After my 18th birthday, I got my first job. My mom suggested I apply to her job that was hiring at the time as a childcare worker at our local gym. The facility was down the street from my high school, so I could go right over after school to work.
This job was great for me because I was a pre-school, second and fifth-grade student teacher while I was in high school. I was lucky enough to work with a lot of people my age and even some who were older.
As childcare workers, we watch kids from six weeks old to 17 years old for two hours, make sure the facility is clean, keep the children safe, and make sure everyone is having a good time. The job was actually a lot more demanding than that though.
This job was not just watching kids, telling them stories, or teaching them lessons. Some may think watching kids is easy, all you have to do is make sure they don’t hurt themselves. It was a lot more than that. The three best words to describe the tasks of this job are:
friend
babysitter
moderator
Babysitter
We have to make sure the kids are safe and having fun. Those are just the basics of the job. We aren’t considered actual babysitters because we don’t change diapers or provide the kid's food. We do everything else a babysitter is expected to do. Although I do actually babysit some of the kids outside of work because I am close with them and their parents.
Friend
Although our main job is to make sure the kids are safe and happy, we also are their friends so they know our daycare center is somewhere they are comfortable and can have fun.
We are expected to play with the kids if they want to play with dolls, dodgeball, or have a dance party. When kids ask us to run around with them, most of the time we do. I actually got really close with a lot of the kids because I would play with them, and they see me as their friend. This is how I got to babysit for some of the kids outside of work because they love me and enjoy seeing me at the daycare.
Moderator
If there was any sort of problem with the kids while under our care, I would contact the parents, tell them the situation and help resolve it. Sometimes this would work out okay, but other times problems would escalate.
Some may think watching kids is very easy to do. Those who have, know that at times it gets very stressful. Most of the time, the parents stressed us out most. There were a lot of strict parents that expected us to follow the rules they have at home or expected us to give their kids special treatment. There were many times I would get yelled at for simply doing my job.
There was a time a child spit on one of the workers so we put her on time out. Spitting is not tolerated under our care, so we immediately go get the parents to pick up their child. When the parent came to pick up their child they were unhappy that we put their child on time out and she was crying. She proceeded to yell at me and my other co-worker and eventually contacted our manager. Although we did exactly what we are trained to do.
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Hi Raigan, thank you for sharing your experience. I love playing with kids, but I imagine it is very difficult to work as a childcare worker. It must take a lot of patience to deal with children and their parents.
ReplyDeleteI loved this! I love kids, but working with them can include difficulties, especially when trying to moderate. I liked your detailed examples, it really helped me understand your work!
ReplyDeleteHey Raigan! I enjoyed reading and learning more about your experience as a childcare worker. I thought that the three aspects you chose described your role well. I found the last section interesting to read. It must be difficult to get scolded for following protocol. Nevertheless, I'm glad you enjoyed your job. I'm happy you see yourself as a friend to the kids!
ReplyDeleteI have always found that childcare provides you with some of the most important interpersonal skills you can have. From your job description it appears that you have learned or at least grown in your knowledge of these skills, particularly being a moderator. I think learning to dissipate arguments and to know how to handle your own emotions and someone else's with the appropriate patience is something most of us could do better with. These skills will translate to other jobs for as long as you live, this seems live a highly valuable position.
ReplyDeleteHi Raigan, great stories about the duties of child care. The one about the parent who was upset with you and your coworker for putting their child on time out was funny to me in that the child clearly deserved it. The only way that makes sense is if kid was allowed to spit on people without consequences at home. You've got to be consistent with a policy like that.
ReplyDeleteHey Raigan, I really enjoyed - and related to - your post. During the three summers when I worked for a hotel in Florida, I worked in recreation, which meant that I sometimes ran the kids' camp. It was effectively a day care center at the hotel where parents could pay us (way too much) just to take their kids off their hands for a few hours. The last part of your post about the spitting kid was not surprising at all, due to even my relatively limited experience in child care. Hopefully the kid wasn't allowed back. I wonder what the parent would've said if someone spit at her!
ReplyDeleteHi Raigan, I completely relate to you about working with kids. I tutored kids around the middle school level, but also had to take care of them since it was an afterschool program. A lot of work goes into just watching them considering the age. I like what you said about being there friend. They can be demanding, but eventually can be close to you.
ReplyDeleteAs someone else who's worked with kids I can strongly relate to everything you wrote. It definitely isn't as easy as people think it might be. Parents do love to get over excited when they don't think their child has been watched like a hawk or treated like a princess, even though I'm sure you were great with their kids. I really enjoyed reading this!
ReplyDeleteI agree with everything your classmates said about this post. Good job. And, yeah, the Moderator role can get tough. As the parent of a super sweet kid who could be a bully (though she never spit on anyone -- AS FAR AS I KNOW) I have compassion both on the kid -- spitting like that is evidence of underlying issues -- and on the heartbreak of being a parent whose "little angel" requires discipline.
ReplyDeleteGreat readability scores. I put your post through the Hemingway Editor and the app discovered three passive sentences -- two "is, or are, expected" and one "are trained." A form of the verb "to be" + a past participle + the optional "by" phrase (who's doing this expecting and training?).