Most people give up finger painting, puppet shows and building blocks by the time they are five years old but one Whangarei woman has stuck with it for a while longer and is retiring from teaching 3-5 year olds after 40 years.
Helen White, 66, has been juggling the care of kids, cats and roses and on Friday celebrated her retirement from Hora Hora Kindergarten with the children, their parents and her colleagues.
Her colleague, Fiona Douglas, said that Mrs White will be missed for her enthusiasm and her great concern for the children in the kindergarten and their families.
Working at Hora Hora Kindergarten has been a different experience to other kindergartens as many of the children she teaches speak English as a second language.
Ms Douglas said, "over the years she [Mrs White] has built relationships with the families and given them a sense of belonging, and support".
Mrs White has worked in many kindergartens all across Northland. One thing Mrs White has loved about her career is all the people she has met and the lifelong friends she has made. A parent of two boys, Mrs White taught at Onerahi in the 1980s is now one of her best friends, she said.
The highlight of Mrs White's career has been "watching children you have had at kindergarten become successful, knowing you had a little bit of a part". She has taught All Blacks, doctors and "a heap of lawyers".
Something that will not be missed is rainy days inside the kindergarten. "Long periods of wet weather are the most challenging," she said.
Mrs White who is originally from Kaikohe, started her career at Anne West Kindergarten in Kaitaia. On her first day in Kaitaia back in 1969 she met her husband Derrol White and they were married just over a year later.
The Whites own Cats Pyjamas Boarding Cattery in Tikipunga, Whangarei, and now she is retired Mrs White plans on focusing more on the cats and roses in her life.
First thing on the agenda for the pair is heading to America in October to exhibit the roses they grow at their home.
Mrs White says she got into exhibiting roses because "my husband is very competitive" and the couple have already travelled to the US and Canada displaying their roses at shows.