If it seems too good to be true...

You already filled in the blank, didn't you?

I was adjusting so well to my new place, too.

(No. Haven't lost my job, or not exactly... don't be too alarmed. )

So my chosen field, like pretty much every other type of job, is horribly short staffed. People are not even filling out applications.

Pre-pandemic, there was a high turnover. It's not any better now.
In any business, at least not any that I'm aware of.

It's abysmal in my line of work.

But 'qualified' in Oregon means a few things.

CPR certification, FBI background check (fingerprints and everything!) 16 hours a year in specific types of training, a food handler card, (that post explains my feelings quite well and may make you laugh...) and you know, the food handler thing still pisses me off... I have to renew it every two years at 10 bucks a pop and I serve prepackaged snacks... I don't think knowing the proper temperature to serve chicken, knowing to storing the rat poison below food prep areas, and being careful around the fryer have fuck-all to do with my job, but it sure enriches the Oregon Restaurant Association.

Doesn't do shit to make the lives of children in day care any better.

And.

In this state, a person has to have logged 600 hours of work with kids under supervision to be allowed to be alone with them. So when we are looking for 'qualified applicants' that's part of the deal. And being qualified to be alone with kids does not mean the person is qualified to run a program. They're just capable of being alone with the kids while the supervising person is off in the bathroom or taking a group to the gym for a bit.

Takes a lot longer to qualify to run things.

Anyway. We don't have qualified people even applying right now.
We've had to close more than one program this year, there just aren't people to run them.

A couple of our site directors are in their final semesters of college and both of them need to take three months off.

So from January 3rd through the month of March, my afternoon program is going to be closed so I can go sub for one of them.
I'll be running my regular morning gig... two kids.

My school already runs a bus to the next closest company site because we haven't been able to hire a program aide for me.

If I had an assistant, the kids who ride the bus to that other site would be attending at my site now. So all 15 of my regulars are going to be put on a bus and taken to this other site.

I'm pissed. I hate the idea of fucking starting over. Again.
Going to a site where I already know things aren't neat, clean, organized or even stocked enough for crafts and fun activities. I know it's going to be a madhouse because every other damn program I've seen while working for this company IS a madhouse.

Thursday was the day the company let my families know that their kids are going to be taken to the other place.

The reaction was not mixed. All the parents hate the idea. Oh sure, the alternative is closing the other program which would put more than 20 kids out of daycare and leave parents scrambling to find care, but three of my parents said that would be okay with them if they didn't have to send their young people to another site.

They are happy where they are.

When my manager person called all my families, they all had good things to say about me. I know how well I do my job, but I know that doesn't mean I can't continue to improve.

But I *am* good at it. I originally decided to do this job because it fit into my schedule and I figured I'd tolerate it. I'm still surprised at how much I love it.

So my parents were not happy. The kids weren't devastated, I didn't present it to them in a negative way, I simply explained the situation. Some of them were excited that they're going to be riding the school bus. I also pointed out to them that they're not going to be somewhere with kids they don't know, as they're  going as a group. As I said up there ^^ somewhere, some students from my school are already being bused to that location, too.

They're mostly going to hate it, not enough things to play with and a chaotic environment run by incompetent idiots, but I can't do anything about any of that.

I provide a calm, straightforward environment where my young humans know what to expect every day. I am the same person each time we meet, too. Doesn't matter what's going on in my personal life, I owe it to the kids to be reliable and steady. The noise and activity level are predictable, I try to be kind to all of them all the time and expect them to do the same, and we all just sort of muddle through together.

My kids have a lot of things to do between toys, LEGO, games and craft activities.

When their parents show up the kids don't want to leave.

The place they're going is, um, how do I say it?

It's the place where I worked a few summers ago. I saw incompetence, mean adults who escalated situations with troubled kids and straight up licensing violations.

Multiple instances of all of the above, too. I have no idea how the place is still open except that no one really cares all that much. It's appalling.

Years ago one of my managers said we should ask the question, "Would I leave my child here?" and if the answer was not yes, figure out what we could do to fix things.

I'm pretty sure Candice has never considered fixing a damn thing.
She's a power tripping asshole, frankly. 

Once again prompting me to say I don't like standard programs, but I wish we had program standards.

:::sigh:::

So I'm going to be starting over AGAIN... without the supplies I've carefully stocked up and organized at my current school. On the good side, those items are easily accessible and I can plan a project and bring everything I need with me because I'll still be running my regular morning program there.

But you know, it's sort of a pain in the ass to haul stuff back and forth between schools, too. And it would be a lie if I told you I don't resent the whole damn mess.

Supposedly it will only be for three months. And the end of March will be the return of their regular guy and I'll be back at my site.

Shitty Christmas gift, huh?