sorry?"
"No, do not 'sorry' me! Go eat Now!" he chastises lightly, wagging his finger in front of my face and then pointing towards the employees only exit/entrance.
"Uh okay! I'll be back soon then?"
"Yes yes yes yes! We'll have more games to play!"
He waves me off and I head over to find something to eat. There's some sort of maintenance tunnel if I go further, but I have a feeling that it would be creepy. I'm just glad Sun let me have a break. I haven't had a moment to myself and I'm not used to whatever routine they have going on. The contract says I can take a break inside, but to actually leave? Sun or Mr. Moon has to give me explicit permission. They are practically my bosses anyways. I settle for the mini break room near the door and settle into a little beanbag chair.
I didn't really bring food with me since I'm kinda on a budget after buying those art supplies, but I managed to gulp down an entire bottle of complimentary FazBear water (it had a slight orangey taste) and another granola bar.
Guess I'll have to find the food distribution area later. I don't want to spend too much time here, I mean I know Sun has had this handled for years, but I don't want to abandon the poor guy, he seemed surprised enough that I stayed!
I kinda want to take a nap, but if I do I'll be taking a few hours. And I do NOT want to be like Terry who only leaves his desk to use the bathroom, then heads right back into a nap!
Forgoing the tempting nap, I take a quick restroom break myself and head back out into the play area. Where I find Sun sitting in the center of a circle playing a game with the majority of the kids. It doesn't take too long for his bright eyes to spot me.
"Oh FRIEND you're back early!"
"I am?"
"Yes! Most hires take waaaaay longer! You can take longer if you want!?"
"Uh..." I'd like to take a nap, "I'll be fine, what game are we playing?" I ask as I head towards the kids.
"We're finishing our last game of guppies!"
While the children cheer on for their last round of this guppy game? Sun pulls me aside and speaks in a more quiet tone than I'm used to, "could you please play with the children in the drawing corner? They don't like the loud noises the other little ones do"
Oh, the quieter kids! I can do that!
Not surprisingly I find Abby in the drawing corner.
Abby on the other hand looks surprised when I take a seat next to her.
"Miss! You came to draw with us!"
The other four kids at the table turn their heads, not used to the company.
"I hope you all don't mind that I came to draw." I smile at them
Two of the kids look like twins and they have absolutely no interest in me, at least they're not outright telling me to leave.
Abby looks excited though, "this is my new friend Emma! She likes to draw too! She says that one day she's going to be a movie star", the new girl Emma tugs on Abby's sleeve and whispers something in her ear, "Ohhhhh, Emma says she wants to make movies with her drawings an amanator?"
"Oh, Emma, you want to be an animator? I had a friend in college who became an animator"
Emma speaks for herself this time, "r-really?"
"Yep! She had to practice for years, but she now animates for a small animation studio in Japan"
One of the little boys who kept silent until now begins to flail his arms around. It takes me a minute to realize he's speaking in sign.
Before I can decipher anything Abby speaks up again, "That's Mark, he can't talk. He makes weird hands to tell us things!"
So they don't know sign language? I mean I wouldn't expect a tiny child to have studied it, but at least heard of it?
"Mark speaks in Sign, watch", Mark begins to bring his hands close to his chest and moves them all around.
I begin to explain things to Abby and Emma. Soon the twins look very interested and we make a little circle, Mark looks a little bashful, maybe he's not used to positive attention?
"Mark says he used to live in Japan", I say.
"Whoa!"
"Heya Mark, do you want to tell us a little about Japan?"
His eyes flash with a little spark and I'm glad I was able to give him a moment to shine.
Soon I'm teaching my little group of five some basic signs. This is actually really fun and engaging! Finally something I can actually do without being reminded that I have no stamina!
"And this is how we say thank you" I announce as I bring my right hand to my face, palm inward and bring it forward.
Emma, despite her earlier shyness exclaims in sign 'thank you flower' I assume she was trying to say Rose, but flower works too! I guess teaching the alphabet will be for a later day then!
I spell out her name 'your welcome E-M-M-A'.
Soon we're all talking to Mark in rudimentary sign. Mark isn't deaf so he can hear us just fine, but now for once someone can hear him.
I like this job
~~~~~~~~~~~~
It took a long while but finally I think I'm reaching maximum tiredness.
We already had another nap time, but instead of sleeping I helped to rock Abby and Emma to sleep. They ended up falling asleep leaning on me, so I couldn't move. At least this time Mr. Moon didn't seem too annoyed at my presence.
After nap time, Sun stalled for a moment when addressing me.
"Friend?"
"Hmm?"
"You can take a nap in the plush corner if you're tired"
"I'll be fi-"
"No no no friend, please! Abby said you need a nap"
Oof, that kid is definitely observant. She seems to become friends with everyone, and understands the tiredness that comes with being an adult. Wow, this kid probably grew up in an unstable environment. Since her big sister was kicked out of the house, I can only assume she came back to get Abby away from their mother. I'll be sure to keep an eye out for her, she doesn't like loud noises so that's already a giveaway that something was wrong. Maybe-
"Friend?"
