Still no word. But wear a mask!

I don't know what school will look like in the fall and I'm not sure that I'll have a job.
Our state is coming up with guidelines, one of which is that everyone will wear a mask on school premises.
Once again I wonder if the people who come up with these ideas have actually ever met a child. It seems they sit in their child-free (many miles from actual young humans) offices and just make shit up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On the other hand, this person seems to get it. This is credited to Lori Wenthe Crick on Facebook (no I don't know her)

She had this to say:

Here's how I think requiring masks might work in elementary.
Please don’t snap Billy's mask in his face.
Your mask is not a necklace, bracelet, or any other form of jewelry.
You should not be using your mask as a slingshot. Please put it back on your face.
Please do not chew on your mask.
Your mask should be on your face, not on the back of your head
I’m sorry your mask is wet, but that's what happens when you lick the inside of it.
I’m sorry you sneezed. Here's a tissue. Wipe out the snot as well as you can.
No, you may not blow your nose in your mask.
Why is your mask soaking wet? You just came back from the bathroom?
And you put it back on your face after you dropped it?
I’m sorry you broke the elastic on your mask by seeing how far the band would stretch. Now you'll have to hold the mask on your face ... or use this duct tape.
Please take the mask off your eyes and watch where you're walking. I don’t care if you have X-ray vision.
Please take the mask off of your pencil and stop twirling it.
I know the mask fits over your pants like a knee pad, but please take it off of your leg and put it on your face.
What do you mean you tried to eat your lunch through your mask?
Please don't share your mask or trade masks. I don’t care if you like Ingrid's mask better than yours.
I’m sorry, but your mask is not school appropriate.
We're not comparing our masks to other kids' masks… everyone’s mask is unique and special.
No, you may not decorate your mask instead of doing your work. I don’t care if you have a Sharpie.
You're not a pirate, please take your mask off your eye.
Try to get the gum off as much as you can.
Please don't use your mask to pick your nose.
I’m sorry you tripped, but that’s what happens when you put your feet inside the elastic of your mask.
No, your mask doesn't make it hard to get your work done.
Your Mom will need to get you a new mask since you chewed a hole in that one.
Why is there a shoe print on your mask?
No, you cannot eat the snow through your mask.
I don’t care if you were in art class and being creative; we do not decorate our masks.
We do not beam other kids in the face with balls. No, their masks don’t make it not hurt.
Please don't plug your nose holes with your mask.
Who's making that noise?
I’m sorry your ponytail is stuck, that’s what happens when you see how many times you can wrap it around your mask.
I’m sorry to tell you, but your child thought her mask made her a superhero. She tried to fly off the jungle gym at recess …
I’m sorry your breath stinks in your mask, maybe we should all try to brush better.
Please take those cookies out of your mask. No, you are not a chipmunk.

Hold the phone...

So I've been running around for the last few weeks, trying to keep up and manage a project almost every day, kids who are just going NUTSO 'cause it's almost Christmas (in case you didn't know) and just handling life. I have things to write about but then I get home and I'm tired and I have stuff to do and I go to bed early 'cause I get up at five (have I mentioned that?) and I end up not writing anything down.

Our school has a child who has some serious issues with her temper.

I can't judge how she's being handled/taken care of, I don't know her or her story.

I can tell you that she's really out of control physically and emotionally, based on my own observations.

Three times now she's been in the front office waiting for one of the aides to come get her for school. She's usually screaming loudly and rolling around, trying to knock people over like bowling pins. One of the office staff stands outside the doors and directs people to a different entrance. It's not peaceful.

 I came into work one afternoon a few weeks ago and the big desk phone that sits on my table was gone.

I walked to the office and asked if they had any idea what had happened to my telephone. They told me they'd check into it.

About five minutes later, one of the special education aides came in and got the phone out of a cabinet and gave it to me.

This is one of the aides I know fairly well, so I got a little bit of the story.
The child is physically aggressive and likes to throw things.
For whatever reason, she's fixated on phones.

I've been leaving the parent sign in and out table set up. Paperwork, decorations, tablecloth. I want my presence to be known by any stray educrats who may be wandering around.

Our principal has asked me to put all my stuff away each evening now, he was concerned that when the kid winds up, she's going to destroy whatever I have out. I guess the room we use for our after-school program is really the best place to bring her during her meltdowns, there's a door to close and it's mostly contained, although there is a door to the outside that has to be monitored. I've walked in to find chairs piled in front of it at least twice a week for a month or so now.

I've seen this particular third-grader in action several times. Week before last she was standing on the stairs, one handler above her and one below, trying to talk her down. She was fully aware of the chance to perform and the great acoustics and making the most of it, screaming and yelling and being as obnoxious as possible.

It would be hard to miss her entrance into the building each morning, too.
Her mom pulls up in front like all the other parents, and the fun commences. First, the child refuses to get out of the car. She sits in the front seat, shouting at her mother.

