We’ve been part of the YELC community for five years now, with all three of our daughters ucky enough to call your classrooms home. From the very beginning, we’ve felt so grateful to be part of this warm, thoughtful, and loving environment.
Our girls love coming to school. The creativity you bring to the classroom is incredible — from the art projects that come home with so much color and personality, to the celebrations that fill the calendar with joy and a sense of belonging. We always look forward to those special moments, and it’s clear how much love and intention goes into making them magical for the children.
But even more than the fun, it’s the care you give to the small, everyday things that means the world to us. The way you speak kindly to our girls, how attuned you are to their moods and needs, and the gentle way you support them through big feelings, big changes, and even big milestones like potty training — it’s a gift. Your patience and encouragement have helped them grow emotionally, socially, and with so much confidence.
Every day, we are awestruck by you! From your greetings when I walk in to the goodbyes we say at pick-up, your presence brings joy and hope. When we’re at home, the artwork that our child made at the Y brightens up every space and adds a sense of wonder and excitement about what the next day can bring. Thank you for bearing witness to all the things that make each of the babies special, and for sharing with us what you see. Thank you for teaching them kindness, holding them with care, squealing with us about their new tricks and milestones, and treasuring them just the way they are. Thank you for dealing with their mess - and my often scattered brain - too! You all are my superheroes, and in a world that’s tough, you shine a steady and beautiful light.
I have one of the coolest, nicest, most polite toddlers in the world. He’s speaking in long sentences, describing the world around him, laughing at jokes, peeing in the potty. Amanda and I do a lot with him. He’s felt the ocean. He’s picked an apple from a tree and eaten it. He’s let a donkey eat from his hands. And of course, Amanda and I read to him, we sing with him, we dance, we put our hands in the dirt. We look at spiders and let them be. We use gentle hands with the pets.
Amanda and I do these things, but there is simply no way that our kid could be as cool, as empathetic, as social and chatty as he is, were it not for the YMCA. He can count to ten, he can go through the ABC’s. He can look at things which he’s painted and proudly tell me the color. He’s sociable, caring, and artistic.
Nadia and Dayline are names that are said a lot in our house. When we get home, we often look at pictures of what he did that day. His art that he made, but also the photographs. He gets very excited to see his teachers. He also gets excited to see his friends. He says their names, he talks about when they might have a birthday, he smiles, runs around and then does a few spins, collapses to the floor, and laughs.
Amanda and I are doing our level best to raise him just enough that the amazing staff at the YMCA can take him for 40 hours a week and be a huge reason we’re going to get him over the finish line of becoming one of the best things you can be. A good kid.