"Oh shoot! Sorry Sun! I'll I'll go right now, thank you!" I walked over to the plushy corner. Not before spotting Abby smiling as she colored on the floor nearby.
There's really no reason to get into her business, but I'm a daycare attendant now! It's my job to take care of these kids! "Hey Abby? How did you know I needed a nap?"
She smiled the biggest and most innocent smile, disarming me of any cautions I had about this conversation, "big sister has the same look in her eyes when she comes home from college! She then cuddles with me and takes a nap!" I hope her big sister is doing alright?!??
"Tell your big sister that she should come by sometime. I want to meet your admirable big sister"
"I think she would like you too! I'll tell her!"
The conversation slowly dissolved and I finally got to take a nap.
I missed the third nap time, but woke up a few hours later to Abby snuggling into the pillows near me with Emma at her side.
Kids are so innocent, who would dare to give them trauma!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At the end of the day I started signing kids out. A few of them were already near the desk when they spotted their guardians, including Abby who leaped into the arms of a taller woman,and by taller woman I mean her big sister, a nineteen year old college student. I recognized her from the guest pass photo on the computer but...
In all honesty she actually did look like me. Same brown hair, tired eyes, and disheveled hair I had when going through college. It was like looking at my younger self, it was a bit unsettling, but I just had to flag her down for a moment. Right before she could sign Abby out I took her aside for a moment, hopefully away from Abby's or anyone else's ears.
No one should have to carry the burden of college and taking care of a kid so early on. Not that Abby was a burden, but having to afford tuition and figure out how to take care of a toddler will definitely stretch out a person.
The bags under her eyes were enough for me to deduce that much about her.
"Your Abby's big sister?"
"Yes, and thank you for taking care of my little sis. She says she's had a lot of fun today. This might not be a regular occurrence, but I think I'll be taking her here more often to socialize with kids her own age"
"You live outside of campus don't you?"
"I-"
"Please", I whispered as Abby began to say bye to Sun and her new friends, "I know a website that has a bunch of programs for financially burdened students". She looked shocked for a moment before her eyes settled and she looked at me glossy eyed, "I, I uh. If this is a ploy to get me to spend more money here, it's.... Working"
I laughed a little at the joke, "Abby will do better here talking with kids her age, than she would giving you more stress about school"
"But Abby isn't stressing me out! I love her, I wouldn't just send her away to focus on school, I've got responsibilities!"
"Listen to me please" I look her in the eye, "Abby is a smart girl, she knows you're stressed. I don't know your family situation, but I can tell loud noises aren't her forte, she's friendly with other kids, and is willing to learn"
"Wha-"
"This could lead to her withdrawing herself from trying to interfere in your daily life if it means you don't have to worry about her. You need to be there for yourself before you can juggle so many responsibilities at once. Once you save up enough from those government programs, you should buy the yearly pass. Abby gets to shine in the daycare, you get time to focus on school, and soon enough you'll be financially stable and able to send Abby to school. You'll be less stressed with the peace of mind that Abby will be able to take care of herself"
"But I don't want to just send Abby away for so long. It wouldn't be fair for her.."
"Neither would it be fair for her if you broke down and she didn't know how to comfort you"
"She doesn't have to-"
"But she'll feel the need to. Kids are a lot more adaptive than we could possibly understand. If you need her to be, she'll grow up before her childhood gets a chance to start". It was more of a gamble to say it, but I had to take the chance "It's what happened to you."
"How did you..?"
"I'm a really good babysitter" I smile and head to the security desk where all the sign in/out stuff is.
"Here's the website I was talking about, there's a few numbers you can call for emergency pediatric care, a babysitter, and a few mental health facilities"
"I-. I don't know what to say" she begins to cry, and looks unsteady on her feet "I've been on my own, and when I found out mom wasn't treating Abby right, I went to court and became her legal guardian. I got a job and went to a few of those parenting classes, but I just c-couln't understand them!" before her legs could no longer support her weight I held her, the way no one could for me.
"I'm glad I could help" she cried for a bit and I noticed Sun had taken over signing kids out. Oops. I hope they aren't too mad about me taking forever, I just couldn't let this girl go without knowing that Abby would be safe!
~~~~~~~~~~~
"Rose?"
"Yes, Sun?"
"Why did Abby's big sister cry on you?"
How do I explain this?!??! I basically guessed Abby came from an unstable home and deduced her big sister was suffering???? I can't exactly say I just had some sort of instinct moment and gave someone resources to get their life together?!
"I helped her big sister with some college trouble?"
"That sounds more like a question, friend!"
"I uh, I gave her a website that will help her care for Abby"
"Why?" he suddenly had a very serious look, "why go through so much trouble for a stranger?" I'm kinda glad all the kids are gone at this point! There's no way he doesn't scare the ever living daylight out of anyone who evokes this emotion out of the animatronic!
"M-my dream is to help people like her. She needed help, I had information and gave her the tools so both of them can grow up" did I really have to stutter on that!? He's a daycare attendant, he's not scary!
He dropped the subject and went quiet as we started to clean up the daycare, which surprisingly wasn't that hard. I'm pretty sure our lack of glitter glue may be the cause of that.