Entry #4 - Child Care Worker

    Today I thought I would write about work. I know I know everyone talks about work because most American citizens' lives are filled with working minimum wage jobs, but I work at a daycare and I feel like working at a daycare is something that is not commonly talked about. Right now I am a current full-time student and full-time employee at Tutor Time. Thankfully, I am managing both my job and passing all of my classes at this current moment, but it is definitely not easy let me tell you that. Many people say that working with kids is the most stressful job ever and I agree with that because it is very exhausting, it requires a lot of patience, and dealing with complaints from parents is the worst. Even though working with kids can be extremely stressful, I can safely say from experience that it is also an amazing experience. 

      Ever since I was 13 years old I have been working with kids. I would help my mom babysit kids that she would watch at home. I would play with them and make sure that they were fed and took their naps. Then I started babysitting by myself starting my Junior year of high school. I also took a class at school called Coop where you work with 3-5-year-olds to see if you want to be a teacher or not. I enjoyed working with kids and by the time I graduated high school I missed the kids, so I decided to apply to Tutor Time and I got the job! So it is safe to say that I have quite a bit of experience working with kids. Once I started the job it was a little hectic because the whole school is massive! It was a little intimidating trying to remember where all of the classrooms are, remembering about 100 kids' names, remembering all of the protocols, and remembering the teacher-to-student ratio for each classroom. We have a total of 10 classrooms for children ages ranging from 3 months-12 years old, yeah insane right! After a week though I started feeling more comfortable with my way around the building and getting familiar with the daily routine. At first, I started by becoming friends with the kids and getting to know them so that they could start getting comfortable with me. They were so cute and hearing them pronounce my name is the cutest thing ever! It is super cool to see them grow mentally and physically, and observing their little personalities is so cute and interesting to watch. Like this one girl named Zoey, she is two, and she is the sassiest girl ever! She will legit look at you and roll her eyes just because she wants to, there is no reason to it. She is also really good at carrying a conversation it is so funny, it's like talking with an actual adult. There is also this other kid named Logan, he is two, and he absolutely loves me! Whenever I am going to leave the classroom he asks, "Where are you going are you gonna come back?" It is so hard leaving him because he always has the saddest face when I leave, but I always come back. He is also one of the smartest kids ever he legit acts like a grown man in a little body. Not only do these kids make my day, but my coworkers are just the best. We are like one big family and we all get along with each other, well for the most part. We all make each other laugh and sing songs to each other just to make the days go by faster and make the long time periods in the classroom just a little less boring. My co-workers are just the sweetest and the funniest people I have ever met. They make it fun to work there but some days I just want to go home and here's why.

    The Early Preschool room, which is two-year-olds, is the worst room out of all of them. Have you ever heard of the phrase, "terrible twos?" Well, it is true. Two-year-olds are the hardest age group to work with. They are curious little creatures that want to explore everything. Like this little girl named Dolores climbs up on the steps and washes her hands like every 10 minutes and I have to get her down every single time! Most of them like to also ask a million questions, which is fine they should ask questions, but when there are 16 two-year-olds in one classroom and half of them asking you the same questions over and over again, it can get really annoying! I also get bad headaches every so often and hearing kids scream and cry 5 days a week, doesn't really help at all. I remember I was in the infant room and there were 8 babies crying their eyes out and I had a banging headache and I was starving, I wanted to quit right then and there. It can also be quite annoying when you have to use the bathroom and can't go when you please. Since there is kids present you can't leave them unattended, therefore you have to use the classroom cellphone to call the front office in order to take your place and let you use the bathroom. Lastly, dealing with the parents is the most annoying part of the job. We are constantly being watched by surveillance cameras and if the parents are concerned about something they will either message us on our Ipads or ask us questions when they come to pick up their kid. It is so nerve-wracking constantly being judged for my work ethic and constantly being watched for my every move to make sure I am doing everything I can to make sure that their children are safe. Some parents even get mad over the littlest things. Like the other day, this mom came in to pick up her daughter and asked if she had her jacket. I looked in all the cubbies and her mom described what the jacket looked like but I could not find the jacket anywhere. She said that it was chilly outside and they have to run some errands so she wants her daughter's jacket. I politely said that I have not seen her jacket all day and to maybe ask the front office to help her find it outside maybe. She had the most annoying face on and said "okay thank you." She legit had our front office people look for the jacket for 20 minutes, nobody could find it. She calls the front desk later that evening and said that her husband had the jacket the whole time and apologized! 

    Working at Tutor Time has been an amazing experience. Yes, the kids can be aggravating sometimes but then they look at you with the cutest faces ever and it's game over, you are not mad at them anymore. The happy times make it worth working there and I plan on staying there for a while. I just need my lunch breaks and then I am usually good after that. Working with kids is definitely not for everyone, but I think it's something that is maybe worth trying as it will leave you with good memories and a good thing to experience. 

    Sincerely, 

    Alexis Aguilar