Child Wrangler

Version 2.0

2006-09-04T23:59:00.000-04:00

http://childwrangler2.blogspot.com/

That's the address to my new blog. This one will be dead now that I have a new blog.

Back to School Schedule...

2006-09-01T18:19:00.000-04:00

I am just waiting for the day when my schedule is CONSISTENT! But, seeing as how I'm a senior in college-(finally)-I've given up on consistency. I just nailed down my schedule from now until December....it's a little hectic, but what part of my life isn't? The school part isn't complicated, it's the child care part that is. Once school starts, I'm going to be responsible for putting "C" on the bus at 8am, then I have school from roughly 10-3:40, then I have to pick her up from school at 3:45pm and stay with her until either 5:15, 6:10, 8:00, or 9:15 depending on the day of the week. In addition, on the one night a week when "C"'s mom gets home at 6:10, I have to have "C" ready for dance class, which starts at 6:30. I don't even have kids yet but I feel like I'm a primary caregiver!

In other news, the boyfriend moved in today. Now we have a bed that we can BOTH sleep on, an entertainment center, 2 couches, an end table, and another dresser. Along with all of his other stuff. He put a bunch of stuff together and then had to drive down to Flint or something like that for a family reunion. So I'll see him on Sunday night. Then he gets to go job hunting.

While he's gone, I have to cover my old mattress so that it will be all ready for my mom to pick up on Thursday. In addition, I have to get my school supplies and organize myself before the first day because I'm really not going to have time after school starts to get organized...not with my work schedule. So yeah, I guess that's about it.

Solved!!!

2006-08-30T19:00:00.000-04:00

Well I am happy to report that the job dilemma has been solved. Though it wasn't solved by my own choice, it has still been solved. I FINALLY got ahold of my boss today. Here's the conversation:

Me: Hi! How are you????
Boss: Oh I'm good, I've been trying to get ahold of you but I didn't have your number!
Me: Oh. I was just calling to check on the schedule for work.
Boss: Yeah, I'm still working on it. I'm hoping to have it done by the time school starts.
Me: So with budget cuts and all am I going to be on the schedule?
Boss: Do you have any other job options?
Me: Why?
Boss: Because you're not on the schedule.
Me: Oh, okay. That's all I wanted to know.
Boss: But I might need you to sub occasionally for the assistant director.
Me: Okay, I'll think about it.
Boss: Well just come in next week and sign the papers for it so I can put you on the sub list.
Me: ??????? uh...okay.
Boss: But if something changes I'll let you know within the first 3 weeks of the semester. Your number is ***-**** right?
Me: Yeah.
Boss: Okay, bye.
Me: Bye.

Um...okay, so I'm not working for her anymore??????? And the part at the very end was interesting to me...she 'didn't have my number' and then read it off to me. Go figure. Anyways, I'm now trying to work out a schedule with the mom who I'm working for this month. All I have to say is THANK HEAVENS that I had another option! And a plus is that the mom told me that she would pay me MORE than minimum wage because I'm worth more than that! SCORE!!!! Even if it doesn't work out for her to pay me more, it's still a wonderful compliment to get :)

The Job Dilemma

2006-08-27T09:55:00.000-04:00

I thought that my job problem was taken care of back in July when I last talked to my boss before our 1 month break from the Center. Basically back in July I wasn't sure if I was going to have a job when school started again in September. The reason for this was because of budget cuts. She assured me I would have a job from September-December and even gave me my work schedule for the entire semester. It amounted to 13 hours a week and I would be the supervisor/lead teacher for the entire time that I worked because I have seniority over all of the other students who are going to be working there in the fall. I would receive roughly $85 a week for my work. Now here is the fun part...

My boss told me last week that she was 'working on the final schedule' for the fall semester. Huh? I thought it was done. She told me she had to 'rework' some things due to some changes. Um....okay....now rewind back to June. That is the same thing that she-(my boss) told the previous afternoon supervisor back in June before she-(my boss again) basically forced the afternoon supervisor out of a job. I say basically forced because my boss only offered the afternoon supervisor 4 hrs. a week cut down from 35 hrs a week. So now I'm worried that I'm being 'basically forced' out of a job in a round about way. And it's just lovely that I'm finding this out NOW, 10 days before school starts. At least it's better than getting the 3 hrs. notice that the previous afternoon supervisor got. Now, keep in mind that this is NOT the first time that my boss has done this to someone. The previous afternoon supervisor was the 2nd person and our boss has been pushing our assistant director out for the past year. Now it's dwindling down to me. So here's the dilemma...

The person I am working for this month-(I'm basically a full time babysitter for one of the kids that was at the Center for 2 years) asked me if I would help her out once school started. I would pick her child up from school and stay with her until the mom gets home after work. The problem was the hours she needed me to watch her child overlapped with my hours that I was given for work during the semester. I originally told her that no, I couldn't do it. I told her that because I have been at the Center for 2 years and my boss was the strongest reference I have and I didn't want to piss her off by leaving during my last year of college--thus possibly losing my best reference because my boss is also my advisor for my current program in college.

So what do I do????? Do I take the risk of losing my best reference and tell the mom I'm currently working for that I will work for her because at least I KNOW I will have a job with her? Or do I wait it out until Friday-(when my boss guaranteed me she would have the schedule done) which is 4 days before school starts for both me and the little girl that I'm watching this month? I wouldn't be getting as much money by working for the mom over the Center. It would equal out to 15 hrs a week but I would only make $38 a week because babysitters don't get paid minimum wage here.

What would you do? Go with the job that I know won't fall through or do I wait it out and hope that my boss doesn't screw me over? And if she does screw me over, scramble to possibly have to get another job because by Friday the mom might have something else figured out for child care for her daughter? I just don't know. Part of me wants to go with the mom because she won't screw me over....but then if I tell her I can work for her and my boss actually gives me my 13 hrs. then I have to tell my boss that I can't work thus pissing her off and losing my best reference. Not to mention that I need her signature on my degree audit to graduate--and she tends to get revenge on those students who piss her off.

So, any opinions would be greatly appreciated. I just don't know what to do. I hate to leave the mom hanging based on my boss because she needs to know where her child is going after school and I don't want to stress her out by asking her to wait it out until my boss gets it together. That's not fair to her and I feel horrible doing that to someone. So, again...any opinions would be greatly appreciated. Because I'm lost and I need some serious HELP on this issue. Thanks in advance!

There Should Be A Law...

2006-08-18T02:32:00.000-04:00

That any person, parent or otherwise, is only allowed to make 1 major change in a young child's life once every 3 months. If I was tired last week, then I am WAAAAAY beyond tired after this week. This kid has had 3 major changes in her life in the past 2 weeks. First her dad went back to his home 8 hrs away, then they moved to a new house, then they got a 6 week old puppy. This all happened in a 10 day period. On top of all of that, nothing is really set up in the new house. She has 1 box of toys to play with. None of her books are unpacked, her room isn't set up, she doesn't have a bed yet. Now, some things happened that kind of made it chaotic when they moved, so this isn't a case of negligent parenting, just a case of things went wrong and they had to deal with it. But to get a 6 week old puppy the DAY AFTER YOU MOVE, is insane. Just absolutely insane.

Needless to say, I am wiped out. Actually, I am beyond wiped out. Between not being able to be more than 10 feet away from the kid, and having to clean up 10 + accidents that the puppy has each day, my mind is shot. The little girl has been a koala bear...attached to me. She had 3 meltdowns this week that just came on randomly. I feel bad for her, I really do. I want to fix it, but I can't. All I can say is thank heavens that I have next week off. Then the mom can actually deal with the new puppy that she only sees for 4 hrs. a day...so she really has no clue what I've been through. K...I'll post more tomorrow, when my mind is sorta back to normal.

Workaholics Annonymous...

2006-08-11T16:10:00.000-04:00

Yes folks, I've turned into a workaholic. I only worked 3 days this week but it amounted to 36 hours-(Tues=14 hrs, Wed=12 hrs, and Thur=10 hrs.) Hence the reason I disappeared this week from my blog. But alas, it is now the weekend for me and here I am.

The week at work went okay. The biggest problem I've been facing is that by about 3pm me and the kid I'm watching run out of things to do. We've done all the parks around here multiple times, painted, done arts & crafts gallore, run errands, gone swimming, have been to see the ships pass through the Locks many times, gone window shopping, gotten ice cream, gone out to eat, played with her toys, watched movies, played hide & seek, played tickle monster, read books, made our own books, played with bubbles A LOT, drawn with chalk, painted with sidewalk paint, colored, played with friends, bought a new fish for me, played outside, went to the fire station, run errands, and jammed on the guitar & piano. Yeah...we've done a lot, but it still doesn't fill up a whole week.
There's no zoo's or museums around here, so that's not an option. We would go to the library more often but seeing as how the building is NOT air conditioned and they insists on keeping every door and window closed, it is WAY WAY too hot in there to really have any fun. We more or less wait until rainy days to go to the library because it's cooler and much more enjoyable. I get the feeling that next week is going to be a LOOOOOOONG week because I have her for 55 hours. We're going to go Putt-Putt golfing one of these days when it's not blistering hot outside because there's no shade at the mini-golf course. Any ideas on what else we can do are GREATLY appreciated because we're both bored and when we get bored we get crabby. I'm out of ideas and out of energy.

Until the next time I have enough energy to post.......

My Day...

2006-08-05T20:09:00.000-04:00

I learned something today. Something interesting that I had never thought of before. Maybe I'm just young and naive, or maybe I never had a reason to think about it. But today I found out that planning to have a 'veg day'-(read: sit and do nothing in your pj's all day)-is like giving a preschooler caffeine at dinner and expecting them to go to bed on time. It never ends up the way you want it to.

My day started by being woken up at 7 am by my mother who was frantically packing because she "overslept." She was traveling from my apartment in Northern Michigan to her home in Southwest Michigan. There wasn't a specific time she had to leave, or arrive at her home, she just wanted to leave 'early.' Now for me, anything before 9am is 'early.' Apparently that wasn't the case for her. So she packed what few things she took out of her suitcase when she arrived yesterday, and left around 8am. At this point, my only plans for the day were eat, watch some cartoons and take a nap. The food and the cartoon's happened, the nap did not. And this is why....

I got bored. After having some way to expensive coffee and some extremely unhealthy Burger King breakfast-(I knew I shouldn't have moved next door to the breakfast king)-I messed around on my computer a bit, checked out the shows on tv, and became bored. A nap at this point was futile because I had 2 shots of espresso in my cafe mocha and was wide awake. Hence, the boredom set in. After watching infomercials for about an hour, I looked in the spare bedroom and saw my camera sitting there. My old 1970's Minolta camera that was my Uncle Keith's before he died in a plane crash. I realized that I hadn't taken a picture with it in over 2 years so I got some 35mm film and hopped in my car. I didn't know where I was going, I just knew I had a camera and a full tank of gas. My travel's took me to a local cross country ski trail--which was only 5 miles away.

I parked, hopped out of my car and headed down the trail. I looked at my camera hanging around my neck and realized that I really didn't remember a lot about the settings for the different kinds of pictures. I fiddled with it for a little while and figured the film only cost me $12 and developing would cost me around $8 so I'd only be out $20 if the pictures sucked. Then I walked through the woods with my camera around my neck, my cell phone in my pocket, and a bottle of water in my hand.

I stopped and took pictures along the way while I trekked through the woods on the trail and about 30-40 minutes down the trail I decided to turn around and head back because I was hungry and it was hot. It should've taken me about 30 minutes to get back to my car, but of course thanks to good ole' Murphy, it took me 90 minutes. It took me 90 minutes to get back because 1) The map I had sucked and 2) I apparently turned onto another trail somewhere during my trek. So I finally made it back to my car, in one piece. I made the short trip home and then....

My neighbor called about 30 minutes after I walked in the door. She needed a babysitter. I went and took care of the world's cutest baby for 3 hours. As I was leaving to go to my apartment-(we live in the same building)-she asked me if I could come back at 10pm and stay until 2am. I figured why not, I can always use the money. So that's how my 'veg day' turned out. It kind of reminds me of the 1 day I had nothing to do when I was in London and we ended up getting lost and getting back to the hotel well after curfew. It just never works out the way you want it to.

The Trip I Didn't Expect to Take...

2006-07-24T11:20:00.000-04:00

I like to plan my trips as much as possible. However, this coming weekend I will be taking a trip that I did not plan on taking. It came up at the last minute when my mom called me and asked me to come get her and take her to my dad's. So after a rush to adjust my schedule, talk to my boss, and figure out the money situation, I think I finally have it planned. It's going to require 18 hrs on the road and I'll be staying at 4 different place. To top it all, my car doesn't have A/C. Hopefully it'll be cool next week--otherwise it's going to be a very long and hot trip. Here's how the trip breaks down so far:

Friday--Get off of work at 5:30 and be on the road by 6:00 to Petoskey to stay overnight with my boyfriend. (2 hrs)

Saturday--Get up at a decent time and get on the road by 10:00 to drive to my mom's house in Bloomingdale. (4 hours)

Sunday-Tuesday--Stay at my mom's and help her with canning and freezing the fruits and vegetables from her garden. In addition, I'll probably have to mow her lawn with the push lawnmower-(not gas or electrical powered, one of the old style ones where you're force it was makes it go). She's got a couple of acres so it's basically a full day of mowing the lawn. I think it's her getting me back for all those years of hell I put her through.

