Courtney Peelar has known what she wanted to do since she was five. As the oldest of six and the firstborn granddaughter, caretaking came naturally. Her kindergarten dream was very specific, and today, fittingly, she works with the JK/SK group in Espanola.

Then life got in the way. She trained in medical transcription instead and worked from home for years so she could be with her son. She hated it. One day, scrolling Facebook, she saw an ad for assistant educators. She applied, and three weeks later she was jumping into a kids’ Zumba class on her first day in a preschool room. As one educator was leaving the room, she stopped to tell Courtney something she’s never forgotten.

What surprised her most was the attachment. At her preschool group’s graduation this past June, she cried before, during and after. She was lucky enough to move up with them, but she knows the day will come when she has to let them go.

The kids feel it too. Recently, a friend of a friend gave her a ride home and realized who she was: she babysits two of the girls in Courtney’s care. “They’re always talking about Courtney. They love you so much,” she said. Courtney cried in the back seat.

When her centre asked staff to compare themselves to something in nature for a display on the wall, Courtney chose the flamingo. Flamingos lose their pink when they become parents. She felt she’d lost herself too, and that this work gave it back. It’s no coincidence that she once dyed half her hair pink, and the kids went bananas for it.