Zoe Girl
1-20-17, 12:20am
I really hate state licensing (child care). I had my inspection, we did okay. They have added more to our list of things to do of course, and it is already hard to get it all done. Like it really benefits kids to have more hours I am away from programs and training my staff to write detailed descriptions of all the training I do with them. (we already record our training and put it in categories, do well over the required 15 hours a year, etc) A couple dings as always. One pissed me off because it was a broken fridge thermometer and I know my guy did it but denies everything. Dang it, it broke the day before the visit so I didn't have much time but I replaced it right after so that is okay. The bigger issue is a child's paperwork, and my supervisors response. All details aside, I admitted I had not thought the situation through but was trying to respond to a need from the school. Her tone was cold, no problem solving, like I went through the first year she was my supervisor. I had a kinda freak out later, not with her of course. The bad year came flooding back and my staff was very nice and supportive to me. That is what turned me around today,
I just can't go back to the bad year, so many people were fired or pushed out or simply left because it was horrible. All of the grant support staff are gone, all. I was put in charge of this site almost 5 years ago with no model, no one else had done it before. I do well because I am okay with that, I am very independent and I go directly to the people I need to. My supervisor the first 2 years had never done tuition based sites before, I ran the only tuition and grant blended site. I tried for years to have a conversation and get into what that meant, might have been a fun philosophical exercise but it was really about trying to run the site between program models that were not the same. When I got my new supervisor I tried to tell her about my program, it seems that no one told her what I was doing. She tends to be authoritarian which does not work when you are running something that has never been done before. Now I see that they have taken what I have learned, used it to expand to other sites, increased scholarship programs, included my goal for equity based programming across the board and no one has talked to me.
So good news is that I heard from my well-connected staff that people ask her if I am running a camp before they decide if they want to work. So that is my reputation with staff. And my sup did send me a nice request about something I like to do. I really love to be invited to do things. Still not sure how this is going to play out, but won't hurt to look around for a job in the meantime. But somehow there is a relief, I have been tiptoeing around for almost 2 years trying not to make mistakes, I made one and in the process found my confidence.
I just can't go back to the bad year, so many people were fired or pushed out or simply left because it was horrible. All of the grant support staff are gone, all. I was put in charge of this site almost 5 years ago with no model, no one else had done it before. I do well because I am okay with that, I am very independent and I go directly to the people I need to. My supervisor the first 2 years had never done tuition based sites before, I ran the only tuition and grant blended site. I tried for years to have a conversation and get into what that meant, might have been a fun philosophical exercise but it was really about trying to run the site between program models that were not the same. When I got my new supervisor I tried to tell her about my program, it seems that no one told her what I was doing. She tends to be authoritarian which does not work when you are running something that has never been done before. Now I see that they have taken what I have learned, used it to expand to other sites, increased scholarship programs, included my goal for equity based programming across the board and no one has talked to me.
So good news is that I heard from my well-connected staff that people ask her if I am running a camp before they decide if they want to work. So that is my reputation with staff. And my sup did send me a nice request about something I like to do. I really love to be invited to do things. Still not sure how this is going to play out, but won't hurt to look around for a job in the meantime. But somehow there is a relief, I have been tiptoeing around for almost 2 years trying not to make mistakes, I made one and in the process found my confidence.