Caryn. The daycare owner.

Caryn has been watching and caring for children at her in-home daycare for 27 years. She has been doing this work for so long she has taken care of multiple generations of children in a single family. Kids who she began watching in the early ‘90s now have children of their own who attend Caryn’s daycare. 

Since schools shut their doors in mid-March, and Illinois instituted its shelter in place order, Caryn’s daycare has been closed. Her heart breaks every day that goes by and she does not see the 10 children who belong to her daycare  — kids who range in age from 3 months to 5 years. For Caryn, providing childcare isn’t just a job, it is her passion. 

“It is my purpose of living,” she said. “I actually felt like, ‘Where is my purpose?’ This has been my purpose for so long. What do I have now? The only thing I can compare it to is I think if you are a caregiver to your parent and they die. You feel that loss. Your whole purpose for years of taking care of somebody is taken away, it is gone. It leaves such a void.” 

Caryn misses taking the children on adventures to the playground and teaching them new skills. She misses how they make her laugh, and even when they made her cry. 

“The whole circle — you are missing all those emotions,” Caryn said. “You find yourself trying to find it in some other places.” 

A TWO-WAY STREET 
After almost two months of quarantine, Caryn has found ways to stay connected to the children in her daycare. She will drop off treats to their homes, and from a safe distance while wearing a protective mask, she waves and tells them, “Ms. Caryn loves you!” On one of her recent trips, a two-and-a-half year old Caryn watches began running down the driveway to her. The child’s mom yelled, “social distancing!” and the child stopped running. Caryn took note that, even at such a young age, children have some understanding of what is happening during the pandemic. 

“He knows that word, that phrase, and he stopped,” Caryn said. “He looked so sad.” 

The daycare parents have also been checking in on Caryn, even bringing her wine. Some have offered to pay her during quarantine, which Caryn has said is not necessary.  

“It’s a two-way street here,” she said. “My daycare parents have been so supportive of me during this.” 

Caryn has built this loving, caring community over the last three decades. She has owned a daycare during other economic recessions, too, such as in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 as well as during the Great Recession more than a decade ago. During the Great Recession, a daycare parent could no longer afford to pay Caryn, but she watched his two kids anyway. For free. For the next seven years. She loves what she does, and wants to do it for the people she cares about. 

“I thought, ‘How lucky am I to be given the opportunity to help someone out?’ It is not going to cost me a thing except my time. I am here,” Caryn said. “They are like my kids, how could I say no? There was always that bond there. It’s different, it is not just a job. It is really not.”

STAYING CREATIVE WITH HER GRANDKIDS
Caryn is trying to stay busy and physically active during this downtime. She is getting in her 10,000 steps a day by walking outside and in the nearby woods. She cleaned her attic (“a god-awful job”) and cleared every closet of her home. 

Caryn’s two grandsons who live with her and her husband also convinced her to help them transform a nook under a staircase into a new play area. Caryn removed the tools, supplies (and spiders) from the closet beneath the stairs and installed lights. Her grandkids, ages 7 and 10, made paintings to line the cement walls. It’s their “new fort,” Caryn said. 

Caryn’s daughter, a now furloughed fertility nurse who also lives with her, is leading art projects at home that Caryn is participating in. Such distractions during quarantine are welcomed, especially for someone who is used to having her home full of children laughing, playing, crying and keeping her on her toes. 

WITH REOPENING COMES RISKS 
Caryn plans to begin watching three children again at her in-home daycare come June 1. She has mixed feelings about reopening. While she wants to provide childcare to the parents who have to go back to work, she is also aware of the risks of doing so. She is in her 60s and therefore in a group of people who face higher risk of contracting Coronavirus. She worries about spreading the virus to others, including her own family and the families at her daycare. 

“I have a pretty good immune system because I have been exposed to so many viruses over the past 27 years that I don't get sick like that a lot,” Caryn said. “I am hoping that kind of helps me. But, I will wear a mask, wash my hands and take precautions.”

Caryn anticipates she will be caring for all 10 children that she was pre-pandemic by the time school is back in session this fall — that is, if school resumes as normal. Cleaning, disinfecting and sanitizing are all normal parts of running a daycare, Caryn said. And, she plans to be even more thorough with her cleaning of toys and other surfaces in the daycare once she opens back up. 

Caryn is grateful she can and will eventually open her home back up to the children and families she has cared for for so many years. When she is feeling down, she reminds herself she is lucky to be in the position that she is. She is also more than willing to abide by health guidelines to help us all get through this, which includes wearing a mask to protect others. 

“It’s not hard to do,” she said. “That is kind of where I am at. I am very lucky, monetarily wise. We have a roof over our head, food on the table, we are going to be fine. I feel really blessed we don't have that to be worried about.” 

LEARN MORE ABOUT CARYN… 

WHAT IS YOUR INSPIRATION TO KEEP GOING?
“Knowing that I can see my daycare kids again. I get that little bit to see them at their house now, but I know they are coming back.” 

WHAT ARE YOU GRATEFUL FOR AT THIS MOMENT?
“My grandkids being back home with me! For the first month of quarantine, they were at their father's house.” 

WHAT ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO WHEN THINGS “GET BACK TO NORMAL”?
“Going to Disney World! That, to me, is like my second home. My mom used to take me to Disneyland in California. That was our only vacation. When Disney World opened up, it became where my family went. It’s such a family thing.”