5 things I have learned from working in childcare

[fireheart]

1. 95% of parents are GOOD parents. Even if they don't look like it or act like it. The other 5% LOOK like good parents, but wind up absolutely sucking.

2. Any attempts at managing the kids goes out the window when the icecream truck rolls past. (I shit you not, this even had "Greensleaves" going!)

3. Ditto for ambulances. (this one was somewhat sad: a kid that we take care of two days a week fell off the monkey bars and broke her arm. Thankfully we weren't looking after her at the time, her mum was! Kid came back today with a plaster cast and a pin in her wrist)

4. I have NEVER looked forward to the end of the year as much as I have in previous years. (Long story short: kid I've mention in my "denial" thread moves onto another school) Ditto for end of term (same kid does not go to vacation care )

5. 8-year-olds can still have tantrums >.<

edit: And #6.

-height ranges for kids can go ALL over the shop. While the Year 2's are all fairly consistent, the Year 1's and kindergarteners go all over the shop. It becomes about ten times funnier with one kid as she has an incredibly adorable 2-year-old sister who is not that much shorter than she is. Another kid with a 3-year-old brother is the same.

[Words4theWorld]

#7. No torture device in the world can compete with toys for children, if applied correctly. (Think of an adult crawling over the floor and resting his knee on a lego block. ;-))

[April]

Adding to number 5 --Is there an age where they are supposed to STOP having tantrums? Cause I have a 13 year old and 11 year old who tantrum

[AnaKhouri]

#6 is true for sure. Khan is in the 99% for height- he can ride most adult roller coasters- while his friend Val is almost half his size; she's very petite. It's hilarious when they're together because he bends down to talk to her, like he thinks she won't be able to hear him otherwise (also Protip: if you are a pediatrician, and you look at your friend's kid and comment on his height, don't mention Marfan's Syndrome or the like. No parent needs to be plunged into paranoia because of your offhand remark) .

[mathnerd]

#6 is true for sure. Khan is in the 99% for height- he can ride most adult roller coasters- while his friend Val is almost half his size; she's very petite. It's hilarious when they're together because he bends down to talk to her, like he thinks she won't be able to hear him otherwise

It's even funnier when the dramatic difference is in the same family. My boys are all over the map in height.

Oldest: 15 years old, 51st percentile in height at 5'5.5"

Middle: 13 years old. 95th percentile at 5'7" (I question this one because that's my height and it seems he's just a touch taller than me).

Youngest: 12 years old. Can't recall his exact height offhand, but I remember him being in the 20th percentile for height.

I'm amused that the same two parents could produce such different results.

[Geek King]

Adding to number 5 --Is there an age where they are supposed to STOP having tantrums? Cause I have a 13 year old and 11 year old who tantrum

There is an age stage of development where they should stop having tantrums, sadly some never hit it. We've all seen the stories of "adults" pitching a fit in public.

[Kittish]

The 'stage of development' thing... I haven't hit it. I still pitch an occasional tantrum, when something just really, really, really ticks me off. The whole stomping, screaming, waving fists around thing. BUT.... I don't do it in public, or where anyone else can see or hear me. So maybe the the real test isn't whether a person has tantrums, but when and where they express them?

[morgana]

I had a screaming, foot-stomping, crockery-throwing tantrum at the age of 52.

In my defense, the Clueless Ex had just said the stupidest thing ever uttered in the history of mankind . . .

[gremcint]

I was taller than the teachers in grade 8

[fireheart]

A new one:

Yes, jumping castles can hold the weight of an educator plus around 10-15 children

[Seshat]

I throw tantrums, occasionally. I just do it deliberately, carefully, and in quasi-private.

(Toth and Bast and K have all seen my tantrums - and on a very special occasion, the death of an abusive grandfather, a friend who happened to be visiting when I got the phone call got to see me go into a carefully controlled rage-tantrum.)


Tantrums can be a very effective tool for processing certain emotions and keeping them from overstressing one. You just have to keep it controlled. Punching bags are VERY helpful, as can be pillows that need fluffing, rugs that need the dirt beaten out of them.....

[greek_jester]

Tantrums can be a very effective tool for processing certain emotions and keeping them from overstressing one. You just have to keep it controlled. Punching bags are VERY helpful, as can be pillows that need fluffing, rugs that need the dirt beaten out of them.....

I keep a small stock of cheap cuddly toys. It's really remarkable how therapeutic dismembering one is, or repeatedly banging their heads against handy desks/walls/floors...! Of course the stuffing can then be used to puff up limp cushions

[TawnyMyst]

I hit yard sales and garage sales for ugly old ceramic figurines and vases. Them, a baseball bat and a tarp in the backyard are great for stress relief and I can use the pieces after for mosaics.

[Dreamstalker]

I collect deposit containers from the trash room (over the summer I managed almost $70; that keeps my coffee cards loaded) and every so often haul the beer bottles to the local liquor store that has redemption machines. It's ridiculously satisfying chucking the glass bottles in the machine (what's more fun is if I can get the bottles fed in fast enough for an uninterrupted "smaaashhhhh" for however long it takes to empty all the bags).

[Jarlaxle]

It's even funnier when the dramatic difference is in the same family. My boys are all over the map in height.

Oldest: 15 years old, 51st percentile in height at 5'5.5"

Middle: 13 years old. 95th percentile at 5'7" (I question this one because that's my height and it seems he's just a touch taller than me).

Youngest: 12 years old. Can't recall his exact height offhand, but I remember him being in the 20th percentile for height.

I'm amused that the same two parents could produce such different results.

I'm 5'10". My brother claims 5'3" but is closer to 5'1". Our sister is 5'4". Aside from me, the tallest in the family is my 5'8" wife.

The topper: I have dark brown hair, brown eyes, and a large waistline. My brother has blue eyes, blond hair, and barely tops 125lbs. (He's a Marine NCO.) Nobody EVER guesses we're related.