Wednesday--Get up really freakin' early and drive my mom to my dad's house in Marquette to get her car. (8-9 hours)

Thursday--Take my car into the shop in Marquette as well as go to the dentist to get my teeth cleaned-(**no cavity vibes**)

Friday--Stay in Marquette at my dad's

Saturday-Head to Sault Saint Marie to my apartment with my mom. Both of us stay overnight here. (3 hours)

Sunday--Mom leaves my place and head's back down to her house.

Yeah, it's gonna be a long week next week. And this week is no better as it's the final week of the semester. Then on the 7th of August I start my job for the rest of the summer. I'll be working a minimum of 10 hours. a day with a maximum of 12.5 hours a day. In addition, I have 2 overnights in August as well-(I stay overnight with the child I am going to be watching for August because her mom will be out of town.) Luckily, I have August 18th-26th off, so maybe I'll get to relax then. But, Brian is moving up here sometime this month...I don't remember when. Then school starts again on September 6th. Thank heavens that I am a senior and almost done!

So yeah, expect some stressed out, tired, caffiene induced posts for the month of August!

Today was....

2006-07-23T21:10:00.000-04:00

Well, not too bad. Definitely better than I expected. I was expecting another day of swearing, fighting, hitting, whining, crying, and tantrums. But it wasn't at all like that. Here's a breakdown of the good, and the bad, from today:

Bad:

The kids mom called me at midnight to ask me if I could motive her kids to clean their room while I watched them today.

She had just finished drinking 12 beers when she called.

The baby completely skipped his morning nap, he WOULD NOT SLEEP.

The baby just cut 3 bottom teeth 2 days ago.

The baby hates any and all teething rings.

Their room hadn't been cleaned in 6 weeks.

It took the 3 of us 2 hrs. to clean their room.

Good:

Me and the kids made a game out of cleaning their room so they thought it was fun.

The kids didn't swear at each other at all today.

The kids were not as wild as they were last time.

The 4 year old didn't whine nearly as much. Only 5 tantrums today!!!

They asked me before they did stuff.

Their room is now clean AND organized!

We had fun today because I wasn't refereeing their fights all today.

I didn't hear the words "I'm Bored" from either of them all day!

So that's the jist of my day. I'm really really tired now, and I really really don't want to go to class tomorrow. I've got a long week ahead of me, but that's another post for another time. Let's just say all of my assignments are due for this class, I have a 3 hr. training session, and I'm going to have to drive 18 hrs. around the state of Michigan this weekend. Yeah, definitely another post :)

Won't Be Seeing Much of Me This Weekend...

2006-07-20T10:17:00.000-04:00

Because I have a TON of homework to do for this class. Next week is the last week of class and everything is due. My current "to do" list consists of:

1. Finish reading "Little House in the Big Woods" and write a paper on it answering the 10 historical questions given out in class.

2. Put together a Caldecott book presentation complete with visual aids and class activity.

3. Put together a poetry presentation with 6 poems written by yours truly.

4. Finish putting together my portfolio.

5. Go to the library and observe a story hour for elementary school age children. Then write a 2 page paper on my observations.

6. Finish the literature circle activities for "The Watson's Go to Birmingham"

7. Finish the take home final exam.

Then next week I have to turn in everything and give 4 presentations in class. In addition, I have 2 job offers on the table right now and am trying to figure out which one I am going to take. I need to figure it out soon because I only have a week before the semester is over.

I would like to speak to the person who said that college is the best time of your life. I have more stress in my life now than I have ever had before.

I hope you all have a fun weekend, I will be locked in my room doing homework.

Quick, Grab a Pen!!!!

2006-07-18T19:41:00.000-04:00

And write this day down in preschool teacher history!!!!!

At 1:51pm, 21 minutes after nap time started, 4 teachers got to take a 45 minute break because EVERY CHILD WAS SLEEPING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In the 2+ years that I have been working there, we have NEVER, I repeat, NEVER had every child sleep at nap time. There was always at least one child who did not sleep.

Sadly enough, during our 45 minute break we all just looked at each other because we didn't know what to do. Nobody needed a nose wiped, a shoe tied, a fight broken up, or to be entertained.

I'm amazed that in 2 short years THIS would be what excites me. But alas, I feel that I have become a true preschool teacher because it really is the little things that matter :)

Hope you all had a great day like I did!!!!!

I'm Bored!!!

2006-07-16T15:56:00.000-04:00

The words every babysitter, teacher, and parent hates to hear from their child/children. I babysat for 3 kids today and shortly after they woke up & ate breakfast, they started complaining about being bored. So to get rid of the boredom we did a few things:

1. Played on their scooters

2. Went for a 30 minute walk

3. Ate lunch

4. Colored with chalk

5. Played with bubbles twice

6. Played with play-doh

7. Made books

8. Colored

And what do you think they said as soon as I took 15 minutes out of the day to make their lunch and feed the baby??? Yup, you got it. "I'M BORED!!!"

Read Read Read!!!

2006-07-12T12:18:00.000-04:00

I am a huge advocate of reading to infants and children many times a day, every day. Reading is the foundation for comprehension, fluency, a rich vocabulary, and success in school. Almost everything in school requires reading. If a child struggles with reading, he or she will struggle with school. I am reading a book right now that I recommend for new parents and teachers. It's called 'The Read-Aloud Handbook' by Jim Trelease. Although there are some parts that are a bit on the boring side, it is a good book that should be read by every parent and teacher out there. The book is formatted in a question and answer way. The most common questions about reading aloud to children and infants are posed and Mr. Trelease answers the questions effectively an honestly. In addition, at the end of the book there is a whole section of books that he recommends to read aloud to infants and children. Each book he recommends has a short summary of the book and the estimated grade level of the book.

One particular question and answer in this book really hit home because I have said it over and over again to many parents. The question is about when to start reading aloud to a child. A child should be read to from day one. In the beginning, it doesn't matter what you read because a newborn does not comprehend the information yet. It is more about conditioning at this stage and should be done so that when the child gets a little older, he or she will know how to treat books and will know what they are for. In addition, reading will become a positive experience for the child and he or she will have a healthy attitude about books and reading.

So I will step down from my soap box now, but remember...READ READ READ!~!~!

Still Alive and Kicking....

2006-07-03T23:55:00.000-04:00

A rundown of my life for the past month....

I got a B- in my economics class. Dropped my literature and culture class to take a children's literature class. The class has sucked up most of my time. Cramming 14 weeks worth of class into 6 weeks gets a little crazy. But I'm getting stuff done and just want the class to end.

My hours got cut at work. I'm now only working in the afternoon's so I lost 10 hrs. a week. Work is going pretty well. The kids have more than enough energy every day. The elementary school aged kids all have this attitude that they are superior to everybody at the center...including the teachers. It's been an uphill battle but it's only 3 more weeks and then we're closed till September. I've been babysitting a lot lately, it's nice to have the extra cash but I feel like I never get away from kids sometimes. If I wanted kids 24/7 I would have my own!

Things are moving right along with my boyfriend and his school plans. He'll know his class schedule later this month, so after that he plans on looking for a job and we'll coordinate moving his stuff up here.

The biggest change this month is that I've been diagnosed with a social anxiety disorder as well as a panic disorder. They put me on Paxil because I was barely able to leave the house without having a panic attack. It's going well so far, I go back to the Dr. later this month for a recheck.

I guess that's about it for now. Have a great 4th of July!

Shoes....

2006-06-09T10:42:00.000-04:00

I never really thought much about shoes until I became a preschool teacher. Now I'm tying, arguing about, finding, and being kicked by shoes 5 days a week, 6 hours a day. Tying shoes gets old but when you do it 100 times a day you get pretty good at it. Finding shoes is usually no big deal because they're most often in somebody's cubby. Being kicked by them hurts and I have the bruises to prove it. It's the arguing about putting on the shoes that really bugs me. I've gotten to the point where I pretty much go on autopilot when a child starts whining about putting on their shoes. But one conversation with a particular child (we'll call him "P") about his shoes almost sent me over the edge today. I walked by him in the small block area and for some reason his shoes were off. Here's the conversation from beginning to end:

Time: 8:00am

Me: P go put your shoes on.
P: Why?
Me: Because we have to wear shoes at school.
P: Oh, okay. *walks over to his cubby and picks up his ONE PAIR of shoes that he has* These ones Miss Jen?
Me: Yes, those ones P.
P: But I don't like these ones.
Me: They are the only ones you have, put them on please.
P: But...
Me: Put them on P.
P: Okay. *he sits down on the floor* Do I have to put them on?
Me: Yes you have to put them on.
P: Do I have to unstrap them?-(they're velcro)
Me: Yes you have to unstrap them.
P: Both shoes?
Me: Yes both shoes.
P: Which one first?
Me: It doesn't matter, whichever one you want.
P: Okay. *unstraps both shoes* Do I have to keep my socks on?
Me: Yes you have to keep your socks on.
P: But I don't like socks.
Me: Oh. Put your shoes on.
P: Toes first?
Me: Yes toes first.
P: Okay. *puts one shoe on* Okay, I'm done now.
Me: You have to put the other one on.
P: Why?
Me: Because.
P: Oh. Okay. *sits down and picks up his other shoe* My shoes are black Miss Jen.
Me: Yes I know.
P: But I don't like black.
Me: Oh. Put your shoe on.
P: My feet don't want to be in black shoes so I'll just take the other one off.
Me: Leave your shoe on and put the other one on the other foot.
P: But they don't like black.
Me: That's nice. Put your shoes on.
P: *sigh* okay. *puts the other shoe on*
Me: Thank you, you can go play now.

Time: 8:04am Fast forward 6 minutes to 8:10am.

I walk by P in the small block area again and his shoes are off.

Me: P, where are your shoes?
P: My toes didn't like the dark so I took them off.
Me: Go put your shoes on.
P: The same ones?
******************************************************************
At that point I almost lost it with this kid. He is a little out there as far as reading social cues-(like when your teacher is talking through her teeth in a very stern voice, it isn't a good thing.) But my patience was almost nill by the time his shoes were on his feet for good.

I swear, in 20 years you're all going to be watching the evening news and you're going to see me, outside of my daycare center, having a bonfire with children's shoes while mumbling crazy things about how shoes were developed by a teacher hating parent. Watch for me....I'll wave.

Please Don't...

2006-05-20T23:31:00.000-04:00

There's always those parents who go against everything you say and you would swear that they go out of their way to make your life as a teacher more difficult. This is my list for those parents...

1. Please don't encourage your child's dangerous behavior by saying "You're just like Peter Pan!" when they take a flying leap off of their cubby into your arms when you are getting them ready to go home.

2. Please don't tell your child that he/she does not have to listen to a particular teacher just because you don't like that teacher. Whether you like a teacher or not, that teacher is responsible for teaching your child and it is very difficult to teach a child who has been told they don't have to listen to you.

3. Please don't bring a toy to school every day when it is stated in the parent handbook that toys are to be brought to school on sharing day only. In addition, if you do choose to let your child bring a toy to school on a non-sharing day--don't get mad at us when we tell your child that he/she must keep the toy in his/her backpack for the duration of the day.

4. Please don't pack only sugar filled candy for your child's lunch. Your child is served what you have packed for them--and we really don't like to serve what we call "sugar buzz" lunches to any child.

5. Please don't get mad at us when your child does not sleep at nap time. We cannot force a child to sleep--we will rub their back and sing to them, if they do not sleep, we cannot do anything.

6. Please don't tell your child that he/she does not have to wear a paint smock when painting. We understand that it doesn't matter if the child gets paint on his/her clothes, however...paint on a child's clothes usually gets transferred to other children, toys, walls, carpets, and teachers. That is why your child is required to wear a paint smock when painting.

7. Please don't open your child's lunch and read the instructions from the Easy Mac/ChefBoyardee/Ramen Noodles package/can/cup. There's 3 reasons we do not need this. 1) We can read. 2) We are college educated people, we can figure it out. and 3) Most of us are college students, we live off of convenience food

8. Please don't accuse us of being mean to your child because he/she got a time out for misbehaving and didn't like it.

This list is all from personal experience this year. Some of these happen to us on a daily basis, others only happen once or twice. But please, for those parents out there who do these things--please realize that by doing this you are working against us, not with us...and that's not beneficial to anybody.

Finally Settling Down...

2006-05-02T11:26:00.000-04:00

Well things are finally starting to get back to normal here. I'm moved into my new apartment and my boyfriend has seen it and he likes it, so we're good to go on that front. We finally started to talk about him moving up here, so we've got the ball rolling on that one. All that's left to do with the apartment is get internet hook up and we should be all good until August when he have to move his stuff up here.

