Getting Hit By The Swing

How many times do you have to tell a child to be careful of being hit by the swing? Every kid I have ever cared for is told a thousand times to not walk in front of the moving swings. A hundred times I have run at full sprint to whisk away a child about to be thrown great distances by the puddle boots of a wind-swept four year old. Still, after all those warnings and near misses kids never get it. The only way to teach a child to stay away from the end of the playset is to allow them to get hit by the swing. Yes, getting hit by the swing is not only one of life's lessons learned the hard way but a rite of passage that becomes cemented into the mind for an eternity.

Every daycare provider needs to get hit by the swing once or twice in their career. I can mentor a provider for years and tell them all the right things but it isn't until that provider feels the boots of a daycare parent that they, themselves, finally realize what all that advice meant. In short - they got hit by the swing. Getting hit by the swing is one of the seemingly worst moments in a  provider's career but in reality getting hit by the proverbial swing will result in magical things. Because, as is fact, one only has to be hit by the swing once in any given situation to realize that running in front of the swing is a bad, bad idea.

I was recently hit by the swing. Mind you, this was not my first time but often providers need to be hit by the swing at least once in the many varied situations in daycare. And sometimes, just sometimes, getting hit by the swing is not a lesson but a reminder of things you already know but have been lax in applying. Getting hit by the swing puts everything back into perspective.

Yesterday I was really pissed that  I was stupid enough to go running by the swing. I should have just stood my ground in the sand box. But oh, no, the temptation to run in front of the swing was far too appealing. And getting hit by that swing, although a stupid decision on my part, was the best thing that has happened to me with relation to daycare in a long, long time.

Live and learn. But live and learn and do better, take better care of YOU next time. And whatever you do, once you get hit by the swing get up and run like hell so you don't get hit again.

For concerns, advice or suggestions I welcome your email at judytrickett@gmail.com

In It For The Money

I like kids. Really, I do. I would never do a job that I hated. Life is far too short to get out of bed every day with a sense of dread. This job comes with a lot of perks. I love being at home all day. I love commuting to my coffee pot. I love going to work in Yoga pants. And, most of all, I love getting paid to do the aforementioned things.

It always bothers me when I hear both parents and providers claim someone is simply providing daycare services "for the money". Why else would they work? Why, on God's green earth, would someone willingly wipe another non-related human being's butt or their green double-barrelled snot if not for compensation? What's wrong with wanting to get paid to work?

Make no mistake about it; I work to get paid. I do not work for the joy of unclogging my toilet every time a newly potty trained daycare kid uses too much toilet paper. I do not work for the sheer amazement of watching a child dump sand over their entire body that will ultimately be tracked into my house. I do not sit in blissful awe of the child who has screamed the entire allotted nap time during which I am supposed to be enjoying a break in silence.

I work for money. I make no apologies for that.

Parents on parenting forums are always quick to point out that a certain provider is "only in it for the money". I have to ask the question - what parent, who drops off their child in my care every day to go to work, is NOT "in it for the money"? It makes sense to me that every parent for whom I provide services goes off to work every single day with the expectation of getting paid. I am pretty sure there are very few parents who simply drop their children in the care of complete strangers for the joy of working. And if that is the case then perhaps daycare providers everywhere have a pretty good argument against the "in it for the money" judgement.

Everyone, few exceptions included, works for money. That's reality. Find me one daycare provider or parent who, if they won the PowerBall Lottery tomorrow, would continue to work. I will bet my last dime none of us could find one and I would be out my last ten cents.

Daycare providers do important work. And yes, those same daycare providers want to be paid for it. They work for pay. Nothing more, nothing less.

Perhaps the bigger problem here is the fact that society makes such statements about the very people who care for the world's most precious commodities. The general attitude that providers should work for anything less than money is insulting and insolent. Why are daycare providers always held to a different standard than the rest of the working world?

I imagine walking into a public school classroom and taking a poll of the teachers. I would ask them if they worked for money or because they loved the kids so much the money didn't matter. I don't really need to do a poll to know the results. Every teacher would say they work for the money. If they didn't then why pay them? We could save a lot of much needed education dollars if every student-loving teacher forfeited their annual salary. It will never happen. Teachers like getting paid. As a society we would never begrudge a teacher for wanting their pay cheque. In fact, most of society thinks teachers don't get paid enough. But we insist that every provider who puts her foot down and demands respect is only "in it for the money". The notion of providers being greedy is the most utterly ridiculous idea I have ever heard.

Yes, I am in it for the money. I am in it for the $38,000 I collect each year. I am in it for the $16,000 in food and supplies I paid out for other kids to enjoy last year. I am in it for the additional $1500 in utilities those same kids used in 2010. I am in it for the $500 in birthday and Christmas gifts and party supplies I bought last year. I am in it for the other $2000 in incidental expenses I paid in the last 365 days.

That's right....I am just in it for the money. In fact I  am "in it" for the whopping $1500 a month I earned last year wiping other peoples' kids' poop smeared butts, spit up and snot.

Like every other daycare provider I know I earn every single penny I collect. I AM "in it for the money" - every red cent of it.

The next time a parent accuses you of being "in it for the money" simple agree followed by a retort of, "aren't you?".  And then wait for that awkward silence we all like to employ.

I like getting paid. And the day I have to do this for free will be my last. Enough with the double standard. Stop asking providers to do the very thing you would not do yourself. And never, ever, make the mistake of believing that any provider who wants to be paid does not care for children. It's simply not true and a feeble argument at best. 

Now, get over yourself, drop-off your child, pay me and then go off to that job you get paid to do! Or, better yet, quit your "real" job, open up a daycare and do it out of the goodness of your heart. Offer free services. After all, daycare providers should never be "in it for the money".


Good luck. Let me know how that works out!

For concerns, advice or suggestions I welcome your email at judytrickett@gmail.com