I'm sorry I only have two arms and two eyes, let me sprout more for you.

[BuggedMei]

I -finally- found work. I'm working at a daycare, which is more like play then work. I'm now Miss Bugged and I work with 18 month - 2yr old kids... and their parents are my "customers".

So, its been cold out, the kids have been cooped up indoors for weeks now. Most of them have the same cold that they've passed onto me. My class is usually around 9 children and there is two teachers, me and one other girl. The day started normally until one of the kids was acting really strangely. She had just gotten a flu shot, and her mother warned us she may get a tad out of character so my co worker was holding her until she felt better. So, that left me with 8 rugrats to watch.

I was doing a decent job of keeping everyone happy, running back and forth to wipe snotty noses and change dirty diapers. My co worker was trying to help by reading stories or singing songs while she was comforting a sick kid. I was busy calming down one girl who bonked her head when another girls mother came in. I smiled and started telling her how her daughters day was, what she ate and didn't eat and all of a sudden she started screaming.

Parent: WHY IS HER NOSE RUNNING?!
Me : O.O;;; She's been fussy today, she cried a bunch if we put her down for too long, a lot of a children also have a cold so-
Parent: YOU LET MY DAUGHTER WALK AROUND WITH A SNOTTY NOSE?! AND ITS DRY I CANT BELIEVE YOU DIDNT SEE THIS.
At this point, most of the kids are scared and are sniffling ready to cry. She starts pointing out which kids have runny noses or other stains getting louder and louder.
Me: Ma'mn, PLEASE, you are scaring the kids! There are two of us and 9 children here today. Most of them have colds. I cannot keep my attention on all of them at the same time. I'm sorry her nose was running and we didn't catch it. Please stop screaming.
She kept screaming until she left the classroom, I now had my hands full with very scared and upset children.

Not two minutes later, my boss comes in to yell at us.
Boss Lady: You two wipe snotty noses for a living, so get used to it or get out!

Anyone know how to grow eyes on the back of my head, and sprout some spare arms?

[Captain Cosmos]

So your and your colleague are running around like lunatics looking after 9 sick toddlers. While your bosses only help is to side with an abusive failure for a parent
You and your work mate should both phone in sick with colds and leave the cow to look after the kids herself, see how she gets on !!!!!

[Hobbs]

At that point, I woulda told Boss to go stuff themselves. I mean

[Nurian]

*sigh* Sadly, there is no way. I used to be in a daycare as a teacher and that particular ability always eluded me. Just be thankful you aren't male and working in that industry....

[Sheldonrs]

"Boss Lady: You two wipe snotty noses for a living, so get used to it or get out!"


How about BLOODY noses BITCH?!!!

[MaggieTheCat]

I would like to say that after your boss told you to "get out" you should have said, "Okay, cool, have fun with 8 sick kids with snotty noses, hope you have enough kleenex!" and left. However, I know how hard work is to find these days and that you probably can't afford to do that just now. Sucks that you have a spineless boss who just believes everything every parent screams at them.

[LillFilly]

That is truly awful! Does your boss also do the work you do? Because then they would know how hard it is.

There's really no excuse for you being threatened like that; not even if the boss was trying to make it look to the Customer like the situation was being handled.

[sbandliz]

On this side of the world, childcare centres actually call the parents to pick up their child if say child shows any symptoms of being sick.
This includes being off color after an injection or colds (runny nose included). This is the only way to ensure the others kids don't get sick.

[BuggedMei]

That is truly awful! Does your boss also do the work you do? Because then they would know how hard it is.

There's really no excuse for you being threatened like that; not even if the boss was trying to make it look to the Customer like the situation was being handled.

No, my boss sits behind a desk all day and makes "rounds" when the kids are asleep, never before, never after. She really, really annoyed me with the "its your job" line, but I don't wanna sacrifice what little income I've managed to find in almost a year..