I'm back at work, and it's going alright. We had 3 new kids start yesterday, and we have another one starting sometime. We've got full enrollment for May and June and 95% enrollment for July. We're closed in August but I already have a full time job for that month so I'm set there.

As far as other things, I'm having to have more blood tests done this week, which kinda sucks, but it's gotta be done. There's a concern about my thyroid now, so hopefully we'll get that all straightened out. I start class again next Monday. I'm only taking 1 class each summer semester so I shouldn't be too stressed out from it.

I guess that's about it for now. More posts will come when I get internet access at my apartment.

When it rains...

2006-04-25T16:53:00.000-04:00

It pours. It's only Tuesday and I am ready to snap at the next person who crosses my path. My stress level has gone through the roof this week and it just keeps piling on.

Yesterday was the start of it all. It's finals week for me, so that is stressful by itself. But at work I ended up going one on one with the child who has anger issues as well as behavior problems. Everything you say to him, in his mind, is up for debate. It doesn't matter how many times you tell him that arguing is not an option, he does it anyways. The entire morning with him was tantrums and arguing.

Today with him was worse than yesterday. He ended up throwing a chair and a cot at a teacher as well as kicking and shoving a number of kids this morning. After he came back from Head Start, he pitched a fit at the table and threw another chair. To make matters worse, one of the teachers told him he was being a "bad boy." Now, we're allowed to say that a child's behavior is bad-(which I don't agree with either, I prefer unacceptable or inappropriate)-but we are never allowed to say that a child is being bad or good. Their behavior may be bad or good, but the child is not to be told they are bad or good. So I reminded the teacher that we're not allowed to say that to a kid, which didn't go over well at all.

On top of all of this, I'm still stressed out about moving, I have 2 more exams that I haven't studied for, my whole body aches, I have to go pick up a kid tonight and watch her until 8. And, I'm having to make another decision about the apartment, which I will be sharing with my boyfriend, with no input from him--which is basically what I've been doing for the last month and a half. I am sooooo ready for a vacation, which I won't be getting this year, but I'm ready for one anyway.

I hope your week is going better than mine.

Good People Are Still Around...

2006-04-15T23:07:00.000-04:00

In college, the week before any kind of holiday, everybody tends to ask you what you are doing for the holiday. Every single one of my friends was going somewhere for Easter weekend. I, however, was not. My answer of, "Study, do laundry, clean" sort of took them by surprise. They all talked about how excited they were for the annual Easter dinner....I would be eating Easy Mac and Chefboyardee. After being asked what my plans were for the holiday weekend I eventually just took to shrugging my shoulders and saying "Haven't figured it out yet."

Now, it isn't that I don't want to go home for Easter, or that I don't have the money or anything like that. The truth is, I really just don't have anywhere to go. My dad is working out of town for the whole weekend--so going to his house would be kind of pointless because I would just sit in his house and study, do laundry, and clean. Going to my mom's always throws me for a loop and it generally takes me at least a week to get back to normal after I've been with her for any amount of time.

So on Thursday I was at work when one of the mom's came in to pick up her daughter. She asked me if I could watch her dogs overnight while they went on a short, overnight trip. I told her sure. Then she asked if I was sure it was okay because she thought she might be imposing on my holiday plans. I told her that I would be in town and it wouldn't be a problem. So Thursday night she called me up and invited me over to have Easter dinner with her and her family. I didn't realize how much it bothered me that I would be alone for the holiday until she invited me over. Easter was always a family get together in my house...this is actually the first year I won't be with any family, or my boyfriend, for Easter--and honestly, it's hard. So bless her heart, there are still good people out there in the world.

Have a great Easter everybody...may yours be as special and important as mine :)

A Long Overdue Update...

2006-04-10T19:16:00.000-04:00

So here it is, almost a week after I promised it. But alas, it's here. My wonderful update on my hectic and "exciting" life. Where to begin....

School-It's winding down I guess. I am never taking 18 credits ever again. Only 2 1/2 more weeks to go. That's good and bad. Good because it means that I successfully made it through my 5th full semester in college. Bad because it means that all those projects that I put off 'until later' are due now and um, yeah...Let's just say I've become a library rat recently.

Work-I'm not really liking the vibe at work right now. Consistency is not very high between the teachers. In addition to that, the director comes in twice a week for a grand total of 4 hours. If it weren't for our assistant director, we probably all would've quit by now. Right now, we have a lot of people working there-(remember this is on a college campus so 95% of the staff is students)-who just don't care or just don't want to work. It puts a lot of pressure on those of us who actually DO work for our paycheck and then it kind of snowballs from there. But, it's not all bad. Many of the children at the center that we were worried about with behavior problems and/or developmental delays are improving on a daily basis. It's great to see, it really makes you feel good inside because you feel like you accomplished something. In addition to that job-(15 hrs. a week)-I babysit occasionally on weekends for a lady who's daughter goes to the center, and I also babysit for my neighbor.

Neighbor's-They suck. It's as simple as that. They have officially broken 3 of our house windows. Jerks...that's all I have to say about that.

Baby-I'm not sure where to even begin with this. And no, I'm not pregnant nor do I have a baby. My boyfriend, Brian, lives with a guy who we'll call Moron #1, or M1 for short. M1 met this girl, we'll call her M2 for Moron #2. They 'fell in love'-(read: a lot of sex and not much else)-and they had an unplanned pregnancy. So this unplanned pregnancy has moved along through the trimesters, M1 lost his job and didn't look for another one, M2 drank loads of coffee, smoked cigarette after cigarette and never went to the doctor. She told us all she was due 'around the end of May/beginning of June.' She finally went to the doctor about 2 weeks ago. They did an ultrasound...low and behold she's due May 10th. So now that reality has hit the Moron Twins in the face, they're not real happy with the idea of 'responsibility.' Kind of funny how that all works though...people who were too irresponsible to use birth control the right way are now going to be responsible for a human being--poor kid.

Love Life-It exists...on the occasional weekend that I have the money, the time, and the stamina to drive down to see the boy toy. The visits with my boyfriend have been few and far between. I see him about once a month now, and the visits are short. I go down Friday after my internship, so I don't get down there till 6pm or later. Then he works on Saturday, and Sunday I have to drive back to school during the late afternoon. He's supposed to be moving up here in August though...which brings me to my big news...

I'M MOVING (again)!!!!

Yes, I'm being crazy and moving for the 6th time in a year. Yes people, that's SIX times in 12 months (May-Dad's, then Brian's, August-School, October-Dad's, January-School). I don't know why I even bother unpacking--it takes more energy to pack and unpack than it does to just live out of the boxes. I'm moving because Brian is coming up here to school and it just seems natural that it's the next step. I'm moving at the end of this month, because my lease at my current place is up on May 1st. But, on the plus side..I love the apartment I'm moving too. And if all goes well, we should be able to stay there for a few years until Brian is done with school.

Well I guess that's it. I should probably get to work on this paper. Have a good week.

Homosexuality and Schools...

2006-03-09T21:16:00.000-05:00

I am reluctant to write this post because of the responses I may receive. However, I feel that it is necessary to write this post because many more homosexuals are having children either through adoption/artificial insemination/surrogacy. I currently have one student who has 2 mommy's, and I'm fairly certain that I will have many more students with either 2 mommy's or 2 daddies in the future.

I'm concerned about a strong reluctance to recognize homosexuality in the schools in this area. I don't know about other school systems so I'm just going to talk about the schools in this area because I know the general mind set at them. Though most all the teachers I have worked with do not say "he's different because he has gay/lesbian parents." I did hear one of my co-workers, in response to my comment about a new students behavior, "well he does have 2 mom's you know." as though that was a reason for the students behavior. I'm not saying that in some children, not being 'like the other kids'-(whatever that is these days)-having 2 moms or 2 dads does not cause conflicting feelings at certain periods in their lives. But I do not believe that a child with gay/lesbian parents are any worse, or better, off than children who have a mom and a dad or are being raised by only 1 parent. I firmly believe that parents can be good parents, or poor parents-regardless of their sexual orientation.

My concern is for the children. In schools teachers recognize and step in when there is an issue between children based on race-("I don't want to sit by her because she's black"), age-("I'm not playing with a kindergartener!"), gender-("But Ms. Jen, she's a girl!"), or disability-("he can't play basketball because he's in a wheelchair.") All of those quotes are from my 2nd graders this school year. A teacher initiated and guided a class discussion about acceptance when these comments, and many others, were made. My question is where are these teachers when a child is being singled out/picked on by other children-(or teachers, which does happen)-because they have 2 moms or 2 dads.

I have a few of my own ideas about why teacher do not step in/promote acceptance about homosexuality. The one that I think carries the most weight in schools here is below.

1. It is not acceptable to talk about homosexuality in schools. I'm not promoting having a full out genetic, moral, or otherwise way too advanced talk with elementary school children. But I think that, just as in adopting or children from single parent families, it should be discussed the same way. "Not all families are the same. Some children have just a mom or a dad, some children have a mom and a dad, some children are adopted, and some children have 2 moms or 2 dads." Many parents of students have a problem with this though. Why, I'm not 100% sure. But I also have parents of students who will not let their children play with children of divorced parents-(swear to you a parent told me this last year.) Perhaps the teachers own shallow, narrow minded view is influencing their feelings about the child/children. Maybe teachers are fearful of being fired or reprimanded for promoting what, in many communities, is seen as unacceptable behavior. Or certain people are nervous about families that are different from theirs. Another explanation may be that parents aren't sure how they feel because they have never been in a situation where they are required to think about how they feel about homosexuality and children of homosexuals. Whatever the reason may be, many teachers are reluctant to deal with events that stem from a child having homosexual parents.

That's a small portion of my view. I just want to leave you with one thing that is very important to me. It is also something that I feel should be important to all teachers of children:

Children are very perceptive. They notice things that adults do not think twice about. They hear everything, even if you do not think they do. Many people, when they feel something is unacceptable-(such as homosexuality)-talk about it to other people. Being human, we tend to seek out people whom we either know or think feel the same way we do. Think about it, if you feel strongly about something, you talk to people who you can trust and often times, who feel the same way you do. Teachers do it often, as do many other people in many other professions. The way you feel about something can influence how you react to certain people, including children. Many people, teachers included, react to children of homosexual parents in a certain way based on what his/her parents sexual orientation. This reaction can influence other children in that teachers class to react to that child in the same way. In effect, the child is being singled out for something that the child never chose for himself/herself. Think about how that child feels. So if you are a teacher, and you have a child who is being singled out in your class, for whatever reason---look at yourself first. Look at how you are responding to that child, maybe your students are just mimicking what you are doing.

Okay, I'm off my soap box now.

Anxiety...

2006-03-06T22:56:00.000-05:00

I've always been an anxious person. I'm not 100% sure why I get so anxious, but I am nontheless. I had it under control for awhile. However, lately it's been getting the best of me--in the form of panic attacks. Nothing major, but enough to disrupt my day and once or twice I've even had to leave class because of them. I used to be on medication for it, but I went off of it last May. I was doing fairly well off of it until I became ill last year and that sent my anxiety through the roof. I had my surgery, got everything figured out, and didn't really think much of it. In my mind, the thing that was causing the anxiety was gone-(being ill and being told that I was perfectly fine and it was all in my head)-so the anxiety would be gone as well. I was naive. I am to a point now where I'm having mild panic attacks a minimum of 3 times a week and usually I end up having as many as 8 or 9 in a week. I'm going to see the Dr. and a counselor on Friday and Monday, respctively, but the question now becomes do I medicate myself again, or do I just suck it up and be a ball of anxiety? Questions, questions....the worst part isn't the anxiety attacks, but worrying about the anxiety attacks-(how's that for messed up?) What to do, what to do? Time will only tell I guess. Wish me luck!

Back to Winter...

2006-03-05T10:48:00.000-05:00

And glad to be here! As crazy as that sounds, I definitely don't miss being in Florida. Granted it's cold, but at least I get some peace and quiet. The arguing between my brother-in-law and sister never stopped the whole time I was there. When he would go to work, she'd turn on me-which didn't work to well. My brother-in-law made a quote to my sister one day while we were sitting at a restaurant, "When I call you my princess, I mean it as the princess and prince situation. Not the princess and the pauper." That pretty much sums it up. My sister is a rude, condescending, disrespectful, and lazy wife. He does everything-(all of the housework, laundry, etc.) and they both work 40+ hrs. a week. But everything he does is "wrong" and when he tried to fix it it's still "wrong." Needless to say, I'm not very optimistic that he's going to stick around-and honestly, I can't blame him.

After that awkward vacation with my sister, I flew back to my hometown of Marquette and stayed at my dad's. My mom was there, she moved back into his house-(with his permission) when I had my surgery and just never really left. She's leaving at the end of March and moving back to her home in the Kalamazoo area. Then my parents tell me that they are getting back together. I didn't think much of it since I don't live with either of them anymore and it really doesn't affect me. It's the reason why they're getting back together that threw me for a loop. My dad is losing his job in the fall. They're selling his house this summer and moving into my mom's house downstate. Okay, that was a bit of a shocker since he has worked for the hospital for 26 years and now he's losing his job.

