Lonely Clime

So my first week is over, and I am yet again reminded that people who work in daycare get no respect. The center is still new, so at the moment the student body consists of two afterschool boys, one preschool girl, and two toddler girls. Aside from Alisa, I’m the only one in the center until 4 o’clock, which means that I’m taking care of the toddlers and the preschooler. And the preschooler’s parents are already driving me batty… so’s the kid, come to think of it.

The first afternoon I went, I met the mother.  She spent 15 minutes grilling me about my qualifications and bitching about how no one told her that I would be taking care of her little angel.  I met the father on Monday morning and went through the same thing. Yes, I know you probably think I’m not even old enough to buy my own alcohol, but I assure you that I have a degree and studied child development and even child psychology and therapy techniques, not to mention that I’m a certified head teacher and I taught preschool for a year and half and no I will not be her permanent teacher. On Tuesday she had an accident because she didn’t tell anyone she needed to use the bathroom. Alisa took her to change and discovered that this 3-and1/4-year-old cannot even manage to put on her own sweatpants. So she gave her the other spare pants that were in her cubby. Well they were too small and the snap routinely popped and she basically went through the day looking like a little plumber. This is not in the least unusual for a kid. Well the parents threw a hissy fit about it when they picked her up (I wasn’t there). Then the dad came back the next morning and discussed his concerns with Alisa. WTF? ::sigh:: These parents are older and obviously a little particular. Then again, what do they know about the clothing issues of a preschooler? She’s their only kid.  Now, I know that I’m in a good position to actually know what’s normal or not where parents are often going to be pretty clueless, but the thing about most parents is that they admit that they just might not know best. These parents think they do.

And no, their daughter is not a genius. She can cut on a line whether it’s straight or curved, but she doesn’t understand that kicking someone in the head is a bad thing… either that or she doesn’t understand the difference between good and bad, and she has no concept of empathy, which really should be starting to develop at this point. Plus, being with the toddlers all day, she’s regressing. And she expects me to clean up after her. Believe me, we have the "I’m not your maid" discussion on a daily basis. ::sigh:: I cannot wait until she’s out of my room and I can start doing things just for the toddlers. After all, I specifically did NOT want to teach preschool.

All in all though, I really like it. I’m developing my own routines with the kids and the little ones are getting more verbal and showing attachment to me. That’s always a good thing.  And Alisa said I’m doing an amazing job. So yay!

I do have one problem and that’s the getting paid. Obviously, with so few kids enrolled, money is an issue, so Pam wants hours strictly adhered to. The first two afternoons I got dragged into staying late because of the woman who closes… 20 minutes the first day and 10 the next. Monday and Tuesday of this week were fine and I got out at 5:30. On Wednesday there was an issue of no heat and no kids, so Alisa said we’d close as soon as Janelly (toddler) left. She leaves at 3:30. Fine, but we still had to vacuum and take out the garbage, so I didn’t leave until 3:45. The next day I still only have Janelly as far as toddlers go, so I was done as soon as she left. Unfortunately, Alisa had to pick up the afterschool boys at the bus stop, so I couldn’t exactly hand the kids off the her to vacuum. So 3:45 again. Then I found out yesterday that Pam isn’t going to pay me for the time I get stuck there. I had to fill out a new time card with the hours I was "supposed" to work. WTF? Is there a point to keeping a time sheet then? This wasn’t overtime. She doesn’t need to approve it. She needs to effing pay it.  I seriously wanted to cry. I mean, I spent all this time waiting to start this job and now she’s trying to screw me over. She ought to be a bit more fucking grateful. ::growlsnort:: I am good at my damn job and I expect to get paid for it.

I did keep the first time card of course, with a comment to myself that she owes me an hour. And I will definitely be keeping track of my actual hours, because I know better than to think that I won’t get stuck there again on some particularly hectic day. Oh, and by the way, my hours are 9-5:30 with an hour for lunch. That’s only 7.5 hours. I wouldn’t hit 40 hours a week if I stayed 15 minutes every day.

My consolation is the center itself. Being the only full time employee right now aside from Alisa, I have a lot of input. I haven’t seen Pam since the open house a while back.  Right now, the infant/toddler room is all mine and I intend to keep it that way. Obviously, other teachers will come, but the organization of the room is on me. So yay! It means that eventually I can step back and hang with the infants and younger toddlers more than with the older toddlers (not into potty training when it’s going to involve trekking down the hall with 4-8 two-year-olds every couple hours).

And I will be getting my money. Pam may not think so, but I can raise a fuss with the best of them.

Sorry. Lots of bitching. It’s not because none of it is good. Lots of it is good. The bad is a.) frustration on several levels due to Camille’s presence in my room and b.) not getting paid for hours I put in. The other kids are great and I have a lot of fun with them. If it was all bad, I wouldn’t be as good at it as I am, even if saying you work in a daycare earns you absolutely zero respect from the world at large.  And I have ambitions (who knew right?). I’m going to kick ass at this, maybe enroll in some advanced courses and put the effort into having Alisa’s job someday. Well, not her job exactly. I like her. But maybe my own center? It’s not impossible. ^_^

I have more pictures of Alan’s to put up, but I have lots to do today. Lisette’s bridal shower is tomorrow and I’m only half ready… plus I have to do today the things I would normally do on a Sunday afternoon. Plus I have to plan this week’s menu and get over to the library for some spring themed books. Alan’s going to do the laundry while I’m at the shower, but it still means I have to sort it and make sure it’s really really clear what clothes should not go in the dryer (I’m tall, cotton tends to shrink shorter rather than tighter… it’s a whole thing). Anywhoozle. Off I go into the wild blue yonder.

~Liz