When it comes to creativity and imagination, children are and always will be our greatest resource. Everyday that I go to work I am showing up for a community of varying socioeconomic backgrounds from single parent families to foster families to grandparents that have custody of kids to families where both parents work full time or are in school. I have worked for the Y in the childcare department for five years. It is my job to create a safe and fun place for these families to drop their kids off before the school day begins, after school, and on days when there is no school. While it is not an easy job it can be rewarding. When the world shut down in 2020 due to the pandemic there were many parents and guardians who were essential workers and therefore still had to go to work. The YMCA rallied together to do everything we could to support our community. From membership calling the senior members, dropping off meals, and occasionally showing up to do yard work to the childcare department running critical care at a now empty branch. I was part of those who worked a two week on, two week off rotation of critical care. We had staff from all over the Y working and many had never worked with kids before. It was amazing to see how everyone came together to make sure that kids had a place to go. Critical care consisted of us taking over an entire now empty YMCA building where we have computers set up in different rooms, wifi extenders, and a white board filled with each kid’s schedule. My job during this time was to run the homework/study room. I kept track of which kid needed to be in the room at what time and which projects they needed to be working on as well. It was a very stressful time but it meant a lot to parents that we were able to be there for their kids when they couldn’t. I’ve learned a lot by working with kids and had some sad times as well as times to celebrate. Recently, one of our older girls got her first period. She was embarrassed at first but my coworkers and I told her all about how it’s nothing to be embarrassed by, when we got our first periods, and that if she ever needed anything she could always talk to us. This is also a girl who has been going through a mean streak and we’ve had to remind her that bullying is not allowed nor is it who she is. The other day we had a younger girl tell us that someone had called her fat. That was a heartbreaking moment for me but I used it as an opportunity to talk to the kids about how everyone’s body is different and that’s nothing to be ashamed of. We work everyday to make sure the kids in our program are the best that they can be. You always hear about the important developmental years but until you actually are right there working with kids, you may never know just how important those years are. I work hard to make sure that everyone in my program is kind, feels accepted for who they are, and that they know they’re never alone.