Meet Auntie Annie

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Some of the children daycare provider Ann Trippler has taken care of over the years affectionately refer to her as “Auntie Annie.”

She’s an integral part of their lives, and numerous children who have gone to her daycare in Chisago City started when they were just infants and left as preteens.

The Chisago County Board of Commissioners recently recognized Trippler for 14-plus years of outstanding childcare service in the county by naming her childcare provider of the year at the board’s May 2 meeting.

Trippler said she was humbled by the honor.

“I was kind of blown away,” she said, adding that she accepted the award on behalf of all childcare providers in the county.

A life surrounded by children

Walk into Trippler’s home daycare off 284th Street in Chisago City and it’s immediately evident she has a way with the youngsters.

They listen to her as they would their own parents, sometimes better.

Trippler, laughing a bit, recalled an instance when she received a call from a father of one of her daycare children.

That dad was having a hard time getting his little boy to eat and his wife, the normal disciplinarian, was out of town.

“I told him, ‘Put me on speakerphone,’ and I said, ‘ You have two minutes to get up in the chair and start eating or Annie is walking across the cul-de-sac,’” she said. “He called back a couple minutes later and said, ‘Thank you, he’s eating now.’”

The children Trippler cares for undoubtedly have a healthy amount of respect for her authority, but it’s far from all discipline at her daycare.

There are toys abound, she regularly organizes activities for the kids and field trips to local parks are common.

She keeps her children engaged – well, when they’re not napping, anyway – so the time away from home is enjoyable.

No vacations

Occasionally, Trippler does leave town, which means her daycare parents have to find different accommodations for their children for a short time, but her profession never really leaves her.

She recently went on a cruise with her husband, Dean, and Trippler said she remembered saying to him how nice it would be to get away from daycare for a while.

“He said, ‘It’s going to be two days and you’re going to be missing them and all you’ll be doing is talking about them,’” she said. “He was right.”

When people find their niches in life they know, and it’s clear Trippler is in a profession she’s suited for and enjoys.

“It’s my life,” she said. “Kids have always been my life.”