It's always interesting when people ask me about my job. Everyone seems to have a different reaction about it, but the most common one I get is the fact that they don't consider what I do not very important and in fact consider my job a "babysitting" job. These kinds of comments always seem to get under my skin and then I realize that the people who say things like that are people that have NO idea what it's like to work with kids. Yes I may work with infant and toddlers but let me explain to you what I do from a day to day basis.
My alarm is set for 7 am. Gives me enough time to throw some clothes on, have breakfast and pack a lunch. I roll into work at 8:30 just in time to make bottles, wash hands and eat snack. For the next hour and a half I either have the choice to do circle time with songs, stories and art with some outside play, or feed, change, and put babies to sleep. After that is done, it's lunch time for the toddlers and then nap time right after. While the toddlers sleep, it's time to clean, do dishes, clean, prepare afternoon snack, and clean some more. I finish just in time to go on my lunch break. I'm given an hour of peace of quiet before going right back to work. By that time the toddlers are awake already and it's time to change some diapers. Babies need to fed and held and toddlers wash hands and eat snack. After snack it's time to change diapers again. 4:30 comes around and things start to slow to down and use whatever energy I have left in me to keep the kids busy while trying to snuggle a baby. My day ends at 5:30. I go home, eat, shower, go to bed and wake up and do the same thing tomorrow. This goes on Monday through Friday.
As you can see my schedule gets pretty busy, and some of the time things aren't done on schedule because there is just so much to do. There are a total of 12 infant and toddlers in the program with 3 teachers on schedule until about 3 or 3:30. I know what you are thinking, if there are 3 teachers, why is it so hard to take care of everything? Well that is because there are more babies (Children who are 13 months and younger) then there are teachers. Every 5 minutes someone needs to be changed, fed, put to sleep, entertained, and held. Almost every child is on a different schedule and come in and leave at different times, it's hard to keep track on who needs to be taken care. Through out the day we have go through the schedule of feeding, eating and changing of 1 or more crying baby, who only wants to be held. And then when you do hold them, they are hard to soothe and fight going to sleep. When you finally get them to sleep and put them in there crib, someone else needs to be held.
I'm not trying to complain, or rant about my job. I'm just simply explaining to you what I do everyday in my life. I'm constantly on the move, standing on my feet all day. Dealing with grumpy babies who are teething, fussy babies that don't want to sleep and babies that sometimes can't be soothed when they are held. There is always something going on, keeping me on my toes. The only down time I get is when I'm feeding or rocking a baby to sleep. As the day goes my energy level goes down, and so does my patience. But I have to keep pressing on because parents depend on me to take care of their kids.
Still think you can do my job? Still think that my job is "easy" and anyone can do it? Well, if you think it's so easy, then I would like to see you do it. I'd trade places anyone any day, who believes they can do a better job them me. But until you've walked a day in my shoes, until you've experience 12 slobbery, buggering, crying, grumpy, happy, giggly, hitting, pushing, sweet, cute, always talking, and excited children, don't tell me that my job is easy. Don't tell me how to do my job, or what I can do differently. You have NO idea how much effort I put into my job everyday. You have NO idea the joy I get from working with children, no matter how tired I am by the end of the day.
I am a teacher. I do what I do, because I enjoy doing it. I'm not doing it for the money, I'm not doing it to impress anyone. I do it so I can make a difference in a child's life. Without people like me, your children would not succeed in everyday life.
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