AN OBSERVATIONAL STUDY While trying to come to a conclusion about what variable I wanted to study for my naturalistic observation, I thought to myself, “Wow, why am I stressing so hard about what I want to do for research?” This was because, the whole time that I was anxiously scrambling back and forth about which study I wanted to do, there was already one right in front of my eyes the whole time. For the past few months I have been working at a daycare, a place where children are dropped off by their parents when they need to do things on their own and can pick them up whenever is necessary. The daycare that I work at is family ran and takes place inside their very own home. The inside of the house portrays a peaceful setting with warm, cozy colors in the living room to make you feel relaxed and bright, energetic colors in other rooms that leave you feeling happy and comfortable. The daycare provider, Debbie, has been working with children for 40 years. She is a very well known person throughout the community and treats the kids she works with as if they are her own. After thinking for a while about what I wanted to do as a study, I decided that I wanted to do something involving children and the relations/interactions that they have with their parents. Seeing how I work at a daycare, I do not really get to see much of the interaction that the children and parents have with each other. That is the whole point of a daycare, parents separating from their children for a period of time so they can get whatever it is that needs to be done accomplished. So one may ask, “How do you plan on finding out such behaviors when you do not get to see them together?” And that’s the thing; I am there witnessing their interactions and relationships that they have with one another. Since I am a full-time college student, my schedule restricts me from being able to