It would be stupid

To quit my job without having something else lined up.

I do.

I will be working for a different organization, but doing the same basic thing.

I decided that I would not be leaving my current placement unless I found something that I felt would work for me.

Sort the whole 'devil you know' thing.
I knew Fluffy and her coven were a bunch of jerks, but I figured I could just go on with my program as much as possible if I didn't find a job. Having the security of health benefits and knowing where everything is and having a great relationship with the people in the building is a good thing.

I went in for an interview at one on a Monday afternoon.
On the other side of town.
Of course.

The guy told me via telephone that I'd need to plan for an hour. Since it was only going to be an hour, I figured I'd be out of there a few minutes after two and be able to zip back over to my side of the city before the heavy traffic hit.

Only we started talking after I filled out the application and answered a bunch of questions on paper about how I'd schedule an afternoon program and why would snacks happen before going outdoors and how do you handle disciplinary issues?

'Well first, you need to communicate clear and reasonable expectations to the children. You sit down with them at a table on day one and just talk. You ask them what they think would be reasonable rules. You let them take as long as they want to in discussion. You write down every idea they have on a white board or paper that they can see. And at the end, you take each thing they've come up with... 'no hitting', 'no yelling', 'be nice', and get them to help you reduce all that to one word. Respect. And then you gently remind them, as many times as it takes, "How are you respecting your friend when your hands are on him?" Kids respond so much better when you're constantly monitoring things and they know you are. They know what to expect from you. So you start out by establishing what they can expect from you and what you will want from them. And once you've built that foundation, you don't have 'disciplinary' issues.'

Or something like that.

And then we talked some more. We ended up talking for more than two hours, this was after I got there at one, filled out the papers and finally was taken to the interview room around 1:45. I had a lot of questions for him, too. I wanted to know how things are organized, who would I answer to, supply procurement, reimbursement for expenses (get this... they encourage people to save the company money by shopping at Goodwill or other bargain places and they're very happy to reimburse their people for that) and other 'will this be a good fit' questions.

Then, instead of saying, "Thanks for coming in, we'll call you," he said, "I'd like to offer you the job. Do you have time to fill out some more papers?"

Well what was I going to say?
Geez.

So I filled out a ton of paperwork.
Then he asked me if I was able to be back 'tomorrow morning' for training on how the company runs, their history etc. I told him that I had physical therapy to deal with the next day, so he arranged for me to come on a different day. He really wanted me to take the job.

I will be earning more to start than I was being paid after 12 years of service to the company I am leaving. It's still not a great deal of money, generally speaking, but I am not in a highly paid line of work. The point isn't how much money but how much respect. And they're already treating me with more of that than I've had in the past couple years. Although I will have to wait a couple months for my insurance benefits to kick in, I will have good benefits, too.

The school I will be working in is very close to my house. It's three miles instead of 8. I will still be working a split shift, but I won't be driving 32 miles a day. It will be 12 instead.

There are many reasons I feel good about the new job, but I'd be crazy if I weren't feeling a little apprehensive, too. It's a big change. It's not a change I wanted. The real change I wanted is for Fluffy and her coven to get the hell out. They don't belong in any kind of childcare, as none of them seem to care much for children.

But I do. And I know I can build relationships with a new principal, new families and a new organization.

I can't deny that I'm looking forward to it.

Mostly.