Then I drove back to my house, excited to be back and be able to have my own space again. Had a nice sit down talk with my roommate about me moving out in May when the lease is up. It went a lot better then I expected, mainly because she's thinking about moving out anyways but wasn't going to because she didn't want to leave me with full rent, which is the same reason I hadn't said anything to her up until this point either. So, we're getting that figured out slowly but surely. Now I just need to find a place to live :) Kind of a long story.

I go back to school and work tomorrow. Have 2 exams on Tuesday--not looking forward to them. Hope you all have a good week.

Intervention...

2006-02-17T18:02:00.000-05:00

I have a student this year, he's 5 years old. He has been diagnosed with ADHD. He also has many of the major and minor signs of autism. We noticed this when he started with us in September. He is highly intelligent in specific areas-(numbers, letters, shapes), lines objects up-(cars are a big one) repeatedly and then doesn't do anything with them, will do the same thing for hours, does not handle transitions well, eye contact is minimal at best, does not understand verbal instructions, cannot generalize at all, everything he learns is basically through rote memorization and has pretty much no meaning to him, he cannot handle having his hands or arms touched, his fine and gross motor skills are poor and showing very little improvement, he is very clumsy, and probably the biggest one, his social skills are extremely delayed. He does not seem to understand social cues, obvious and subtle. Like if a child tells him no, he will do it anyways and then not understand when the child gets mad at him. He will just reach over and grab something out of another kids hand and not understand why it was wrong. He will get into kids faces all the time, yell out things at inappropriate times, etc.

We've been trying to work with him, but when you have a child where nothing generalizes from one situation to the next and it has no meaning to him, it is very hard to explain things and teach appropriate behavior from inappropriate behavior. I have talked to my supervisor about my concerns, and she agrees that he does have autistic tendencies and needs to be evaluated by a specialist. My supervisor has been talking to the mom and dad about getting him tested-(this is a very slow process because mom and dad are against the idea that something is wrong with their child-case in point, they're 3 year old has perfect hearing but does not talk-not one single word-and they just took her to the Dr. for it 2 weeks ago) Our boss, however, is another story. She basically wrote us off and told us that it wasn't our problem. The staff at the center is basically frustrated with him-(he is definately not an easy child to work with day in and day out)-and a few of the younger teachers just flat out won't work with him at all. Which puts more pressure on the other teachers because we have to pick up the slack.

I don't know what to do. I am not in a position to talk to his mom about it because I am an assistant teacher. My supervisor, as I said, has been trying to talk to his mom about getting some kind of intervention but right now it's pretty much at a stand still. I see this kid struggling every day to just comprehend the basic routine that we have had since he started. After 5 months he just doesn't get it. I'm worried that he is going to get into an elementary school and then just be pushed through because nobody wants to deal with him--but he tries so hard to 'do it right'-he's just not sure what 'right' is. In addition to that, elementary schools aren't required to test for delay's until 3rd grade, and if a parent wants testing done earlier-they have to pay for it, and it isn't cheap. This kid needs intervention now, not in 4 years. I'm really having trouble with this because I know something is going on with him and he needs intervention but I'm walking a very fine line with my boss right now as it is, so throwing this into the mix is almost sure to get me less hours at work--which, as selfish as it sounds, I really can't afford right now. So, what do I do?

Creative Expression...

2006-02-13T18:58:00.000-05:00

I try to promote creative expression in my preschoolers. I don't ask them to paint something specific, I just let them paint. The same goes for drawing, building with blocks, singing, writing, ect. I will ask them what they are painting, drawing, building, or writing but I don't limit them by saying "you have to paint, write, build _____." That said, I do have my limits for what I consider to be appropriate creative expression-and it doesn't always match what some parents think is appropriate creative expression, as I found out today.

We have this boy in our preschool class. He's 4, very intelligent, cute as a button, and has a very impressive imagination. Today he came in with his mom, got his stuff off, and washed his hands. Then he came out of the bathroom and started yelling/screaming, in various pitches, random vowels and consonants. No real words at all, just completely random. At the time I was talking to his mom. After a minute or 2 of these random vocalizations I turned around a said, "K***, please stop, you are hurting our ears. You can do that when we are outside." Then I turned back to his mom, intending on continuing the coversation. She says to me, "Oh, that's his way of 'creatively expressing himself', he does it all the time at home."

Okay, now I understand that kids need creative outlets, and that they can be loud. But honestly, I don't want to listen to a high pitched squeal of random letters at 7:30 in the morning. I don't want to listen to it period, but there is a time and a place for it-(like outside)-if that's what he needs to do to 'creatively express' himself, regardless of how I feel out it.

So, for those parents and teachers out there, what do your kids do to creatively express themselves?

Winter Olympics....

2006-02-11T14:34:00.000-05:00

Ah yes, it's here again. I have many memories of sitting in front of the television until all hours of the night just to watch the US Olympic Team compete. I love the winter olympics. I'm a winter sport fanatic, probably due to the fact that I've lived in the sub zero temperatures of the upper peninsula of Michigan my whole life. We have winter from October-April/May so winter sports are huge here. One memory that comes to the surface everytime the winter olympics come around is me and my sister's attempt at bobsledding.

I was 5 at the time, my sister was 7. We had been watching bobsledding the night before with our parents...it was our favorite sport. So the next day my sister and I got the brilliant idea to go bobsledding, problem was we didn't have a track. After a short brain storming session, we figured the 20 or so stairs leading from the second to the ground floor would be a sufficient track for our first time out.

Grabbing our wonderful 2-person lime green sled we set out up the stairs to become bobsledder's. Once at the top of the stairs we got the sled in place. My sister put on her gear; a helmet and pads. I had no gear but the jeans and sweatshirt I was wearing that day. We loaded up into the sled. I, of course, was in the front...I became my sister's airbag. "Ready?" I asked, "Yup" she replied. "Okay!" I said excitedly. "Wait wait wait! I forgot something!" she yells. Out of the sled she goes, bounding through the hallway door and into our bedroom. I sat there in the sled, excited about bobsledding. She came back with a pillow off of my bed and proceeded to place it between us-extra padding for her. "Okay, now we're ready." she says. We count down, "One, two three!" and off we go. Down the old wooden, but very sturdy, steps of our victorian style house.

The ride was awesome people, absolutely awesome! We got closer and closer to the bottom of the steps. The excitement was starting to turn into panic at this point because there is solid wall a meer 3 feet from the bottom of the "track." Of course, being 5 & 7, we didn't take this into account while we were at the top of the stairs. In addition to the wall, there is a cast iron radiator almost 3 feet tall to the left of the bottom of the stairs. We missed the radiator and crashed into the wall at full speed. My sister, of course, was fine--she had all that padding on, remember? Me on the other hand, I came out of it with a bloody lip and a loose tooth-(also bleeding).

While all of this was taking place my parents were working in their office. Due to all of the noise, my dad came running out of the office to find us in a heap, me with blood coming out of my mouth, my sister in full gear, and our sled broken almost completely in 2. He looked at us in sheer amazement--either wondering what to say or why he had such stupid offspring. Then he found his voice, "What the HELL are you two doing?" he screamed. I looked him in the eye, smiled real big and said "We're bobsledding!" while spraying blood on his pants.

We weren't allowed to watch bobsledding for the rest of the winter olympics that year.

#1 Reason I Want To Move South...

2006-02-06T15:28:00.000-05:00

SNOW!!!!!! We are in the midst of a white out/blizzard right now and let me tell you, it sucks. The wind is ridiculously cold and the snow is blowing like crazy. Everything on the Canadian side of the river is closed, just about everything on the American side of the river is closed, and all schools within 50 miles of this place are closed. That is, all schools except for the University that I attend. Yes, all of the head start, elementary, secondary, and colleges are closed except for the one that I attend. Gotta love it! The university decided to close at 3pm. Okay, classes start at 8am, the weather is just the same now as it was this morning at 7:30 and it's the same as it was last night before I went to bed. I don't understand the thought processes that go on at that school, I really don't. There has been no change in weather and now they decide to close the school. What gives? Anyways, I want to move south...I don't care how far south, just south. I don't like lake effect snow or blizzards. 21 years of this is long enough for me.

Confidence

2006-02-05T22:49:00.000-05:00

I've noticed something weird lately. I am not as confident as I used to be. Now, I've never really been an over-confident person but last semester at school I generally felt that I had a handle on things. When I would take an exam I was confident going into it that I knew the information and would do well on the exam. Most times I would do fairly well on the exams and every once and awhile I would do better then I expected. This semester though I am questioning myself more. I go into exams feeling under-studied and no where near as prepared as I should be. I don't speak up in class even though I know the answer for the fear that I might be wrong. So today, I sat down and thought about it, where this lack of confidence is coming from. After mulling over it for awhile I realized that I become less confident in myself after I've been home for awhile. I spent almost 3 months at home with my mother last year before coming back to school and, though my mother is not a bad person, she definately is not one to lift you up.

Now, that being said....I'm trying to figure out what to do. I'm not sure if I should just let it go and hope that the confidence will come back if I just give it time....or do something else. If I should do something else, then I need to figure out what to do. I mean, obviously I can start by speaking up in class more and not questioning myself more but what if that doesn't work? And if it does work, what happens when I go home again? How do I prevent this from happening again?

It's just amazing to me how one person can change the way you look at yourself and feel about yourself in a short period of time. I mean, I know that she's never going to think I'm good enough, or I tried hard enough, or that I deserve the things that I have earned. But knowing that stuff doesn't seem to change the way I feel. It still effects me, as much as I try to deny that it does, I know it does--the people around me know it does, and she probably knows it does too. Just something to think about for the week I guess. Happy SuperBowl Sunday!

Patience.....Running.....Low...

2006-02-01T18:32:00.000-05:00

That's how I felt during the last hour of work today. The kids were absolutely hyper, just bouncing off the walls. We had the kids dance for a good hour to wear them out, it worked. But one kid in particular just kept pushing the teacher's buttons & nothing we tried worked. Time outs didn't work-(he'd throw the chair), redirection didn't work-(he'd hit you), speaking to him didn't work-(he'd spit at you), absolutely nothing. Then he chilled out a little bit when we all did art before the parents got there--that is until he decided to suck on the markers-(he's 5). So his mom called and asked us to get him ready to go because she was on her way. The job fell to me today, so off we went to the cubbies to get him ready. After throwing a tantrum about getting ready to go home, I got him to put his legs in his snowpants. Then he decided that he didn't want his feet to be out of his snowpants. That was another tantrum. Then he didn't want his snowpants zipped up. Yet another tantrum. I was beyond my limit at this point so I took his hand off the zipper and went to zip it up myself. While zipping his snowpants up I managed to catch part of his finger in the zipper. So then off we go to the office, him screaming bloody murder the whole time, to get a bandaid. Then there was another tantrum in the office because he didn't want a plain band-aid-(it's all we had). Then the boots went on-another tantrum, coat went on-another tantrum, hat went on-guess what happened--yes, yet another tantrum from a 5 year old. FIVE!

In short, my patience was shot by the time I left work tonight. I seriously just wanted to scream and I don't often get to that point-(in fact this is only the second time in 2 years that I've ever felt like that). For those teacher's out there, how do you handle this??? I'm really at a loss, I just get so frustrated because we go through this about everything, all day. By the end of the day I just want him gone. I know that sounds horrible, but it's the truth. I just don't want to deal with it after a certain point. Maybe tomorrow will be better.

Pass the Chocolate...

2006-01-31T18:45:00.000-05:00

It's been one of those days. Actually it started this weekend, but today definately takes the cake. After being put down-(read: made to feel like crap) this weekend for having good grades, I got bulldozed by the "I hate you" crowd today.

The day started with my Experimental Psychology class going okay, I actually understood what the teacher was talking about. Then I met my roomate for lunch, she asked me to help her with some homework after we ate. I said okay, she pulled out the homework and handed it to me--it was for economics. I know nothing about economics so I handed it back to her and told her I didn't know how to do it. She responded "well you should, you are the smart one aren't you?" The comment kind of caught me off guard but it didn't really bother me that much.

Fast forward 20 minutes to my Experimental Psychology lab. The girl that sits next to me-(a senior in college)-has decided that the best way to pass the lab portion of the class is to copy my work-when she's not complaining about not understanding what to do-(probably because she's writing e-mails or looking at facebook the whole damn time). I always love it when somebody else gets credit for my work. So I make it through lab, turn in my work and go to my next class. My next class goes off as it usually does, me and maybe 1 other person contributing to the 'class discussion'-(professor's questions) while the other students sit like bumps on a log.

So I get out of class and decide to walk next door to work and pick up some books I left there. While I'm there my boss offers me another shift. I said okay and didn't think anything of it. Well apparently I was 3rd in line for this shift....unfortunately I was the 1st one asked due to the other 2 people not having the greatest track records. I didn't know that they were passed up for the shift and caught hell from these 2 people since they were both there when I was offered the shift.

