Monday, February 7, 2005

M is for Maniac and Monday.....

Here I go again (Brian~start covering your eyes now)...  

What was in the water today?  We had 15 kids and 4 of us in the room with them... and it wasn't enough!  If the kids weren't screaming loud, or fighting over stuff.... they were crying and sobbing...  Man, I'm not kidding, either.  I took 6 Tylenol and drank two Pepsi's (I don't do caffeine often) just to keep myself there the whole day.  I was ready to walk out and not look back at nap-time!  

Little Ms. Hurricane Kennady spent the majority of the afternoon in timeout because she was tackling the other kids and taking their toys away.  She will yank the pacifier out of any mouth it is in.  Normally, we don't let the kids have them unless naptime.  But today we let Little Ms. Caroline keep hers, just to have one not crying.... unless Ms. Hurricane was around. 

I talked to her mom tonight, and we both agree that Kennady is way too advanced to be in this room.  The problem~Kennady can't say a complete sentence (she'll be 2 in April).  Actually... she doesn't speak at all~just grunts and moans~she doesn't even attempt to speak really.   

But this 'school' does not go by developmental stages, it goes strictly by age.  So, I told her where Gracie goes doesn't do it like that.  She got into the 3's class two months before she turned 3, because she was ready to be in there.  With Kennady not talking.. I'm not sure they'd take her though.   

Enough about her... let's talk lunchtime :) 

With 15 kids and only 12 seats in the tables, 3 had to sit at the little table.  It's usually the oldest kids in the room who sit there, because when they move to the 2's room, they have to sit at tables~might as well get them used to it, right?             

Yeah, right. 

The 3 kids I got at the table were Kennady (do I need to say anything here?), Tyler (who never sits still) and Claire (who I'm surprised I had to scold today!).  Ms. Cat was about to get out the duct tape for sure.....  So, I moved to one of the tables with 6 :)    Ok, I know I've talked about lunches here and that the parents are required to provide lunches.  And that all the kids get different meals, from finger foods to yogurt (I wonder if parents know how much of a hassle it is have yogurt in a place like this?!).  Grace has always eaten yogurt, so I never had a problem with it... but she is one kid, at home. 

I should say that all these kids feed themselves, so it is not pretty.  Food goes in many directions, occasionally hitting a mouth.... though maybe not the intended one..... Even with bibs on, I had two kids covered in yogurt, all over their clothes.   To make things worse, Ava had ravioli in tomato sauce, which ended up on little Caroline ~ dressed in white..... (Note to folks with kids in daycare~white is not a good color here). 

Then there is Eli, who is allergic to everything under the sun.  He gets foods he can eat, but he wants yogurt! And everything else all the other kids had.  His lunch today was two plain hot dogs and some chopped up cooked carrots, which he did eat some.  But the others get all this brightly colored food.... need I say more?  Do you have any idea how hard it is to watch him cry about someone else's food~poor guy?  

But the mess they left..... it took 3 of us to clean up.  It was chaos at its finest.  All the kids are done eating, cleaned up and on their respective cot before noon, most are asleep before they hit the bed.   Today I got the pleasure of putting Ms. Hurricane and Abigail to sleep~they are the worst sleep-fighters, too.  To get them to lie still, we put our leg across the cot, over the kids legs, so they can't turn over or move, for that fact. 

Well, I had Kennady on one side and Abigail on the other.  I was doing the splits, sitting on my fat butt, patting their backs.  Mrs. Lead Teacher came over after hers went to sleep and took Abigail, which was great because my legs were falling asleep at that point....  Kennady fell asleep first :)   I go to lunch at 1 pm, so I came home to Grace acting crazy.  She lasted about 10 minutes before I put her to bed, too. 

On one hand, coming home to one kid is great.  But when the 1 is acting like the 15, I'd just assume stay away...  I spent the rest of my time going through emails so I wouldn't come home to 100+, which drives me insane... my inbox must be empty before I go to bed, so forgive me if I didn't find my way to your place today.... I'll make up for it.  

I got back to work at 2, and the rest of the day went just like the first, except louder and longer.  Asst #3 had the kids painting Cupids with glitter paint today, and half-assed wiped their hands off, so Eli~Mr Allergy~ had his hands covered.  I took him and washed his hands under the water to get it all off.    An hour later, he's rubbing his eye like crazy and its getting very red....great, just great... 

Luckily, I splashed some water into his eyes to flush it out and apparently it worked, because by the time his mom came, it was back to normal.....whewww. But I did tell her, just in case.   I actually had a sub there with me until 6pm, so I made it my class earlier than normal...yea! 

