Lora Krawiec


Walking into Lora Krawiec’s office, there is no mistaking where you are. Maybe it’s the pack of crayons mixed in with the stacks of monthly planning receipts. Or it could be the small pink stuffed bear shoved between two files. Whatever it is – it’s clear that you’re in a day care.


Lora is the owner and program director of Medicine Hat’s Crayon Academy. She opened her doors in the summer of 2010 after running a day home for many years. But this divorced mother of four never dreamt she’d be the owner of a day care – she wanted to be a nurse. “Growing up I never even wanted kids,” 30-year- old Lora laughs. “I finally decided after my four kids that the nursing career wasn’t going to happen.”


Today – some six years after she started looking after kids as a career – she couldn’t be happier. “I’m doing this for my children,” Lora explains, adding that her two youngest attend Crayon Academy. “I can go


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to work and still be a mom and know that my kids are safe and happy.”


The Crayon Academy is full for another year – with a waiting list that’s five pages long. This summer Lora is also going to be running day camps for the first time. It makes for busy times around the Krawiec household – especially with kids aged 9, 7, 4 and 2.


“I need to figure out how to be in two places at once,” says Lora, who has a child care certificate, a diploma in day care management and attends many child centre workshops.


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Besides doing all the paperwork for the centre, Lora home-cooks the meals for the 34 kids in the day care. They get two snacks and lunch every day. That means that in the evenings Lora cooks. A lot. There’s homemade raisin bran muffins, beef noodle casserole and egg salad sandwiches. “We work hard to make sure they are getting all the food groups,” she says, adding that her own parents help out with the cooking.


And while she hasn’t quite figured out how to be in two places at the same time, she does have some tricks up her sleeve.


“I have a plug-in cooler in the back of the truck so we can eat on the way to games and practices, and we often do homework on the side of the soccer field,” laughs Lora.


And on days when the phone stops ringing for a just minute, it’s all worth it. “Sometimes I’m lucky enough to go fingerpaint with the kids,” she says.


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