There was a new little boy accepted into the 2-3yr old class today. Hes 3 right now, still in diapers. BossLady told the teacher that it was her job to potty train him, as the parents expect us to teach him. That teacher said it wasnt her job to do that, as her class is allready quite large and she can't spend the extra time on one child. BossLady said too bad.

In regards to the kids being sick... its a daycare on a college campus. Most of the children are children of the students or professors teaching there. As horrible as it sounds, some of the younger parents could care less, and think of it as our job to tend to their colds. Right now, a horrible cold is working its way through the staff and there are many call outs meaning were shorthanded and very stressed. Nyquil is slowly becoming my best friend.

[Kristev]

I feel so bad for you.

[TexasT]

And this is why I don't work at daycares anymore. I've never had a good boss, ever. I was told by my last one that we are not allowed to have a child cry after 4, because we don't want parents picking up their child and not have them smiling. So that means a kid could bite another and I wasn't allowed to do anything.

I was also literally knocked down, attacked, and bitten by a 5 year old. I called the office several times over the course of over an hour. The girl literally pulled chunks of hair out of my head and I was covered in bruises. Turns out they were expecting a parent to come into the office soon for a tour and they couldn't have a screaming child, now could they? That was the incident that made one of the assistant managers quit when I pointed out that I was a woman in my early 20s who was punched in the stomach several times. If I was pregnant, I would've been suing them so fast.

The place before that broke rules/laws left and right and expected way too much. Stuff like accepting kids who weren't walking yet in a room that had no cribs. If there was a fire, we'd be in trouble. Also, I was supposed to close 3 rooms a night in a half hour. Closing means sanitizing every toy, surface, etc. It'd take hours.

So, basically, they care more about image and money than the children or me being treated humane. Yeah, find me a daycare worth all that, maybe I'll give them a chance.

[NotSoInnocent]

Ugh... Only one time have I ever worked in a regular day care center. (I ran my own small in-home daycare for a while... only 4 kids and two of them were mine!)

I worked the 15-18 month room. I was the -only- worker in that room. There were 12 (!) toddlers.

I had a parent start yelling at me when she picked her daughter up and noticed that she was wearing another kid's diaper. I glared at her and reminded her that her own little precious had run out of diapers the day before... and she was currently wearing one of -my- daughter's diapers because no one else would have shared.

I had to quit after 6 months of that place... mostly because I finally had enough and called the licensing office to complain about horrible child-staff ratios. Had I stayed there... I'd have gotten in trouble.

[Thatgirl71]

I too, feel for you. I worked in daycare and lasted 2 months, after being sick constantly and the rude parents who expected us to be their childrens personal servants, I couldn't take it anymore so I quit. Daycare is definately not for the weak!

[Magpie]

I had a parent start yelling at me when she picked her daughter up and noticed that she was wearing another kid's diaper. I glared at her and reminded her that her own little precious had run out of diapers the day before... and she was currently wearing one of -my- daughter's diapers because no one else would have shared.

Serves her right to have to cart a dirty diaper back if she lets her daughter run out.

Ok, given that a lot of daycares seem to mistreat staff, if I have the luxury of choice, what should I look for to try to increase my odds of giving my custom to a location with well-treated staff, rather than overworked ones? (not that voting with your feet works when there's a shortage of spaces, but it's worth a try).

[BuggedMei]

I too, feel for you. I worked in daycare and lasted 2 months, after being sick constantly and the rude parents who expected us to be their childrens personal servants, I couldn't take it anymore so I quit. Daycare is definately not for the weak!

So far, I don't mind being sick, though I wish I could breathe through my nose again... and I really enjoy working with the kids. Its their parents that need a good time out!

Magpie, my best suggestion would be a place that looks like they have a lot of help. There is a ratio of kids per teacher they have to keep (for my class, its 1 teacher per 5 children) but if there looks like more hands are around, less things can go wrong. My class can be a real joy when there is three of us, instead of the usual two.