I'm learning a lot about discipline techniques in this class, praise and rewards, time-outs, stuff like that.  But I've also come to the conclusion that one kid can be just as bad (or good) as more.  And I gave advice tonight that my pregnant friend in the class said she can use for her daughter... that made me happy  :) 

Having only Gracely makes me feel a little inferior, despite the decades of child care I've provided in my lifetime...   Tonight, I revealed that I live with my parents and I got tons of ohhhh's from the class... because they all know how 'Grandparents' can be!  So, I ended up sharing how I have to discipline Grace with her grandparents around all the time.  They all got a laugh out of it, too....most likely from relief that they don't have to deal with this issue  :)  One guy even said "Man, I know that's got to be rough!" 

It's not that bad.... but they do interfere with 'my ways' sometimes...   I catch myself doing some of the things the class talks about, too.  So that's good I can correct them as to not send a mixed message.  I never realized how negatively I speak to Grace.  I praise her a lot, but when she's doing things like screaming when I'm on the phone~I usually end up yelling at her instead of telling her I need to take the call and when I'm done, I'll get whatever it is she's asking for.  But until I'm off the phone, go and play...  So, I started implementing that last week and so far, its going great.  She hasn't bothered me on the tele in a week.  Boo-yah, baby!  

So, now I'm home and watching 'Super Nanny'... yes, I am a glutton for punishment....  Tomorrow I need to finish valentine's for Gracely's class party Thursday, and run some errands. 

Hey ladies, if you're watching this show... pay attention to what the hubby said about not getting anytime with his wife because she's always with the kids....  This is a big issue with me having watched 3 friends divorce because their husbands felt this way.   

As women, we sometimes get so involved in our kids that we never have time for the husbands (I know I'm not married, but I've had boyfriends and live-ins..... close enough).  Not to mention the fact that (and you guys should know this about me by now...), I tend to understand the male perspective much better than the women's, having been raised by my dad and with my brother, more than I was with Mom (she's a workaholic).  

And the mom on this show.... that poor boy~he's not being heard at all!  He gets in trouble when the girls come into his room while he is doing his homework and bother him?!  WTF?  Her son said he gets consequences and the girls don't....and mom says "They're 4?!"  Why can't a 4-year old have consequences?  As my Grandma Fran would say "Jesus H. Christ!" (may she rest in peace and Southern Comfort Manhattan's with 2 cherries)

(k... Brian, open 'em up)  

Sometimes, I just want to smack some sense into people.....  

Cat      

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yikes...what a day you had!!  I am tired after reading about it!!  I wish for you a nice quiet room to just veg in ~poof~
Have a good night!
*hugs*

Anonymous said...

wow, what a day.
I ran my own daycare, and then also worked with children from infants to 9th graders at one time.  I know, sort of, how you feel here.
what can you do?  Just go into the next day with hope that it will be better than the last. :D
great ranting entry. :)

Anonymous said...

My goodness..I said it once and I'll say it again...I could not do what you do. I just don't have the patience. Hang in there.

~Heather

Anonymous said...

Once again thinking I could never do what you do!!!
The pre-school J went to is walking distance from here, and is known as the best one in this area.  I know they sometimes take on parents and allow them to train while working.  I've thought about doing something like that, but though they're limited to two and a half hour sessions, I still don't think I'd have what it takes!!  
Sara   x

Anonymous said...

I hope you know how lucky those kids (and their parents) are to have you looking out and taking care of their children!  ~Sie

Anonymous said...

Super Nanny, oh I had to force myself not to watch, I wanted to, but I already have high blood pressure, and I fear that show will put me in ths hospital!  Sometimes Ciara gets in more trouble than she should, but that's Bill not me, we don't see eye to eye when it comes to the kids, he's too hard on them, hell, he's too hard on me, and I hate when he yells at Ciara for everything.  Okay, I don't feel like opening this can of worms any further....I hate worms.

Anonymous said...

I had my own daycare for three years and worked in a daycare center for over a year... I felt this entry! lol. My daughter is 19 months old and in the age bracket of the kids you describe..

But she's an angel though... ;)

~Jaime

Anonymous said...

ACK!  I'd be pulling my hair out and throwing it at kids ;)  The discipline stuff that you're learning I'm sure will come in handy.  Pey's teacher has all kinds of degrees, the one I was most impressed by was disciplinary studies...it's amazing what changing a few words can do for a kid.  I used to yell at Pey when i was on the phone too...then I learned that as soon as the phone rings I say, excuse me I've got to get the phone...as soon as I'm done we'll get right back to what we were doing.  I forgot to explain to her that I wasn't forgetting about her.  This whole parenting deal is a never ending learning cycle, now I know what people have more...to try to get it right ;)
Hope the rest of the week goes smoother than Mon.
xoxo~Bernadette

Anonymous said...

Wow!!!  I think you just described my life a few years ago.  And if you can believe this, you made me miss working in the daycare field.  =(  Thanks for sharing though!!!