~Munchkin Junction~: Whew!!!

~Munchkin Junction~: Whew!!!

Whew!!!

Man oh man what a day so far today!! Let me start off by saying that if I didn't already know it was a Monday, I would have sworn it was!!

My day started at 4:15 am today and has not been a easy one either. My first group of kids walk through the door and they enter like a heard of elephants. Literally the bull dozed their way through the front door, stomping and talking loudly, then dropping their backpacks on the floor and finally by slamming the closet door where they put their shoes! I simply rolled my eyes and thought, 'Happy Monday! Here we go!!' Then I mention to the mother that I need to be out of the daycare for a two short errands today and that it was being covered by my assistant. The Mother looks at me and states, ' Well I won't pay for when you are not here.' mmm, so she wants a battle of the wills? Fine I think to my self...bring it on!! Now mind you this has all taken place in a matter of 4 min. or less.

It's now 4:50 am and the next set of kids show up. Amazing!! They are just as  noisy as the first set of kids that graced my presence! So I get them all settled as quickly as I can, grab the baby a full bottle and change her diaper~as it was gonna be a full one in a matter of minutes.

In walks the next family at 5:15 am, I swear I think there must have been a memo that I missed. Seriously, what is with all the stomping and slamming of doors? So again I roll my eyes at the parent for allowing the children to act so rudely. This time the Father says to me, 'Ooops we were all up early this morning and I found the youngest one in the fridge drinking a Mt. Dew and eating the leftover birthday cake.' I guess the appalled and shocked look on my face was enough to warrant the parent to apologize for the kids rude behavior. Then he laughs and states as he is walking out the door, ' Oh yea, the baby pooped on the way over, Can you get that for me?' I am literally dumbfounded now. Ummm Why on earth would a parent allow a child to sit in a full diaper, let alone eat junk food and drink soda pop? Where is the discipline? I shake this off and get them all cleaned up, changed and tucked back in to hopefully get some much needed rest.

Wow, 7:00 am!! Where did the time go? I know I was busy with cleaning bathrooms, folding a few clothes and making today's menu or should I say game plan!! Ha ha ha.... OK time to kick it in high gear, wake all the little angels in the living room. Go in and wake up the two babies from their slumbering dreams. One child in each arm as I stroll back into the dinning room and step on a wooden block! OUCH!!! I put both kids down and look around for the little one who placed it in my walk path. Umm Huh just as I thought. Not a guilty party in the bunch as they all break into laughter!! Good Morning to me!!

Welcome to my Monday morning!

 Have you ever really wondered what happens when you drop off your sleeping child at daycare? For those of you who do, guess what? They don't really ever go back to sleep. Nope they kinda lay there waiting for their provider (me!) to get all settled into reading or doing whatever task is at hand and then they spring to life!
 Yep, that's it they literally spring to life without so much as a stretch or a yawn. They literally throw the covers off, stand up and start screaming! Now we aren't talking about a low little whine here, nope full blown scream at the top of their lungs, enough to wake the rest of the house. You might ask your self...What on earth?! Well guess what..I did too !!! I think I leaped to my feet and flew over to the screaming child, missing the sleeping dog along the way. Nearly tripping over a pillow, catching myself on the corner of the wall and finally coming to a thud on the floor next her. I stood myself upright again and reached out to her to hold her and comfort her...oddly though she was still literally sleeping!!
 As I quickly pondered the situation, risking more kids to wake and become just as agitated and distressed as this little girl. I decided to do the unthinkable and wake her from her current state of mind. Ummm not an easy task if I do say so. I tried to wake her by gently rubbing her back, shaking her hand, calling her name and more. Finally after what seemed like endless trying to wake this sleeping beauty, who by the way was still screaming and had now woke the others. It was evident that I needed to really wake this child before something else happened. I was getting ready to try one more thing when out of nowhere comes her little brother.
 He walked around me, looked at his sister and shook his head from side to side. The look on his face was one of disdain and frustration. As if he was saying, 'Not Again!' He stepped around the front of her rather gingerly and then "WHAM!!" he stomped on her foot! She woke up instantly and all was quiet again. Her little brother smiled at himself, clapped his hands as if to congratulate himself and went back to bed. With the rest of us standing there simply giggling.

Happy Monday Morning to you all!

Little Smartie

I was sitting back observing my group the other day and making some mental notes. One of my little munchkins came up and asked, " Whatcha doing Miss Winnie?"  to this I replied, "Well I am observing how you and your other friends play." This little guy not missing his que says rather proudly, "Well Miss. Winnie I can tell them to let you play too!!"

Gotta love my love munchkins!!

I Love my Job!!

Have you ever had one of those days when it felt like the rug was pulled out from under you? How about the wind knocked out of you?

Ok I know I have no excuse, however I have been feeling like this for a few days or so now. See the way things work in the daycare industry are very much up and down. That is we in the industry are subject to the whims of the parents of the children in our care. We are subject to idiotic demands, long hours, absurd requests, low pay and little to no respect.

 But hey who's complaining? Surely not me!!

 Nope I still love my job, it gives me the satisfaction of knowing that I am helping to mold our future generation....specially when I know that the tattooed, over pierced, low slung jean and thong wearing mom who has little to do with it all. I honestly think the parents wouldn't even be able to come close to teaching let alone guiding a child through the intricacies of toilet training, feeding one self or even tieing shoes!  Heaven help them when the child is old enough to attend pre-school, let alone school for that matter. 

What I am getting at here is that I SEE too many children with little to no self assurance from the parents. I honestly work my tush off each and every day helping these children learn their basic skills. By basic I mean quite literally basic...walking, talking, eating, toileting, respect for others and self, coping skills, and more.  It is sad and quite appalling to see so many parents that are more into them selves and going out, than they are their children. It is not unheard of  to see a child in daycare from 6am all the way until 5pm. Yes it's a terribly long day for them, I get the fact that parents have to work, but don't they have to take responsibility too? They chose to bring this child into the world, one would think that they want to spend as much time as possible with their child.

So when I ask about the wind being knocked out of you...I guess for me I am saying that as each day comes and goes I shouldn't be surprised any more by what the latest demand is from the mom who is obviously sporting a new pair of jeans that are obviously 2 sizes too small for them. Not to ask the mom why is it that she can go out almost every night of the week, spend money on a designer purse, and drink and eat until she's had her fill. Not to worry if their child actually ate something healthy, slept in a bed  at all the night before, or even got into that big thing in the bathroom that is called a tub!

  Yes, that's my opinion, yes I can say this openly, yes I am MOM in every sense of the word!