So in short, it's just been a bad day. I feel like I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place. I have my mom on one side telling me that I'm not good enough, then I have my classmates and co-workers telling me I'm too good. I can't win. What is so wrong with doing certain things well? I don't walk around and tell everybody what my GPA is, or that I'm better then they are. I pretty much keep to myself and if somebody asks me something, I answer. I guess the bottom line is I feel like I can't just be me. I'm in my 3rd year of college, but I feel like I'm in high school. I didn't realize that there was such a bad vibe associated with doing well. What ever happened to a simple "good job?"

Some People...

2006-01-29T21:29:00.000-05:00

The preschool I work at is closed tomorrow. This was a last minute decision that was made today by the director. The reason she was forced to close the center was because too many staff member's called in on Friday to say that they wouldn't be in on Monday. Now some of them had legitimate reasons, some of them just wanted a long weekend. I understand that sometimes people just need an extra day off, but the people who are taking a 'long weekend' seem to take long weekends quite often. It's very frustrating to me, and the other staff members who actually show up, when our co-workers do this. Those of us who actually show up on a regular basis lose a day's pay because of these certain people who can't seem to understand the concept of actually working a job. In addition, we-(the teacher's who rarely call in or at least have legitimate reasons when we do call in) have to deal with the parents the next day. Trust me, they are none too happy when this happens. Most of the parents we work with are students at the University where the child care center is located--they have classes to attend and jobs to work on campus. I guess my biggest complaint is that the teacher's who just don't feel like coming in don't seem to understand that they can't just take off whenever they feel like it. I would've loved to stay downstate with my boyfriend for an extra day, but I came back tonight knowing that I was scheduled to work tomorrow. What these teachers do doesn't just affect them, it affects the kids, the parents, the staff at the University-(we have plenty of professor's kids too), and the other teacher's at the center.

You're probably wondering why these teacher's don't get fired. The main reason is my boss is way to lenient. She hates to fire people and often times it takes 6 months to a year to get a staff member transferred to another work site on campus because she keeps giving them "2nd chances." The other problem is that a lot of them can't really be fired. They can be transferred to another work site on campus but because they are work study students, they have to be placed somewhere. Generally by this time in the year, there's not a whole lot of places to transfer too because most of the work sites have all the work study students they need.

So that's my rant for this Sunday night. I am really not looking forward to working on Wednesday because I can almost guarantee that there is going to be more then a handful of parents who are none too happy with us. I guess on a good note, I get to sleep in tomorrow-(although I will be losing my pay for Monday)-and I don't have to work Tuesday morning so I won't have to deal with the full force of the pissed off parents.

What Do Preschoolers Eat In The Mornings????

2006-01-21T17:37:00.000-05:00

I would really like to know, because I'm going to start eating it every day. My preschoolers have this incredible amount of energy when they walk in the door. I had two this past week who came in, got their stuff off, washed their hands, then proceeded to run around our circular table over and over again. I don't know about anybody else, but when I get up at 7am, the only thing I want to do is crawl back into bed. Once in a great while I get one that comes in and wants to lay down on his or her cot, but in general they're just wound up balls of energy.

It isn't just preschoolers though. The second graders I'm working with this year are the same way. On Friday I was with them almost all day and when they came in, not one of them looked tired. I know some of them definately don't get the sleep they need but they are wide awake when they walk in the door at 8:30. It's scary....I down two cups of coffee in the morning before I even walk out the door and I'm still ready for a nap at noon. I want to be a kid again, just to have the energy!

Do You Ever Feel...

2005-12-10T09:36:00.000-05:00

Like the rest of the world is moving while you're standing still? I don't know what it is lately but I feel like everyone around me is advancing in their lives/careers/education and I'm just sitting passively, watching them succeed in their various endeavors. I know that I'm only 20, soon to be 21, but I feel like I should've done more with my life by now. In highschool I was unstoppable. I had a great job, I spent weekends out with my friends, I traveled to 10 countries and 14 states, as well as Washington D.C. Now it's pretty much school and work, school and work-day in and day out that's all I do. The only time I'm motivated to do anything with my life is when I'm at work. I love my job. Since I left for University, a good number of my friends have gotten married and/or had kids. Some of them went to work full time, some of them went into the military, and others went to get degrees in their field of choice. I guess more then anything I just feel like I'm stuck in a rut. I hate being in one place for this long. I love to travel, to see other cultures, other people, other ways of life. Since I've been at University, I've only really traveled twice-and both of them were short trips. I'm thinking about just taking the whole month of May and traveling, where-I don't know, with who-again I don't know, but maybe it will give me some motivation. Does anyone else feel like life just got boring?

It's almost December!

2005-11-27T13:56:00.000-05:00

I am doing GREAT! A little mishap today when one of my incisions broke open and started bleeding today. Nothing major though, I just put a cotton ball in the hole and threw a band-aid on it until I can talk to the Dr. about it. It's not like you can see my innards or anything. Speaking of innards..I hope everybody had a good Turkey Day. I stuffed myself full of everything, I think I've gained weight since the surgery, uh-oh...better watch that. I can't drive yet, and I find out on Wed. if insurance will cover the surgery or not. If not, I have to go through the lawyers to withdraw the $8300 it cost to have the surgery. Fun times! Anyways, I'm moving back to school in January and I will have my job back, which is great. Until next time.

Surgery

2005-11-22T10:05:00.000-05:00

Well the surgery is done and over with. It went well. The first few days I was in a complete fog, but now I at least know what's going on around me. I'm on the road to recovery, and I can eat now--which is awesome. Not much is new here, other then the surgery. Hope everybody has a great Thanksgiving! Enjoy your turkey.

Finally...

2005-11-10T10:16:00.000-05:00

After 4 1/2 months of being sick every day, my Dr's finally decided that surgery is the best option. I'm having the surgery to have my gallbladder out on the 17th. Hopefully having my gallbladder out will fix the problem, if it doesn't I'm off to Marshfield's for a very intense and detailed evaluation. Wish me luck!

Taking a Break...

2005-10-17T11:38:00.000-04:00

Well, my medical issues are getting worse. I'm on 4 medications right now just to keep me functioning at a normal level. I'm in pain every day--I'm down to 1 can of soup a day, a few saltines, and jello if I'm lucky. I landed myself in the hospital again last week. More tests were run, more normal results came up. I had to miss my sister's wedding because my Dr. recommended that I not fly--her wedding was in Florida this weekend, I'm in Michigan. I'm leaving school for the rest of the semester, and possibly next semester. My parents want to take me to either the Cleveland Clinic or the Mayo Clinic since my Dr's are, in my opinion, not doing what they need to be doing.

I don't know how much I'll be able to update my blog. If I go into the hospital, updates will be nill. Hopefully we can get this figured out soon. Once I leave school I'll be losing all of my scholarships so it might be a little rough going back to school. Hope ya'll are doing well.

Hey Everybody...

2005-10-05T23:00:00.000-04:00

Sorry it's been awhile since I've posted. It's been kind of rough these last few days. Currently I'm deciding if I can make it through another semester or just drop out for a semester or 2 and figure out what's wrong with me medically. It's a tough decision to make, I'm against dropping out but when faced with the decision, it seems like dropping out is the best choice. I have another month before I have to make up my mind, but I get the feeling that in a month I won't have made up my mind.

In other news, work is going very well. We have a great group of kids this year...after the first few weeks they turned into little angels. Sure, they have their moments, but overall they're a good group. Now my 2nd grade group that I'm working with, some of them are a real handful. I know some kids are disrespectful and rude, but they have their moments where you wonder if they've ever been disciplined in their lives. Then they have their moments where they come up and hug you. Or tell you you're the best student teacher they've ever had. They always seem to know exactly when to turn on the charm too--like when I'm at the end of my rope with them.

Other then that, nothing new has been going on here. It's been raining like crazy here, just about every day. And the fall colors are starting to show. Unfortunately, the weather can't make up it's mind between being really really hot or really really cold. One day it'll be 40, 2 days later it'll be 80. A good 60 with a nice breeze would be perfect.

The Choking Game

2005-09-25T21:47:00.000-04:00

I was looking on the Dr. Phil website today to see what shows were on this week-(yes, I do watch the shows sometimes) and came across one in particular that peaked my interest. It's about a game that teens and pre-teens play called "The Choking Game." In this game, they put pressure on their necks using hands, belts, shoelaces, etc. until they get a high from the lack of oxygen. Then they let go. However, this game has killed many teens & pre-teens and will continue to kill many more. Teens & pre-teens play this game in groups, in the locker room, and alone. When they play it alone, they have only a few short moments to release the hold on their neck before they pass out and eventually die due to lack of oxygen and blood flow to the brain--it's like hanging yourself.

I'm not even really sure what to say. In a way it boggles my mind that kids do this, but in another way--I can completely see it happening. I can honestly say that as a teenager, if someone had brought this up to me--I might've tried it. Peer pressure and curiosity are amazingly powerful in a teenager's life. That and the fact that the part of the brain helps with logical decision making doesn't fully develop until after the teenage years. I honestly wouldn't even call it a "game." When a game is killing children across the nation and around the world--it's not a game. Soccer is a game, baseball is a game, solitaire is a game...choking yourself to get a high from the lack of oxygen is not a game--in my opinion.

I found two articles that explain it a little better then I have:

http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Health/story?id=987294&page=1

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/08/09/choking.game/index.html

Random Things...

2005-09-22T00:30:00.000-04:00

Nothing big going on. Just the usual little things of every day life. Although my boss is driving me up the wall. She'll come in for like, an hr. a week and then try to tell me and all of my assistant teachers how to do things. We pretty much have it figured out how to work with certain kids and their parents and she comes in and tries to force us to do what doesn't work. It's really frustrating. We're there every day, she's there for an hour once a week. I realize that she's been in this field for 30 years, but this isn't the 70's, kids and families are different now. Obviously I wasn't around in the 70's but from what I've heard, it was totally different from how it is now. But I could be wrong, maybe she's right and the rest of us are just doing it wrong. Who knows, guess I'll find out.

As for the medical news, nothing new there. All the test results came back normal. I'd be happy if it didn't mean 2 more months of hugging the toilet almost every night. Hopefully this next test will give us some answers...keep your fingers crossed. It's planned for the day before Thanksgiving--but seeing as how I wasn't going to be able to eat Thanksgiving dinner anyways, I'm not all that upset.

Um...what else is new...oh, that teacher that I complained about a few posts back-(the one who doesn't do anything)-she has had her hours drastically cut back now so I don't have to work with her AT ALL. I was so happy when my boss told me that...it's so much more peaceful at school now without her there in the afternoons.

I guess that's about it. Like I said, nothing new going on. Have a happy Thursday everybody, 1 more day till the weekend!

I Used To Be Normal...

2005-09-17T11:18:00.000-04:00

Until I started my job at the Child Development Center a year ago. Scary things happen to your brain when you work with kids. Here's my list of how to know if you work with kids:

1. You can remember all of the words The Wiggles "Fruit Salad" song, but you can't remember 1/2 of the words to a favorite song on the radio.

2. You have a favorite kids song, but not a favorite adult song.

3. You hum kids songs in your college classes because they're stuck in your head.

4. You believe that anything less than 10 potty accidents a day is doing good.

5. You firmly believe that potty training is an art.

6. You fight the urge to remind everybody to wash their hands after going to the bathroom.

7. You almost put a kid at the park in time out for not behaving.

8. You have to make an effort to talk to adults in a 'normal' voice.

9. You believe that parents who send nothing but candy in their kids lunches are out to get you.

10. When you cut food up, it's always in bite size peices so that nobody will choke--even if you're giving it to adults.

Paint, Paint Everywhere...

2005-09-13T18:27:00.000-04:00

And not a drop of it on paper. Today was an interesting day at work. 3 kids wanted to paint acorns. So one of our teachers-(interestingly enough the one who won't do anything BUT art activities with the kids)-took them outside with some paint and the acorns. All was going well outside and there were 2 teachers out there so I went inside to clean up snack. I come back out and the 3 kids are COVERED in paint. It was in their hair, eyelashes, faces, ears, and arms. Their clothes were spotted with paint as well-(they had smocks on, thank heavens). I kind of wondered what happened since the teacher who brought them out there was sitting right next to them. I soon found out what happened...I watched as the teacher took a paintbrush, dipped it in paint, and put a nice big smear across on of the kids cheeks. Then they began throwing the painted acorns at each other--I expected the teacher to stop them but instead, she joined in. So I walked over there and was like "let's get you guys cleaned up" since it was almost time for pick up. It took me over an hour to clean the 3 kids and all of the painting stuff up. And this teacher didn't help with ANY of it. That's when I got PO'd. If you're gonna make the mess, be responsible enough to clean it up. To top it all off, I had a parent get upset at me about it all. Which I can understand, the kids hair was basically dyed blue from the paint and his clothes were pretty much in ruins.

