As Mrs. Moon drove to the daycare, she couldn’t help looking back at her daughter in the rearview mirror. The gears in her mind began to turn. It wasn’t safe for Alex to be not in a car seat, but she needed to go to the store to get a car seat. Alex might need a diaper change soon, but like the car seat, she needed to go to the store for that. And Alex was clearly not happy about going to the store like this. By the time they arrived at the daycare, her mind was made up.
“All right, you’re coming inside with me,” Mrs. Moon said. She got out of the car and removed Alex.
“What? Why?” Alex asked.
“You’re going to stay here while I go shopping.”
“What?!”
“It’s not safe to drive you when you’re not in a car seat, and I don’t have any other supplies to take care of you yet.”
“But-”
“No buts. My decision is final.”
“Mom, this is humiliating!” Alex whined as her mom carried her up to the daycare. “I was supposed to work here!”
“It’s just for a few hours while I get you some supplies,” Mrs. Moon said.
“They’ll know!”
“How would they know? I won’t tell them who you are. Just act like a regular baby. You know how they act, you were going to work with them.” Alex could tell it was a lost cause to argue more. She sighed.
“Fine.”
“Great!” They entered the daycare. Mrs. Moon walked up to the front desk. “Hi, my name is Clara Moon. My daughter Alex was supposed to start working here today, but had to go out of town at the last minute.”
“Oh, that’s a shame,” the secretary said.
“Yes. But we do support this business, and I would like to drop off Alex’s little sister for a few hours while I run some errands. Her babysitter got sick and couldn’t watch her like usual.”
“Not a problem! What’s her name?”
“Ann,” Mrs. Moon said. “But we call her Annie.”
“Annie. Got it.” The secretary typed a few things into her computer. “Her dress is adorable, but we require all attendees to wear a uniform. Do you have one?”
“No. I’ll pay for one.”
“Understood.” The secretary typed a bit more. “I see she’s wearing a cloth diaper. Is she fine in disposables?”
“Of course. We just ran out of disposables, so I put her in a cloth one.”
“Got it.” The secretary typed again. “Anything we should know? Allergies, medical conditions?”
“Nope.”
“Then you’re all set. We’ll take good care of Annie.”
“I know you will,” Mrs. Moon said, handing Alex over. She kissed Alex’s forehead. “Mommy will be back soon, baby. Have a good time, okay?” With that, she left the daycare. The secretary got up from her desk and brought Alex to a nearby daycare worker who had been playing on her phone.
“New attendee. Could you put her in a uniform and name tag?”
“Sure,” the worker mumbled. “What’s her name?”
“Annie Moon.”
“Aw, cute.” The daycare worker brought Alex over to a changing table. Before she knew it, Alex had been changed into the onesie that was the daycare uniform, had a name tag pinned to the front of her clothes, and deposited on the floor of the daycare play area.
Alex crossed her arms, pouting, and looked around, trying to decide what to do.