Truth Tuesday #7 - If The Shoe Fits, Wear It

Truth Tuesday is blog posts regarding my 

Murphy's Laws of childcare.

#6 Parents will buy their children new shoes and they will NOT let the child wear them over a weekend first to see if there are any issues. They will send them to school in them the next day. They will not bring a broken-in comfortable pair in case of problems. There will be problems. Blisters, abrasions, the child refusing to wear them, etc. WILL happen. Every time. Seriously.  

 This is today. It looked much worse yesterday. Yesterday she was screaming hysterically, "Get my shoe off! Get my shoe off!" by the time she decided she just couldn't take it any more. She hadn't mentioned anything up until that point, because she liked showing off her new shoes. Different shoes today, but we're still going barefoot to let it heal.

Tags: childcare, daycare, parenting, preschool, shoes, new shoes, dressing

Truth Tuesday #6 - Baby It's Cold Outside

Truth Tuesday is blog posts regarding my 

Murphy's Laws of childcare.

#6 Good, caring, concerned parents WILL dress their child inappropriately for childcare. This is especially true when it's REALLY important, like it's ridiculously cold outside. 

This morning's conversation, exactly as it went down...


Mom, coming through the door: "SORRY, I didn't know it was going to be so cold today and I dressed her in shorts. I thought it was going to be like yesterday." 


Me: "Shorts?"


Mom: "I know..."


Me: "WHITE shorts? Seriously?! REALLY?!!"


Mom: "Well....they looked cute with her t-shirt."


Me: "WHITE!"


Mom: "I know..."


I redressed her in black pants with mom standing there. She's one of the best mom's I know, and STILL. 


It's especially bad with parents who enter the car through a garage, park at work in a garage and go straight into their nice warm office where they spend the day. I try to get across to them that we are mandated by the STATE to be outside for a minimum of one HOUR a day, even if it's in spurts of time because it's too darn cold out for sanity. They still send them in light jackets when it's freezing outside, or the girls in dresses or light weight leggings, etc. 


I also love it when the toddlers are potty training and arrive in overalls. That's a good one. 


SIGH! Happens all the time.
Tags: childcare, daycare, preschool, pre-k, prek, outside, appropriate dress, parenting, teaching

Truth Tuesday #5 - Days End Meltdowns

Truth Tuesday is blog posts regarding my 

Murphy's Laws of childcare.

#5 A child will have the most wonderful day...until 30 seconds prior to his/her parent arriving. Either another child will take away their toy, they will trip, they will have a production in their pants, get into trouble, or some other childhood catastrophe will befall that requires them to be screaming and wailing like a banshee when mom or dad walks through the door. 


We try for the utmost zen environment here, but I swear the children have an uncanny knack for knowing when their parents are arriving and the precise moment to go ballistic.
Tags: childcare, daycare, pre-k, prek, tantrums

Truth Tuesday #4 - Say Cheese

Truth Tuesday is blog posts regarding my 

Murphy's Laws of childcare.

#4 The day you serve blueberries for breakfast and spaghetti for lunch, have a messy painting activity, and the children play all afternoon in the mud pie kitchen, is the day a parent will call to say they are picking up early because they have family portraits at 4:00. "So sorry I forgot to tell you! I don't have time to run by the house for different clothes, hope she didn't get messy today." I stare at the little bundle of grubbiness, the one with grass in the hair and a scratch on the cheek... "You might want to reschedule."


This has happened more than once. Really, it never fails on the day parents schedule pictures.
Tags:  preschool, pre-k, kindergarten, childcare, daycare, homeschool, teaching

Truth Tuesday #3 - Box is Best

Truth Tuesday is blog posts regarding my 

Murphy's Laws of childcare.

#3 No matter how much money you spend on toys and materials, no matter how much time you spend carefully crafting manipulatives and indoor/outdoor centers, an empty cardboard box or random stick will ALWAYS be the most interesting item in a child's space.
Tags:  preschool, pre-k, kindergarten, childcare, daycare, homeschool, teaching

Truth Tuesday #1 - Trusting Preschoolers

Truth Tuesday is blog posts regarding my 

Murphy's Laws of childcare.

#1  As soon as you trust an older preschooler with independent use of child-safe scissors they will:

• Cut another child's hair (happened more than once, one time right in front of me)
• Cut up your new holiday decorations you just put up (only happened once)
• Cut up on your $4000 hand-knotted wool rug (took two of them to really make a mess of it...they also took a blue Sharpie to it, don't know where the Sharpie came from)

Anyone have their own experiences to add?
Tags:  preschool, pre-k, kindergarten, childcare, daycare, homeschool, teaching