In the rest of my life, my medical problems are getting worse. I couldn't even keep down yogurt today. I basically had a meltdown last night--it was a combination of things that set it off, but it was mostly all of the tests-(some of them are quite painful)-stress from being sick, and tiredness from not eating enough. Test results aren't back from the tests I had last week. They should come in some time this week--I'm crossing my fingers that something shows up because I'm just about done with it all. Mentally I'm just not there, emotionally I'm a wreck, and physically I look horrible. But, I guess we'll just have to wait and see..that's the only thing I can do.

Medical & Internship Update...

2005-09-09T21:35:00.000-04:00

Well I made the trek back home last night after work. 30 minutes outside of my hometown my car decided to go on the fritz. Apparently one of my spark plug wires came loose, got into the fan, and got chopped in half. So I ran my car on 3 cylinders for the last 30 minutes of the drive. That was fun, it almost died on me a few times and I was just hoping that I'd make it back because I was in the middle of nowhere and it was the middle of the night. So I got up this morning, took my car into the shop-(I love knowing mechanics who will get my car in at the drop of a hat.) Turns out that my oxygen sensors were shot to hell as well. So that was a nice $350 surprise. After I dropped my car off it was off to my Dr's appt.

Get to the Dr's office and looked horrible. The nurse, and even my Dr. said I didn't look good-(being sick every day for 3 months will do that to you.) So the next step is to have an endoscopy. Lovely, can't wait for that. It won't be until November though because I have to have at least 2 days where I don't have to do anything and well, that's just not gonna happen at school here. Got a refill on my prescription so that I can still eat some stuff. Then came the fun part, my Dr. wanted to do some more lab work. So it's off to draw my blood. 6 tries later and still no blood. So the Dr. sent me home to drink a bunch of water-(which I promptly threw up)-and then to the hospital to have a lab tech draw the blood she needed to do the lab work. 4 tries later and we finally got 1 vile of blood. Thank heavens she only wanted 1 vial. Last time it was 5, and the time before was 6 viles. So now we just have to wait for the results of that and then it's off to be drugged and have a tube shoved down my throat in November. Should be a grand ole end of the year for me. To top it all off, Aunt Flo decided to visit me this morning. And do you think I have any feminine products at my dad's? No, of course not. So that was fun.

Now onto the internship, turns out I'm working with second graders, not kindergarteners. Apparently my advisor didn't listen when I told her K. Oh well, it's fun nonetheless and it'll be a good learning experience. That's about it for now.

Another Day, Another Dollar...

2005-09-07T12:43:00.000-04:00

Well school started again today after the long Labor Day weekend. I start my internship at a local elementary school today. I'm going over there around 1 O'Clock to meet with the teacher, sign papers, and set up the days when I'll be working with her. I'm a little nervous, I've never worked in an elementary school before so it's a brand new experience for me. I'll be working in the Kindergarten room so at least the kids aren't that much older than what I've worked with before. I go back to work today. Thankfully work is going better. The teacher who didn't do anything was taken off of the floor and put in charge of the literacy program. This way she won't have to work with kids and we'll all be much happier. We're getting 9 new student teachers this week, so that should be fun *rolls eyes* Training them is alays the hardest part. I'll never forget the student teacher last year who told one of the 2 year olds "If you hit me, I'll hit you back." Lovely--just lovely. Why do people like this go into child care? I mean, really...what are they thinking?

In other news, I'm having a hard time adjusting to not seeing my boyfriend every day. I got spoiled living with him this summer becuase I saw him every day, regardless of our work schedules. Now, it's a 2 week minimum between the times when we can see each other. It's hard for me to get used to sleeping alone again. I can't just roll over and there he is. I honestly don't know how military wives do it. I would be a basket case if my boyfriend went to war and I didn't know if/when I was going to see him again.

For those of you who have asked why I haven't posted anything about Hurricane Katrina, it's because I just don't know what to say. It's not because I'm an uncaring person, it's honestly because I just don't have the words to express how I feel about the tragedy that has fallen upon our nation. I've watched the news, seen the pictures, read the articles. It's just mind boggling to me. All I can say is if you have the resources, please donate. I am a college student, I don't have a lot of money, but I donated what I could. Hopefully it will help out someone, somewhere.

On that note, I'm going to go get ready to head over to the school. Be safe, take care, and God Bless.

Paint

2005-09-03T09:43:00.000-04:00

Paint is a wonderful medium to use with children. There are so many activities you can do involving paint that range from extremely clean to extremely messy. One of my favorites is car painting. Here's how you do it:

1. Put your kid in some clothes that can get messy.
2. Over the clothes put on a paint smock or an old adult shirt that you don't care about.
3. Put newspaper over the surface you're going to do the painting on.
4. Get some small toy cars-(hot wheels, etc.) and paper to paint on.
5. Pour some dish soap into a paper plate. On top of the dish soap pour on some tempera paint. Don't make the mixture too deep, about 1/8 inch is fine. Mix it together with a plastic spoon, throw the spoon away.
6. Let your preschooler dip the wheels of the car in the paint and roll the car over the paper. It'll make a cool design.

If you're really ambitious, get 2 or 3 plates of paint going. This is a fairly messy activity so it's best not to do it over a beloved carpet. With the dish soap added to the paint, most of it should come out of clothes, etc. It's no guaranteed though so make sure you use 'paint clothes' and newspaper. It'll cut down on the stress of cleaning up.

Updated: Teacher's Who Don't Do Anything...

2005-09-01T10:57:00.000-04:00

Tuesday was my first day of work. I was working with one other teacher, Ms. E. We had 8 kids between the ages of 2 1/2 and 4. I worked with Ms. E last year and had no problems with her, this year it's a little different because she doesn't do anything. I cleaned up snack, I changed 4 pull-ups, I cleaned up the house, small block, active, and art areas. I put notes and pictures into the kids cubbies to take home. I answered the phone and the door. I held a crying 2 1/2 year old for 3 hours while she screamed in my ear. I locked up the center and shut the windows. She sat in the quiet area even when there weren't kids there and whined about having to clean up one area.

Yesterday went better because it was Ms. K, Ms. E, and myself. But Ms. E didn't do the one thing that Ms. K asked her to do before she left, put away one lousy cot. I don't know if I can handle 8 kids by myself every Tuesday and Thursday. I feel like I'm having to do a majority of the work by myself and I'm afraid that I'm going to burn out. Why do people go into childcare when they don't want to work with children? That's like being a doctor and not liking people.

Today went well with Ms. E. I called and talked to my boss about it this morning and she gave me some suggestions on what to do and how to handle it. She also said that she would talk to Ms. E about being more involved on the floor with the kids and helping out more with cleaning. At least it's an improvement. And I'm glad for that, makes the day a little more enjoyable.

Swearing in Schools..

2005-08-31T00:26:00.000-04:00

Apparently if you go to school in a certain town in England, it is okay to swear in class. The school in this town recently passed a rule that will allow each student to swear up to 5 times per class period. The teacher then keeps a tally on the board and if a student swears more than 5 times they are "talked to." You can read the article for yourself if you'd like: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9132814/

I personally think that this is ridiculous. To swear at a teacher, or even in class is unacceptable in my book. Granted this rule was passed mainly for 15 & 16 year olds, it's still incredibly irresponsible on the part of the administration. Now, don't think I'm against the English. I am English myself. I understand how their schooling system works but to swear in a classroom and ALLOW it is just stupid. What do you think?

On the First Day of Preschool...

2005-08-29T15:34:00.000-04:00

I always wonder why the hell I decided on this as a career???? What was I thinking? I don't actually start teaching until tomorrow afternoon, but I went over to the Center-(or as my friend Angela calls it, the Shelter) to sign some paper and it was chaos. Out of 20 kids we only have 4 that were with us last year, all the rest of them went to Kindergarten. So that's 16 new kids to teach the routine too, in addition to 8 new teachers and something like 4 'helpers' who do kitchen stuff. My director was going insane today.

Here's to hoping that tomorrow afternoon is a little bit less hectic...and that my friend has a shot of vodka in her fridge for when I get off of work.

Reading...

2005-08-28T12:54:00.000-04:00

I've often wondered why parents don't read to their kids. It's easy to do, it's a relaxing activity, and it allows parent and child to bond over a common interest. But yet, I still have parents tell me that they don't read to their kids because either a) they don't have time or b) their kids aren't interested.

A love of reading starts early. Infants are naturally drawn to the sound of their parents voices, especially their mothers. Reading to infants, even though they don't understand the story line, is a wonderful activity. If you start reading to your child as an infant, the child will learn that reading is a fun, relaxing activity. This lays the groundwork for a life of loving books. When I was a nanny, I read to the kids I was charged with all the time. The oldest, when I got her at 11 months, had never had a book read to her. I started reading with her everyday, many times a day in fact. At first she had no interest in books, but by keeping at it every day she eventually would come to me with a book and want me to read it to her. She's almost 6 years old now and absolutely loves books. With her brother I started reading to him as soon as I started taking care of him. He was 2 weeks old when I got him and I would sit and read the newspaper outloud to him. He had no clue what I was saying but I continued to do it and eventually progressed to books and now he loves to be read to.

So please, read to your kids. It gives you quality time with them, allows them to learn the magic of words, learn intonation when speaking, and it's just fun overall.

Moved In & Ready To Roll...

2005-08-27T08:00:00.000-04:00

Hello all. Thank you for being patient with my lack of updates. I'm moved in, everything is unpacked and put away. I do have to say, I have an AWESOME apartment. It's just big enough for 1 person and I LOVE it. I don't have to deal with roomates being up till 2 am, the phone ringing at all hours for everybody but me, having my food eaten up by other people. None of that..I'm so excited.

In other news, I'm still sick-not that I was expecting to get better but it really sucks. I start school on Monday at 10 am. I'll be going back to work on Tuesday so hopefully I can get back to my adventures as a preschool teacher posts that this blog was originally created for. I hope everybody is doing well and have a safe and happy weekend.

Update...

2005-08-24T15:15:00.000-04:00

Hi everybody. I know it's been awhile since I last updated but today is the first day since I came back to my dad's that I've had access to the internet. I'm moving to University on Friday so I will start posting again on Saturday or Sunday. I'm still sick, next week will be week number 8 of this damned illness that I have. I went to see a specialist and he too said that it was probably my gallbladder but unless he's 100% sure that's what it is, he won't cut me open. And insurance won't cover it unless they know, without a doubt, that it is my gallbladder. So I will continue to slurp my noodles and chicken broth and hope that I either get really sick so that have no choice but to operate, or get better really fast. Hope everybody is doing well. I will update this weekend. Take Care.

Going To Be MIA For A Few Days...

2005-08-11T17:33:00.000-04:00

Hello all. I'm making the 4 hr. treck to my dad's on Saturday and on Monday I'm going back to the Dr. to *hopefully* figure out what's wrong with me. I'm still sick, still nauseous, still weak and tired all the time. Anyways, I don't know how much time I'll get on the net while I'm there since we have dial up there and the phone line usually needs to be open for my dad's work. I will try to get another post up before I leave but no promises. In addition to traveling and going back to the Dr. to be poked and prodded like a cow, I have to move to college on the 26th of this month. So, I'll be a bit busy but I will definitely post after I get back to school, if not sooner. Take care and I'll post ASAP.

Jen

Gotta Love Kids...

2005-08-10T15:05:00.000-04:00

I have no idea what made me think about this story, but it happened last year.

I was doing circle time with about 12 kids and the theme was Bears. I read the book Brown Bear Brown Bear, What Do You See? Then I asked each of the kids in the circle what they saw...example: "Andy* Bear, Andy* Bear, What Do You See?" then the child would reply with something they saw. I went down the line and the kids were doing really well...then I got to Charlie*-probably one of the smartest kids in my class. I said, "Charlie* Bear, Charlie* Bear, What Do You See?" to which he replied..."I see Ms. Alyssa's* underwear, lookin at me..and it's Pink!" Obviously Ms. Alyssa* was embarrassed as all get out but I was too busy trying not to laugh. Gotta love kids and their honesty. It can really get ya sometimes.

*Names have been changed.

Proper Terms for Anatomy, & Why Kids Should Know It...

2005-08-04T00:04:00.000-04:00

I know this is a sensitive subject and I will probably get some comments that aren't too happy with this post. But as a preschool teacher, I feel that it's necessary to bring this topic up because it is a very hard thing for many parents to accept.

At the center I work at, we teach the children the proper terms for their genitalia. Just basic stuff, girls have a vagina and boys have a penis and we also use the term bottom, not bum-("Sit on your bottom please" or "Bottoms go on chairs, not feet"). The reason we do this is because if the child is ever molested or touched inappropriately they will be able to tell a police officer, teacher, or CPS person where they were touched. I will warn you before going on, I feel very strongly about children knowing these things.

I had a child a year and a half ago came up to me and say "daddy touched my turtle." The child did not look particularly upset so I figured the child had a pet turtle. After talking to the child over the course of 2 days I realized that his "turtle" that daddy touched was actually his penis. Obviously CPS was called and a full investigation was launched, but had this child known the correct terminology, I wouldn't have sent this child home with his father for 2 days thinking that the child had a pet turtle and that they were playing with it together. Now, rant at me all you want. To my defense, it was an honest mistake. It wasn't until the child talked about daddy touching him in other places before touching his turtle that the red flags went up.

