There's a lady in my neighborhood who lives about a block away. Starting fairly early in the morning, you can hear the blood-curdling screams of children playing in her yard. (I'm not sure what it is with little girls and that blood-curdling scream. I wouldn't make a sound like that unless I'd discovered a body.)
It doesn't take much investigation to uncover the fact that the woman is operating as an unlicensed daycare. The kids only show up in summer, when school's out. She has no kids of her own, but her lawn is a riot of big plastic outdoor toys. I've walked past and seen as many as thirty kids playing on her lawn, while she sits with swollen ankles in a cheap lawn chair and chain smokes. She's about seventy years old.
There are a number of reasons why this is an extremely bad idea. For one thing, there are about six lease violations visible just driving past. You can't run that kind of a service business out of these apartments, or junk up your lawn with toys. That's not counting the state rules regarding what qualifies as a "daycare" and the variety of different ways she's in violation.
So, you think to yourself, it's just a little old lady trying to make extra money and a bunch of parents who either couldn't afford a proper situation or couldn't find a slot. Except that the woman has no control over these kids whatsoever. Their hellraising in the yard spills over into the street, which is littered with scooters, bicycles, and pedal cars. The children glare silently at you like the Children of the Corn if you should dare approach in a motor vehicle. They're not playing in the street, you're driving through their playground. It's a miracle no one's gotten hit. I saw one little boy who, on the approach of a car, leaped out of his pedal car and ran back to the yard - leaving the pedal car in the middle of the road. Twilight comes, and these kids are still whooping it up in the road, only now they're practically invisible.
I doubt the parents know that they're sending their children off to Lord of the Flies Preschool when they head off to work, but I'm not sure what would change if they did. What happens if this woman is suddenly no longer able to watch their kids? If a better situation was available, they'd be in it.
Or maybe not. About a mile away is a large, licensed, bonded daycare center called Krayon Kollege. That "New applicants welcome!" sign has been in the window for as long as I can remember.
It doesn't take much investigation to uncover the fact that the woman is operating as an unlicensed daycare. The kids only show up in summer, when school's out. She has no kids of her own, but her lawn is a riot of big plastic outdoor toys. I've walked past and seen as many as thirty kids playing on her lawn, while she sits with swollen ankles in a cheap lawn chair and chain smokes. She's about seventy years old.
There are a number of reasons why this is an extremely bad idea. For one thing, there are about six lease violations visible just driving past. You can't run that kind of a service business out of these apartments, or junk up your lawn with toys. That's not counting the state rules regarding what qualifies as a "daycare" and the variety of different ways she's in violation.
So, you think to yourself, it's just a little old lady trying to make extra money and a bunch of parents who either couldn't afford a proper situation or couldn't find a slot. Except that the woman has no control over these kids whatsoever. Their hellraising in the yard spills over into the street, which is littered with scooters, bicycles, and pedal cars. The children glare silently at you like the Children of the Corn if you should dare approach in a motor vehicle. They're not playing in the street, you're driving through their playground. It's a miracle no one's gotten hit. I saw one little boy who, on the approach of a car, leaped out of his pedal car and ran back to the yard - leaving the pedal car in the middle of the road. Twilight comes, and these kids are still whooping it up in the road, only now they're practically invisible.
I doubt the parents know that they're sending their children off to Lord of the Flies Preschool when they head off to work, but I'm not sure what would change if they did. What happens if this woman is suddenly no longer able to watch their kids? If a better situation was available, they'd be in it.
Or maybe not. About a mile away is a large, licensed, bonded daycare center called Krayon Kollege. That "New applicants welcome!" sign has been in the window for as long as I can remember.
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