PATTEN, Maine — Occasional babysitting for a friend eventually turned into a new career for Jill Shorey, the owner of Giggles and Stickers, a recently licensed daycare agency in Patten.
After losing her restaurant job in Island Falls to a fire there, Shorey started taking care of a friend’s one-year-old boy a few days a week. “It turned into five days a week, forty hours a week and it just went from there,” said Shorey.
Encouragement from several friends bolstered her confidence, helping her navigate the process of going from part-time babysitter to full-time businesswoman and entrepreneur. “I am a single mom. And, trying to find childcare in this area when I was working was horrible. It was so hard to trust anybody.” At best, she said there was only informal daycare or babysitting.
Since April, Shorey has operated Giggles & Stickers as a childcare facility for children from 6 weeks old to 12 years. She has a pre-school curriculum for children 3-5 years. “I work with them on shapes, the alphabet, learning to write their name and the basics they will need to know going into kindergarten.”
Although Shorey had studied early childhood education at Beal College, she still needed special training to be a licensed daycare operator. “I had to go through 12 hours of training to open the childcare facility.” That, however, was in addition to other requirements.
“I have a certification through Penquis CAP right now. I got my license in April of this year. And, I have my CPR and first aid (certifications) which I needed to show to the town. I got that in November of last year. And, I have to have 12 hours of childcare training every year.”
Additionally, there are other requirements — like keeping records of mandatory unscheduled fire drills every month, a periodic assessment by the fire inspector and menu planning that is subject to scrutiny by ACAP. “We go through ACAP for meals so everything is healthy. It has to have the five food groups for each meal so that parents know their children are getting fed well here.” ACAP visits the location several times a year and requires her to submit menus on a regular basis. Then, ACAP reimburses her for food.
She said some people may think she sits home all day and rocks babies. “But, it’s really a 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. job. I am up at 6 a.m. getting food and diapers prepared, getting paperwork done, doing menus, cleaning. It’s a job and a half. The paperwork is turning into a lot of work. But, as I am getting used to it, it’s getting a lot easier. I have to do a lot of grocery shopping and planning.”
In addition to all the paperwork, cooking, cleaning, shopping and planning, there are, of course, the children to watch. Parents and children told the Pioneer Times they love Shorey and her daycare service. Hannah Landry, 8, said she likes playing on the slides and the swings in the playground. She said she likes Shorey, too. “She takes us to the playground and the beach,” explained Hannah. Shorey’s 8-year-old son Brady Breton agreed: “Same thing Hannah said. The slides and the swings.”
Alexandria Splan’s mother, Amanda Languet, had high praise for Shorey and said her daughter is right at home. “She loves being here and Jill is awesome with all the children.” Languet also said she encouraged Shorey to start Giggles & Stickers “because she is amazing with children.” Alexandria, 5, said she likes “playing and doing crafts with Jill.”
Shorey said she is “going to try to do outside play as much as possible, even in the winter. They are supposed to go outside a couple of times a day depending on the temperature and they love being outside.”
Giggles & Stickers is located at 28 Main St. in Patten. For an application or information on rates, call: 538-5492.