I have always felt strongly about children knowing that they have a vagina or penis and bottom. After this incident, I feel even more strongly about it. At the center I work at I have parents who will yell and scream at me and the other teachers for teaching their children this terminology. Now, it's not like we just do it without informing the parents, we send out a newsletter and tell the parents that during this time period we will be teaching your child about stranger danger and the correct terminology for their genitalia. But nonetheless, we have parents who come in just irate with us for teaching their children about their bodies.

Now I know some of you will be upset with me for posting this, but this is where I stand on the issue and I feel that it is very important for children, especially young children, to know these things.

Training for Early Childhood Educators...

2005-08-02T13:22:00.000-04:00

"What kind of training/education do you need to play with kids all day?" I had a parent ask me that question last year. I gave her the basic answer about how children learn through play and that her child was learning at the center he was attending because all of the teachers were trained to teach through the child's play experiences. But I was reading an article today that made me want to bring this question back and give it a little bit more justice then I did.

My first 2 years of University for my Early Childhood Education degree was filled with classes about physical and psychological child development. In addition, I took classes about the theories of how children learn, brain developement in young children, how to teach preschoolers through play. Everything you do as a preschool teacher, at least at the center I work at, has to have some sort of lesson attached/integrated into it. Songs have to have gross motor movement, books have to have an activity or lesson involved, the list goes on...but you get the point.

All of this is important, but the most important thing that I picked up from these classes was about the 5 areas of development in young children. This is what we do, we work to plan lessons that are helping the child to develop AT LEAST 1 of the 5 areas of development. This is for every lesson we do, and there are multiple lessons-(based on one theme) during the week. Many times we hit 3 or 4 areas of development a day given that children have short attention spans. The 5 areas of development are: Social, Emotional, Physical, Cognitive, & Language.

Every day we strive to help these children, 20 in my class, to develop the skills necessary for every day functioning in these 5 areas. In addition, we have to zero in on the children who are having particular difficulties in one area and find the time, while also teaching 19 other children, to work with this child one on one. For example, I had a 3 year old last year who could not talk. He babbled, but he couldn't talk. He was never talked to as an infant or a toddler so he never developed those skills. Now, if a child can't talk that has serious consequences for the other areas of development. His physical development was fine, his social development was very poor. Since he couldn't talk, the other kids had a very hard time communicating with him. He was a very emotional child and his emotional development had not progressed to the level that a 3 year old should be at. His cognitive development was very poor, cognitive development goes along very closely with language development. This child, he's 4 now, still has trouble communicating. He is making progress but his mother's continuous-put him in preschool, pull him out, put him back in-makes it very hard to work with this child daily, which is a necessity for his development.

So, that's just a snippet of the kind of training that us early child educators need to "play with your children all day." If you are one of the parents who speak to preschool teachers like they're lower then dirt-(you know who you are) think about your child's development, and the positive impact we're making on it, the next time you tell a preschool teacher that she has an easy job because all she has to do is 'play.'

Bye Bye Semester #5...

2005-07-28T19:38:00.000-04:00

As of 7:23 this morning, I have successfully completed my 5th semester of college. It doesn't feel like I've been in college for 2 1/2 years, but I have. Just 2-(well, 1 1/2 if all goes well) more years to go. I'm feeling good-(with the exception of still being sick and unable to eat much of anything)- I have 2 weeks of work left, and then it's off to the Dr's to figure out what in the hell is wrong with me. 500-600 calories a day just isn't cutting it. I need food, I want food, I crave food all day long and then I eat and I feel like crap. If it weren't for the anti-nausea medicine I don't know what kind of condition I would be in. Bless the Dr. who gave it to me, I love him. It's kind of scary to think that July is almost over. It seems like last week I was celebrating Independence Day at the bay with my boyfriend. Oh well, here's to a happy August everybody!

Books...

2005-07-25T09:11:00.000-04:00

I love books. Since I started college 2 1/2 years ago I haven't really had that much time to do leisurely reading since I spend most of the time reading textbooks and working. In any case, I have read a few books and just thought I'd post about a few that I think are worth your time. So, here goes:
1. "Please Stop Laughing at Me..." by Jodee Blanco
Wonderful book to read, especially if you're a woman. It's a woman's account of being an outcast, loner, etc. It's a wonderfully inspirational story and well worth the read. Pages-275

2. "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling
I read this while I was on strict bed-rest during the various hospital stays and tests. I finished it in 1 1/2 days. Needless to say, I had a lot of time on my hands. Great book. If you haven't read the other 5, it would be worth your time to read them because this one may not make sense if you haven't read the others, or at least seen the movies. Pages-652

3. "The Chronicles of Narnia" by C.S. Lewis
Wonderful set of books, I have read the set more than once and can't get enough. Sometimes the story line gets a bit boring, but overall a great set of books to read. Pages-between 189 & 248

4. "The Out-of-Sync-Child" by Carol Stock Kranowitz, M.A.
This one is for the teachers and parents out there. It's about recognizing and coping with Sensory Integration Dysfunction. If your child, or student, has SID, read this book. It's a very helpful resource and gives some wonderful tips on how to teach/live with a child who is affected by SID. Pages-322

Those are my 4 picks for great reads. Although they aren't for everybody, they are still great books.

Happy Monday!

I'm Back...

2005-07-20T15:57:00.000-04:00

Hey ya'll, thanks for the comments. I'm doing better. Turns out that my gallbladder hates me-at least that's what my Dr's are thinking. I'm going to a specialist in August and there's still a possibility of surgery. But, alas, I made it through the x-rays, IV's, HIDA Scan, ultrasound, and catheter and I am back. Not a whole lot to report...T spent most of my days sleeping and feeling sick. Once and awhile I'd have to trot over to the hospital for a test. All in all it was pretty boring, but I guess when you're drugged and ordered to bed rest there's not a whole lot else to do but sleep and watch tv-(my dad only gets 1 channel at his house). Hopefully I'll have some interesting updates soon, when I think of something to write about. Have a great Wednesday...we're 1/2 way to the weekend!

MIA...

2005-07-12T18:44:00.000-04:00

Hello all,
I'm going to be MIA for awhile. I'm sick and I have been since Friday. I can barely eat or drink anything without putting my face into the toilet 10 minutes later. I spent 4 hrs. in the ER today and am now going to another hospital to have an ultrasound. I will update as soon as I can but the blog is going on the backburner until I start feeling better.

Be Safe...

2005-07-03T08:31:00.000-04:00

Please be safe this 4th of July weekend. Today marks the 1 year anniversary of Noah's death. He was not being safe, he was celebrating like there was no tomorrow-which in his case..there wasn't. I still remember being told about the crash. My dad, a paramedic, was at the scene. The worst part of it all was when my dad told me that: "I didn't pick up a body, I picked up body parts." For a week after the accident you could drive down the bypass and see the red spray painted circle that marked where his head was--not his body...just his head. Other limbs were marked with the same red spray paint. Needless to say, I did not drive down that road for 3 weeks after it happened. Just please be careful, it is so easy to get hurt. Even if there's no other cars on the road, you can still get hurt. Noah didn't hit a car, he hit the median. So please, be careful this weekend.

This Is Sad...

2005-06-30T22:13:00.000-04:00

So here's my Stupid Score. It's kind of depressing, but at least I have room to improve.

In other news, I got the "Why on Earth would you want to be a preschool teacher? It's not like it's good money...You have to spend the whole day with kids...I can't stand them...blah blah blah." from a friend today. For the teachers out there, how do you deal with this stuff? I've tried explaining the mechanics of it..you know, social, emotional, etc. etc. etc. but they just look at me and laugh and go "Yeah but that's stupid. It doesn't really matter!" It always gets under my skin, always. My parents, boyfriend, friends, professors, and peers have all given me this same speech. It's frustrating but at the same time it makes me want to work even harder to prove them wrong. I have underlying reasons for doing this, as well as practical ones. I had a abuse ridden childhood and was an emotional train wreck. My social skills sucked and I had no self-control. In addition, my teachers ignored me when I told them about the abuse--I don't want this to happen to another kid. Although the reality is that it does and will continue to happen to kids, any kind of positive influence I can make on these kids will, in my humble opinion, help them throughout life. It may be a small and insignificant influence that I make on some kids, but every little bit helps, right? I have seen so many kids go into Kindergarten with little to no social skills, very little self-control and a few times I have seen children with no self-esteem. It's very hard to watch this and these kids struggle continuously throughout their lives. That is why I teach preschool.--so that this won't happen to many of the kids who pass through my classroom.

Fears...

2005-06-28T22:14:00.000-04:00

Anybody have a fear of something that has affected their life in some way? I personally have a fear of big dogs. It doesn't matter how nice the dog is, I do not like them. I was bitten, pretty badly, when I was 5. The dog, a large dalmation that I had grown up with, bit through my jeans, through my skin, and down to the bone. The dog not only bit down to the bone, she chipped the bone. Ever since then I have a serious dislike for big dogs. Little dogs I'm better with, but that's partially because my parents adopted a small dog about 5 years after this incident happened. At first, I kicked the dog anytime it came within 3 feet of me. Over time, I began to accept smaller dogs. Though I'm still not a fan of big dogs, I enjoy little dogs. In fact, I want a beagle when I get my own place. So what's your fear?

Is it August Yet???

2005-06-22T16:07:00.000-04:00

I can't wait for school to start again. I want to go back to college, go back to the job that I love doing, and not have to clean up after 3-(or 4, or even 5--depending on what day of the week it is) people. Plus, I've gotten the vibe more then once that I don't belong in this apartment. At least at college I have my own place and nobody makes me feel like I'm not welcome. I try and try and try to make everybody here happy and fail miserably. There's always something else that needs to be done, or something that isn't good enough, or maybe I didn't do enough-(according to the others), or I went to bed too early, or I spent to much time in my room "hibernating" and didn't socialize enough with the people who showed up at the door, or perhaps I just take things to personally and I need to learn to 'not be so sensitive'..the list goes on. I'm ready to punch the next person who tells me that I'm too sensitive. There are reasons I take some things personally. The people around me just don't seem to understand that--or maybe they just don't care. I do the things I do for a reason, but again--nobody bothers to listen to the reasons. They just say what they say and do what they do--then walk away like it's no big deal. Arguing against what they say in an effort to stand up for myself is a joke. I'm labeled as a bitch, PMSing, crabby, or just flat out ignored. I'm to the point now where I'm going to stay at college through the summer and just visit here, not live here. I can't do this for another summer--not unless some stuff changes--I don't want to put myself in a situation (again) where I have no way out. I guess the best thing to do is make the best of it till August and then write this whole moving for the summer thing off as a bad choice and a lesson learned.

My Dad...

2005-06-13T15:38:00.000-04:00

My dad is awesome. I was reading a post at A Family Runs Through It-(link can be found to the left--towards the middle.) and it reminded me of just how cool my dad is. He basically raised my sister and I by himself. My mom decided she didn't want to be a mother when I was about 8...It reached it's peak when I was 13. 5 hell-filled years with her being a stay at home mom. Yeah, it sucked. But my dad was always there when he got home from work, no matter how tired he was, he always had time for us. I remember one time when I took a particularly bad beating from my mother and I just laid in my bed and cried. My dad, as sleep deprived as he was from working 2 jobs--one as a paramedic and the other as a word processor, got up--came to my room--and read me books until I calmed down. I still remember that because I thought he was going to be mad that I woke him up--but to this day he has never said anything about it. Now he's working 4 jobs to put me through college and even though I've told him it's not necessary, he does it anyways. And yet, even with working at 4 different hospitals as a paramedic, he still finds time for me when I'm home. Whether it's going out to eat for lunch or just talking--he always finds time. Thanks dad--You're the best.

Hard Things About Being a Teacher...

2005-06-09T12:00:00.000-04:00

This just popped into my head and I wanted to reflect on it a little bit. Bare with me as I'm a bit emotional right now-(yeah, hormones..gotta love em) so if it sounds sappy, it's not meant to be...

1. Losing a child to death, illness, or even a family move.
It's tough when you lose a student. I lost one of my student to a car accident last year. He was 3. That whole day at school I was numb, I felt like I was going through the motions but I wasn't really there. He was a sweetheart. He always had a baseball cap on and he walked with a little country swagger with 4 fingers in his pocket and his thumb hanging out. He was one of our best sleepers and he just did his own thing. He got along with everybody and I never saw this kid pick a fight or even take part in one.

2. Not being able to reach a child due to varying circumstances.
Whenever I think of this one it brings a whole bunch of emotions to the surface. I think of the 3 1/2 year old I had that couldn't talk. He spoke in broken syllables and most of the time he didn't make sense to us. He would get so frustrated because we didn't understand him and I felt so bad because I knew he wanted something and he was trying his hardest to communicate with us but he just couldn't get the message across.

