The patter of feet and the squeals and laughter of the children are still music to Merle Doars' ears. It is what, she realises, she was meant to do.

After 20 years of working at the Nursery School at St. Michael's Church Hall, Mrs. Doars found herself at a crossroads when the lease was not renewed because the church had plans to renovate the hall and the nursery closed earlier this year.

But parents Cesare and Nives Filice (pronounced Fil-lee-chay) were not about to let Mrs. Doars vanish from their son, Biaggio's life. So with her as a partner they opened Busy Bees Nursery on Khyber Pass in Warwick two months ago.

"Cesare and I did this for our son because we knew she was the best person for him," Mrs. Filice admits. "When my son went to the Nursery School at three years old he didn't play with other children, he just was not sociable at all.

"From September to December was such a dramatic improvement in him that when (owner) Maureen Maughan told us that that school was going to close, Mrs. Doars asked `where is your son going to go' and I said `wherever you are'.

"She just has a way, she brings out the best in every child and treats every one as an individual. I needed someone who was going to work with him and she does. She does it with every single one of her children, she just kisses off them all the time and loves them.

"When the little girls wake up from their nap she has the brushes and the scrunchies and the hair is just right when the parents come to pick them up."

The new nursery is now up and running in another church hall with seven children so far. Mrs. Doars is assisted by another teacher, Lynnell Blind, the mother of one of the pre-schoolers.

"It wasn't that she didn't have anywhere to go, she got a ton of offers and wanted to carry on as well," said Mrs. Filice. "She would be out of her element if she didn't have this."

To appreciate Mrs. Doars' love of children is to know her background. She started working at her mother's nursery when still in her teens.

"I started at home with my mom when I first came out of school, then I took a break and worked at the Telephone Company for a few years," explained Mrs. Doars.

"Then I worked in my brother's music shop, but the urge to be with the children kept coming back. Then I worked at Nambour Nursery for a year and a lady whose son I was looking after at the time said `I would love to have you at my place, come and see me'.

"I did and went to Strawberry Hill Nursery and had been there ever since."

The Nursery School was located at Strawberry Hill off Harbour Road, from which it derived its unofficial name, the "Strawberry Hill Nursery".

It moved from Strawberry Hill when the family members of the owners of the property wanted it for development. Condominiums are now located on that site.

"It was a lovely old, big building, we housed 120 children there and we had about ten teachers on staff," Mrs. Doars recalled. "It was a half day school, most of the children left at 12 noon and only a handful stayed until 3.30 p.m."

Forced to move, the nursery ended up in another part of Paget two decades ago. "We went down to 53 children at St. Michael's Church Hall where we were for 20 years," said Mrs. Doars.

"Unfortunately the church needed the building, they wanted to do some long-term renovations that had been pending for quite a while, and we had to find another location, which we couldn't do. So the nursery school closed."

Mrs. Doars was told the Nursery School was in business for 50 years, starting at the Lady Asser Hut on the Bermuda High School property. When the Busy Bees opened up, six of the children went with them.

"More would have come but time was running out when they were trying to place their children," said Mrs. Doars. "After school closed on June 30 we went to the Salvation Army for about five weeks while we were waiting for this building to be ready. Things are looking pretty good now.

"I would like to keep it small, I like to be able to give the children as much individual attention as possible, chat with them and give them a hug."

Mrs. Doars has one child of her own, a daughter who lives in Alberta, Canada with her two children.

As well, Mrs. Doars has also been a foster parent for the last 15 years and has three children in her care.

"I love children, to be able to help, nurture, care for and give love and guidance to," she stated, pausing to correct one of the children at the nursery.

"About ten years ago all you had to do was speak, now you have to talk, talk, talk, talk. You have to be firm and consistent with them."

She has found that today's young children present different challenges, even though the principles of discipline and guidance remain the same.

"It is a combination of being raised different and younger parents," she believes. "The bible tells us that in the last days children will be weaker but wiser.

"They are exposed to an awful lot. As young as they are they know how to operate computers and electronic toys that they have. "They have a lot and are never satisfied, they always want to move onto something else quite quickly.

"They are bright, and they are into everything and you have to keep them in a small space."

Still, she couldn't imagine doing anything else.

"I enjoy being around them, I enjoy their freshness and honesty," said Mrs. Doars who also teaches Sunday School at her church, Salvation Army.

"Children are honest but they also know how to tell lies, as young as they are. You don't ask for patience, you ask for grace and you just ask the Lord each day to help you. You need a lot of love because they can be very trying.

"You have to really love children to do this job. A lot of people are out there for the bucks, but I'm out there for the children. Parents call me at home and ask me what to do. I see them on the street and they'll said `I miss you, you used to help me with so and so."

Mrs. Doars gives credit for her choice of career to her own mother, Lydia Furbert, who is now 86 years old. "She had a nursery in her home for many, many years and it is something that was passed on," she said. "There were times that I ran the nursery on my own with 25 children. Other than God she is who I give credit to for guidance."

Mrs. Doars also credits her former bosses, Maureen Maughan and Susan Furr.

"I owe them a lot, I'm very thankful to them," she said. "They were very supportive. I'll be ever indebted to those two ladies for their kindness."

Mrs. Doars admits over the years she has seen children come to the nursery with `baggage', affected by things going on at home.

"But you have to deal with it and every day ask the Lord for that little more grace," she said. `It's not all in the books, it is in the heart and the head. I try my best to give the children a hug every day or a tap on the head."

And she sees the unsociable child as her personal challenge. "That's the child I would be most drawn to because I'll say to myself, `I'm going to win that little fella over'," she replied. "Leave them with me, I'll have them laughing like normal."

One young boy shadowed Mrs. Doars' every movement during his first week at the nursery, slow even to warm up to the other children.

"When they first come in, I'll go and hug them and say hello. I try to make me that person that they can trust, who they can depend on," she said, sounding like a grandmother full of wisdom.

"It's all in the approach. Children are carbon copies of their parents and what goes on in that home is going to be reflected in their behaviour, whether it's good or bad.

"People must have a very positive environment for children to grow up in. It's alright to say you want the best for your child in giving them material things, but you can give your children love, guidance and discipline. saying what you mean and meaning what you say. Parents need to take the control back."

Sounding like a Child Psychologist, Mrs. Doars uses her experience to give advice to the parents, too, some of whom she also cared for when they were at the pre-school age.

"That's actually what I wanted to be, a Child Psychologist," she revealed. "That was my dream, to go away to school, but that never happened so I'm just happy to be able to do this. "There isn't anything else that I can do. This is my calling, caring for and loving children."