I’ve been in the early childhood field for 50 years, so now seems like a good time to reminisce.
To start, thank you to the women who have contributed to my ability to do the work that I am so honored and lucky to do every day. My grandma Jost encouraged me, a shy farm girl, to read, become educated, and travel. She wanted me to see the possibilities for myself in the big world. My mom cared for me, my seven siblings, my cousins, and my friends into adulthood. She showed us how important education was to her by getting her GED when we were young.
Even as a 5-year-old, I loved babies. My aunts and the neighbor ladies all had many children. I learned how to be warm and nurturing from them. They taught me the importance of getting involved in your child’s school and life. As a mother, I hope I was as nurturing as the women in my life taught me to be. As the grandmother of eight, I get to continue loving and learning.
My dad was a role model for me. He always fought for the underdog even when it was not the popular stance. When I was young, my dad was involved in a milk dumping protest to try to improve prices for milk. My mom and dad argued about it. My mom thought it was wasteful and was taking milk from children, and my dad thought you had to fight for what you thought was right. I remember listening to them and thinking my dad was so right – you must stick up for what you think is right.
As a child, I learned that women were moms almost exclusively, and they surely didn’t choose careers. And then I got out into the world—outside the farm by Alberta, Minnesota—I saw that women could also be college professors, nurses, secretaries, and even protestors. As the world has changed (thank heavens) and I have gotten older, I see that women can be anything they want to be, and they are.
I’ve learned so much from our early childhood professionals, including family child care providers. They showed me how to care for, nurture, and educate our youngest children. I’ve been a licensed family child care provider, a child care center teacher, an Early Childhood Special Education paraprofessional, a preschool teacher, a parent educator, and an Early Childhood Family Education and School Readiness assistant administrator. I also worked for Child Care Aware before coming to work at West Central Initiative as the Director of Early Childhood.
One person can make a difference—but together, we can ignite change! My journey, my career lattice, mirrors women’s journey in general. When I was little, I had never heard of child care. Moms stayed home. Then, when women started working outside the home, one of the select few jobs they could have was a child care provider. And we had many of them! Now, women are empowered to choose any career, and we have fewer and fewer women going into child care.
Child care is an honorable career, but it’s not valued by society and is woefully underpaid. This is where I hear the voice of my dad: we must stick up for what is right. And what is right is that our children get the important early care and education they need to become the best they can be. We need to support and compensate the people who care for and educate our young children, so they can be the very best they can be. Low milk prices are one thing, but little children are the number one priority for standing up and fighting!
Children are living with toxic stress, malnourishment, racism, poor quality early childhood experiences, and violence. This is not the Minnesota I want for our children. This is not the country I want for our children! As Paul Wellstone said, “We must stand up and keep fighting!” You and I, and every adult, must continue to stand up and keep fighting for children. As a society, we must ensure that children get the best from us adults, that caring for children is not only for women, and that early childhood should be a career as valued and well-paid as any other teacher and professional.
Early childhood professionals are partners with families in raising the next generation of parents, workers, and citizens—our society depends on us, our children depend on us, and our future depends on us! We must do better.