3. Not being able to protect a child from abuse.
This one hits home with me. I was abused as a child for many years and I witnessed my sister being beaten more then once at the hands of my mother. I have had one run in with child abuse and it was a horrible case of it. For confidentiality reasons I can't go into detail but the two children who were involved-(they were both under 4 years of age) were so developmentally behind do to the neglect and abuse that they had to be moved to completely different classrooms to meet their learning needs. That was the one and only time that I felt that I was truly going to yell at a parent. When their parents came to pick them up I felt like I was going to throw up. Thanks to Child Protection Services dragging their feet I was forced to send these 2 children home with the very people who were beating them. After I left work that night I went home and cried myself to sleep. It's a horrible, horrible feeling to send children back into a place where you know that they are being beaten but yet you cannot do anything about it because it is "out of your hands."

Those are my top 3 hardest things about being a teacher. The second one isn't as intense as 1 & 3 but it's hard to see a child try so hard and still not be able to accomplish what they set out to do.

One more chapter in my life closes...

2005-05-21T19:54:00.000-04:00

I'm sitting here wondering what I'm gonna do when I get home. I'm at an ex-employers house watching their 2 young children. I nannied for these children for 3 1/2 years. I love these kids like they're my own. I had them for 50 hours a week, 51 weeks a year. They are absolutely adorable and I love spending time with them. Tonight is the last time I'll see them for probably a year or more. They're moving to California in about a week. I live in Michigan. I'm gonna miss them but I understand that their parents have to move because of job opportunitites. I spent the whole day with them today. We went to the park, the beach, to lunch, got ice cream, went to my house, and then back to their house where I gave them a bath, made them dinner, watched The Grinch with them, and put them to bed. Currently they are jumping on their bed even though they're supposed to be 'sleeping.' Anywho, it's kind of sad that i won't see them for quite a long time, but i knew it was going to happen eventually.

Found this today...

2005-05-12T11:54:00.000-04:00

I wrote this back in March of 2002. I found it yesterday while I was going through some papers and it basically sums up what my life was like with my mother from the time I was 8 until I was 13. I will warn you, some people may be shocked by it. So, here goes...

The fear of pain. You're shaking from the fear of being hurt. You are stripped down to your underwear, your feet are cold from standing on the linoleum floor. Your mind is seconds away from shutting down, you can't focus on what's going on. You want to understand because if you understand then maybe you can fix the problem. By making things better you will no longer be the victim. You will have what you've wanted for years; you won't be afraid anymore. You start to think of how to fix the problem, you can't think for long though because 'she' starts coming at you. 'She' is armed with a weapon this time. A weapon means more pain. You start crying, you're afraid of pain. The weapon that 'she' possesses is a 12-inch wooden ruler. 'She' commands you to hold our your hands, palms down. You obey because you're scared. She hits the back of your hands with the ruler, you cry harder and 'she' tells you to "stop crying like a baby!" 'She' hits you with the ruler again, in the same place as last time. You curl your fingers into your palms because it hurts so bad. 'She' starts screaming in your face-"Keep your fingers out! If you don't, I'll make it even worse." She smiles her evil grin that makes you wish you could drop dead right then and there. You uncurl your fists and allow the woman known as 'she' to beat your hands as much as she pleases. It hurts enough to make you want to scream. But you don't scream, no, instead you just cry and plead with 'her' to stop inflicting pain on you. You don't understand, your mother is hurting you. You're confused, this woman is supposed to protect you, but instead she is beating her own flesh and blood to the point of making your hands raw and bleeding. Eventually you just close your eyes and let the blows come. You can't stop them so you allow them to come. There is no more hope.

That incident happened when I was 8. It is one of my most vivid childhood memories and I still think about it to this day. The woman in the event is my mother. She was emotionally, verbally, and physically abusive to myself and one of my sisters from the time I was 8 until I was 13. Though she is no longer physically abusive, the verbal and emotional abuse continues.

Sorry for the downer today guys, but I felt it was necessary to post.

Moving, Graduation, and being MIA...

2005-05-05T13:54:00.000-04:00

Hey ya'll. Sorry I've been MIA for the past week or so. I graduated last Saturday with my associates degree in Early Childhood Education. After graduation I dragged all of my stuff home to Marquette, reorganized, repacked, cleaned my car, and then moved to Petoskey. Currently I'm looking for a job and I have my first interview on Monday. We'll see how it goes. Now that I'm settled in Petoskey, I should have more time for updates. See ya.

Names!!!

2005-04-27T22:39:00.000-04:00

Hey ya'll. My roomies and I were enjoying our last night together before we all go our seperate ways and we got on the topic of baby names. I have no idea why, we were watching Blue Collar Comedy Tour and then we were talking about what we wanted to name our kids. Go figure. Anyways, I thought I'd just post a short list of the names I like and the reason's I like them so here goes:

Adele--I remember watching a documentary, about 5 or 6 years ago, that was done at a children's hospital in England. On the documentary there was a little girl who was probably about 8 years old and she was dying waiting for a liver transplant. I fell in love with this little girl. I was glued to my tv just absorbing everything I could from this documentary and her name, Adele, stuck with me. I still love it to this day.

Jane--I like this name because I had a boss who's name was Jane. She was the sweetest woman I have ever met. She was like a second mother to me. She took me in when my mom was absent from the parenting world-(long story...i'll post about it another day). I, in turn, watched her 2 kids and basically I was their big sister. I don't ever remember feeling afraid, shunned, put down, or belittled by her. Every time I interacted with her, I felt better about myself. She is truly an amazing person :)

Molly--One of my best friends in grade school. I was basically an outcast in elementary school and Molly stuck with me through and through. She didn't judge me, didn't join in and make fun of me when the other kids did. I remember one day I was playing hopscotch on the playground and I fell and ripped my brand new tights. She offered to switch tights with me just so that I wouldn't get beaten when I got home. God I miss her.

Zachary--My rival in math class during elementary school. I remember we used to play a game where we would go around and room and one by one we would stand up, read the multiplication problem on the flash card that the teacher held up, and give her the answer. If we got the answer right, we would get to go to the next card, if we got the answer wrong, we would have to sit down and it was the next kids turn. Well, it always came down to me and Zach. He was also a person who never made fun of me and always made me feel better about myself after I interacted with him. He moved when I was in 2nd grade, came back for the end of 3rd grade, and then I was pulled out of school in 4th grade. I haven't seen him since.

Dawson--No, it's not Dawson's Creek..I hate that show. I just really really really like this name. It's cute, but yet sophisticated enough so that it can carry through adulthood. I once watched a little boy named Dawson, cute as a button!

Well, that's it. 5 names. Short list, I know. I stick to what I like. What are some of your favorite names--and why?

Yelling vs. Spanking

2005-04-18T20:26:00.000-04:00

Do you yell at your kids? Or know somebody who does? If so, you might want to take a look at this article. http://family.msn.com/tool/article.aspx?dept=raising&sdept=rks&name=me_033005_yellingvsspanking&signup=true&offer=2&GT1=6428 I am definately a yeller. I found the article to be really interesting. I especially like some of the techniques they offer to prevent yourself from yelling. I know at the Center I work at I have used the Invading the Child's Space. I've only had to do this 3 or 4 times since I began working there almost a year ago, and it works wonders. All of the teachers use the Insist Once, Act Immediately. The first is just a simple warning, "if you do ___ again, you will be asked to leave the area." If they do it again, they are asked to leave the area. If the behavior continues, they are put in time out. The kids all know this and we have little or no arguing. I have also had a teacher watch my area and go off to floor to take 5 minutes to cool down. This doesn't always work though because by the time I come back either the teacher has neglected to watch the area or has let the kids make a mess and then leave. So I'm stuck cleaning up.

What techniques do you use with your preschoolers?

Quotes

2005-04-17T22:24:00.000-04:00

I was looking through my Preschool Classroom Management textbook and saw quite a few quotes that I liked. So I'm going to post them here:

1."A classroom is a place with four walls with tomorrow inside." -Claudia Lesman Boysen
2. "A teacher affects eternity. He can never tell where his influence stops." -Henry Adams
3. "Play is the foundation of growth, learning, and development for children." -Bill Page
4. "Think of what a better world it would be if we all had cookies and milk about three o'clock every afternoon."-Robert Fulghum
5. "Good discipline is a series of little victories in which a teacher, through small decencies, reaches a child's heart."-Haim Ginott
6. "We must see that every child has equal opportunity not to become equal, but to become different-to realize the unique potential he or she possesses."-John Fischer
7. "A teacher is one who brings us tools and enables us to use them."-Keam Toomer

My personal favorites are 3 and 4. I am forever getting questioned by parents about what time of day we stop playing and start teaching their kids. If incorporated correctly, play is the most effective and valuable medium for kids to learn through. In addition, I get comments like "why are you so tired, all you do is play all day!" Part of me wants to smack these people, and the other part of me wants to have them do my job for a day.
I like 4 because 3 o'clock is our snack time and I know I'm dying for some chocolate chip cookies at about that time. If nothing else, just to have a little bit of comfort before diving back into the pool of piranha's-er...kids.

What's your favorite?

Feelings, Stress, and Other Random Stuff

2005-04-11T23:23:00.000-04:00

Do you ever get the feeling that you're just not good enough? Everyday when I walk into work I have all intentions of doing well and being a good teacher and treating the kids with the respect and dignity that every person on this earth deserves. Then certain kids-(or teachers)-keep pushing and pushing until I snap. I get to a point sometimes where I just feel like I'm not good enough to be a teacher, girlfriend, daughter, roommate or student. That's kind of where I'm at right now. I'm feeling very down, very out of it. All I want to do is crawl into bed and sleep. I don't want to get up tomorrow to go to work. I don't even want to be there. I love the kids, my boss is wonderful, and I really do enjoy working there. But I just don't feel that I'm good enough to be there.

I guess it might be because it was not a good day today at work. I generally do a lot of extra things at work just to take the workload off of the other teachers because I know how it can be when you have a million things to do in a small amount of time. One of the teachers today went to go get her lunch so in addition to washing and setting the tables, like I always do for lunchtime, I took the time to go through all of the children's lunches-(18 of them)-and put out what needed to be heated up so that when the teacher who went to go get her lunch got back, all she had to do was throw them in the microwave and not worry about going through all the lunchboxes. Well, I missed one. I opened it and I didn't see the item that needed to be heated up. It was a simple mistake, I was in a hurry, and I just missed it altogether. Well, this particular teacher started in on me with comments like "God Jen, way to miss one." and other shit like that. I snapped. It had been a long morning, I was the only one on the floor from 7-9am. I was tired, and lunchtime is always stressful because we're always rushing to get things out on time because the kids are usually starving by noon.

I don't want to go in tomorrow. I don't want to face my boss because I know I shouldn't have snapped, I don't want to face this teacher because I'm still aggravated over the whole thing. And another thing, this incident with this teacher is not an isolated incident. Every day she's there-(3 days a week) she makes some kind of rude, sarcastic, or totally unnecessary comment and I really just can't handle it anymore.

I'm stressed out like hell because I've got exams coming up, plus moving, summer school, and trying to find a job. I need a soft place to fall and I don't have one. I feel like the more I search for a soft place to fall, the further away from it I get. Sometimes you just need a shoulder, or somewhere to relax. At the moment, I don't have one. Any ideas?

Teachers that drive me up the wall...

2005-04-07T13:24:00.000-04:00

You know how sometimes you just want to strangle your co-workers. Well, I work with a number of other teachers and respect them, sometimes they just don't think.
Like the teacher who put out paint and markers for the kids to play with at the art table and then walked away and ignored them. She didn't ask anybody to watch the kids for her for a few minutes, she didn't sit with them, she didn't tell them to put paint smocks on so they wouldn't get their clothes too messy. No, she put the stuff on the table and walked away. Obviously, there was a HUGE mess when the kids were done. And better yet, she complained about the mess and even went as far as to say "why didn't anybody watch them?" Um..HELLO!!! When you put materials out for the kids to play with, especially messy materials, YOU are responsible for either watching them yourself or getting somebody else to watch them. That's your JOB.

Or how about the teacher who gets out glue, paper, paint, and stuff to glue to the paper, but neglects to put newspaper down on the table. She then tells 2 & 3 year olds to "not get any paint on the table." Um, okay. Now, let's think about this. When the kids dip the paintbrush into the paint, it is naturally going to drip. And glue, kids that age use WAY to much glue for everything so that gets all over. And if you put out stuff in a container for the kids to glue to the paper, they're almost always going to dump it out. What gets me the most is that she'll clean up the stuff just before she has to leave to go to a class and then I'm stuck washing off the table. Glue does not come off of these tables easily.

Why don't people think? I mean, really. Who in their right mind would give a 2 year old a marker and say "here, go ahead." Then walk away. What the hell do you think is going to happen?????? Then the teacher gets mad at the kid for doing what any normal 2 year old would do with a marker and no supervision--color all over himself and everything else. Or better yet, take the top off and just walk around with it in his hand, not paying attention to what he's marking up--like kids shirts, teacher's pants, tables, shelves, toys, books...The list goes on.