Why Daycare is still the worst job ever

I just don't know how I keep hanging in at my horrible job. I swear, each day I get up thinking I can do this, and when I get to work it barely takes more than 30 minutes and I'm absolutely hating my life once again. I cannot even express how miserable that job is. I think it only shows how much more I detest debt to not have quit yet. As a matter of fact, just a week ago I talked to one of our newer teachers. She is an assistant teacher and thus had not have to do any lesson planning yet. She told me that that week she actually did the lessons for the next week, and after three lesson plans quit because it was just sooo hard and ridiculous. I told her I understood because I have had to do them on my own for the last 4 months since I never had a second teacher in my room. She just stared at me. Then she said that this shows a lot about my work ethics that I haven't quit yet. Ha! That's right. I'm awesome.

Now let me tell you why daycare still is the worst job ever:

• It allows parents to shed responsibility and become utterly brain-dead concerning their very own children. Just today, I had a mom drop of her child with only one shoe. She couldn't find the other one, which I'm 100 percent sure fell of because it's a size 6.5 on a 15-month old baby...and he isn't on the large side. But the best was when she simply left her kid unattended in the class room to go and find me.
• Children don't learn a thing. Sure, the daycares put on a great front to pretend like there's a heck of a lot of educational crap going on to make your kid all smart and stuff, but really...there isn't enough time and enough people to really sit down and teach the kids stuff. So, what they could easily master at home with some attention in a few days, takes weeks at daycare.
• You stop to remember what life was like when you didn't have something ailing you all the time. Since the kids are sick all the time, and parents don't leave them at home, no matter what, you are sick all the time. And this comes from the person who, worst case scenario, had 2-3 sick days a year.
• The pay SUCKS. For all you do in class, and on top of it all at home to prepare those lessons you never get to, the pay is ridiculous. And then parents dare to feel that daycare is too expensive. Seriously. How much would they be willing to do if they got paid 5 bucks or less an hour. Ok, I get more, but what they pay is about 5 bucks an hour to take care of their kids. How much are those kids worth to them????

Ok, I think I just want to bullet-point everything I hate about my job. Period. I think it's therapeutic.

• Parents seem to bring in their kids no matter what. On holidays where I know most parents have off, I still magically have my class room full all day. I hate that I feel like parents seize every opportunity to get rid of their kids.
• Parents bring in crappy foods. Ok, most of my kids are 15-18 months old. No matter how smart their parents think they are, they must have noticed they can't feed themselves certain things. The parents in my room have been told repeatedly to bring in finger foods. I even bothered to explain that those would be items that are not mushy or soupy or difficult to pick up, yet, pretty much every day, the same old parents bring in soups, stews, peas, sushi, or pasta swimming in sauce. Do they not realize that when I have 10 kids and only 1 other teacher, and crappy lunches, my life will be hell? Do they actually think I can feed 10 kids, like they have the patience to wait when they are super hungry and tired???? Or are they simply ok with their kid making one heck of a mess, since they don't have to clean it up. Yeah, I know...it's much easier to buy a freaking Gerber meal that's no good than taking the time to prepare a proper meal for your kid.
  
• Let me say just one more time, I hate the lunches parents bring in.
• Nasty blankets. One girl's parents keep bringing in the same blanket that I swear looks and smells like it was pooped on. No matter how many times I send it home to be washed, and no matter how many times I mention that she needs a spare set of clothing, the parents forget. Yet, they tell me they hope their daughter moves up to the next class since she knows her ABC's and can count to 10. Funny-I never heard her say a thing, and last time I looked she still couldn't feed herself with a fork or spoon.
• It's all about the money. Be not deceived. A daycare is a BUSINESS and not some loving, fluffy place that's all about your child. They will do whatever brings they money in. That's why daycares are often understaffed, leading to a high turnover. Never mind if the classroom is already full to the brim, and another child will just lead to a nervous break down of the teacher...if someone wants to sign up, they can. End of story.
• You need to know everything. I hate it. I just had a kid start that actually frequently does breath holding to the point where he passes out and even goes into seizures. It was really fun today when he was about to pass out, while I was alone with 6 kids, and 10 others kids started running into the room. Does anyone care? No. Can anyone help? No, because everyone is overwhelmed as it is. Sweet. I'd like to see him actually pass out and go into a seizure while I'm alone with 6-7 kids. How exactly can I help him, not leave him alone, and properly supervise 5 other children? By the time I'm on the phone, I swear at least 2 kids will have crawled over him, climbed onto him, or done who knows what.
• One of the kids peed on me today. TWICE, when I changed diapers. That's what freakin' babies do. ARGHHHH....I was only mad because this child was not supposed to be in my class. He is wayyyyy behind, and was too young anyway. But when our director messed up, the parents refused to keep him in his original class. They have been really intent on getting him moved up. Never mind that he was faaaaaarr from ready. Well, at least, he usually just sleeps. Mainly because his parents don't put him to bed until 9.30pm and then wake him up at 6am. And we're talking about a kid who barely turned 15 months.
• I hate all the stupid lesson planning I have to do. It's just ridiculous how tedious it is. Next month's theme is "money". I need to split it up into weekly themes dealing with that theme, and then have 4 activities each day that deal with the weekly theme of the monthly theme and fall into one of our 8 daily categories. What the ....am I supposed to talk about money for with 16 months old kids for a whole month????? There aren't even books on that topic. ARGHHHHHHHHHHHH!
• Our Director sucks. She doesn't get anything done. She never takes care of stuff that needs to be taken care off, and doesn't care whether we get out on time or not. She just won't get to work. At least her son, who was in my group got kicked out now(because he was too wild), and I think she's getting the sack this weekend. Good riddance. She's been nothing but lazy, selfish, and trying to get us pick up all the slack. Today she was in my room with me, and she just stood around and let me do everything alone. When I was on my last diaper change she said "oh, I could have helped with the diapers". What convenient timing.
• I had the worst luck with teachers. I'm supposed to have a second teacher in my class. Well, when I started, the assistant teacher that was hired never showed up. My director and the owner never bothered to hire someone new. Now that they finally did because I had wayyy to many kids, I barely had my new teacher in class. First she somehow always got pulled out because someone else needed help, then her kid was sick and she got to go home, and today she called in sick. It's only been a weekandahalf, and I'm basically still on my own.
• Half of the things at my school are technically illegal. Everything from me being temporarily out of ratio, to not having all the paperwork etc. done before hiring (for example I was supposed to be fingerprinted before I started work, however it never happened, until I finally took charge 3 months later and took care of it), to kids sleeping on cots who are too young, to me and my teacher breaking each other while we have "infants" in the room. Who cares? No one. The parents don't know, and the owner saves money.
  
• I hate my job. There are too many kids. The responsibilities are too great. The work is exhausting. The requirements are nothing short of ridiculous. The money stinks. I work overtime all the time. And no matter how long this post gets, it still barely scratches the surface of how sucky it all really is. I just hate everything from how the school is run right now, to how it's supposed to run, to the parents who would rather do anything or be with anyone or be rich than spend some time with their kids. I hate that most of them just pay their way out of responsibility.

DAYCARE SUCKS!