It took a little while for Maxine Maddox to find her place.

She went to work at Dixie Mills, where so many others she knew worked. But after two years, the LaGrange native took a different kind of job.

“I went into child care at a day-care, center and I loved it. It was a calling,” said Maddox.

That was more than 20 years ago. Today, she is director of Maidee Smith Daycare Center, the oldest day-care center in Troup County.

With seven children of her own, Maddox wanted a job that would understand her commitment to her children.

“I wanted to be able to go to their school programs, to be there with them,” she said.

First as an assistant teacher, than as assistant director, Maddox learned her way through the child-care world at LaGrange Child Development Center. She took the director’s position at Maidee Smith two years ago, a center her youngest son attended at one time.

“This is a special place,” Maddox said. “I’m following in some big footsteps. It’s a challenge to continue the dream of the ladies who started it.”

Over the past few decades, childcare work has changed - and so have the children.

“There are a lot of rules we have to follow, but that’s a good thing. It’s a report card that helps me do better,” she said. “I want parents to feel their children are in a safe place where they will be well-prepared for school. If they don’t have to worry about their children, then they can do their jobs better.”

Caring for children has always been a challenging, often tiring, job. Today’s children can be even more challenging than in previous years.

“Working in child care has to be a passion for someone. You sure don’t do it for the money,” Maddox said, with a laugh.

There are other challenges that come along with running the Maidee Smith center. It has the lowest cost of any day-care center - only $50 a week per child. The United Way subsidizes the nonprofit center, but funds are always short.

The building is more than 50 years old and Maddox has a long list of improvements that need to be made, although there are some advantages to the brick building on Union Street in LaGrange.

“I would not trade this building for anything. We have block walls that we don’t have to paint and we can tape anything on them. It makes it friendly and inviting,” she said.

Open house planned

Maidee Smith Daycare Center will host an open house from 4 to 6 p.m. Saturday at the center at 607 Union St. Families, friends, former students and community member were invited to stop buy and share memories of the center.

Sherri Brown can be reached at sbrown@lagrangenews.com or (706) 884-7311, Ext. 240.