After 5 to 15 minutes of that, she gets out and stands by the van, door open, still shouting and arguing. Eventually she closes the door, then as her mom starts to drive away, she jumps in front of the van, causing her mom to suddenly slam stop.
More yelling. She'll do the suicide hop three or four more times.

This week on one of the days, Mom simply gave up trying to get the child out of the van and left. But she did not leave in an orderly fashion. She floored it, ran the stop sign on the way out of the lot and proceeded up the street, continuing to accelerate. I was glad that no kids were crossing. I get that she's frustrated, but when running over someone's kid is a possibility, she should probably go a little slower.

On the days she'll go in, it takes sometimes a half hour to 45 minutes for her to enter the building, where she does more yelling as she goes to her classroom.

She's fixated on telephones for whatever reason, and likes to throw them after she makes her three-times-a-day phone call to her mom or her dad. That's apparently one of her, what, privileges or conditions or whatever. Those calls are... odd. I overheard one a couple weeks ago.

I came into my little room and she was sitting with an aide at my table, using the phone.

She was using a weird (and LOUD) little baby voice and talking to her mom.  "I wuv you Mommy, see you in a widdle bit, now wet's hang up at the same time, okay, four twee two one," SLAM the receiver down.

She then turned to her handler and said in plain, unaffected words, "What are we going to do now?" No simpering at all.

But.
My understanding is that most days, after her phone call, she does her best to rip the phone out of the wall.

She will swing it by its cord and try to hit the aide assigned to her for the day. She screams, tears things off walls, throws anything that isn't attached and generally makes the immediate vicinity uninhabitable.

She has rampaged through the building, pulling telephones off desks and walls if she can get to one before someone stops her. In the front office, while they're trying to field calls from parents in the mornings, I've seen them leaned over their desk drawers with the handset up to an ear, ready to close the drawer if she comes in.

She hits the adults who are charged with her care.
She hits any children who are foolish enough to get into her general vicinity.
She completely refuses to do any type of school work.

I have never had to advocate for a special needs child.
My heart goes out to the parents and the kid, no one is 'winning' on this one.I'm not sure that school is doing her any good. I know that she's disrupting the education of other kids, that she's not doing school work, and that she's a huge handful for everyone who's tasked with taking care of her. I've mentioned the aides we have who are a little gruff and noticed a couple of them actually working to escalate situations. I don't know if that's happening in this situation, but I would not be surprised to learn that it is. Also very unfair to the child.

There is no conclusion here.
No point to my rambling.
It's a tough situation for everyone involved.

Camel Toe

At a recent meeting of site directors, the director of one of the largest sites was concerned about a 20 year old girl staff person who showed up to work with the 12 to 15 year old BOYS wearing a pair of leggings and a tight t shirt. That's the group that is out and about all day. They get on a bus at 9 and go to a bunch of different destinations, park days and laser tag and here and there and everywhere.

Our dress code specifically prohibits leggings unless one is wearing shorts or a skirt over them, but Hannah was uncomfortable discussing the issue with the new staff person. She is apparently REALLY inexperienced staff and not qualified (not enough contact hours)  to be alone with children.

Hannah isn't the regular site director there, she bravely stepped up to take on the task after the director of five years abruptly left the company at the end of the school year.

Hannah is far braver than I will ever be. That summer site actually has three camps running at the same time, and at the beginning and end of each day, there are about 100 kids in the cafeteria.

Yeah. No. You couldn't pay me enough.

Okay, so she brought this situation up at the meeting, hoping for some help from management.

I talked with her for a couple minutes after the meeting and agreed with her that it's definitely not appropriate in the kidcare biz. Even worse for someone who's working with the Puberty Pack.

So, being the irreverent and sarcastic person I am, I tried to come up with some kind of song to make Hannah laugh as I drove back to my site.

I came up with a bit, but couldn't make it work.

So I messaged my husband and my kids and told them what I was trying to accomplish.

In return, my son sent a YouTube link to me.

THIS is NOT SUITABLE for kids, for work, or for your grandma.
You should listen to it alone before playing it for anyone else.

Also, the person who did the captioning messed up a couple words... but all in all, it's pretty funny.

Yeah, I'm already doing most of this...

This showed up in my inbox on Friday.
It's about an open position in our company. I'm not the only person who got it, so it's not like I'm being specifically asked to do this job.
Not that I would.
Ever.

You can read over the job description if you'd like. I edited it for brevity and took out any company-indentifying information, but since you don't work with me, you're not able to read between the lines the same way I am.

What it doesn't say is, "Forget everything on this list. You'll basically be a glorified sub, going from site to site when people don't show up for work. We'll work you to death, you'll be putting in 50 to 60 hour work weeks on occasion."

This means walking into many places you have probably never even visited and being expected to run a program when you don't know where anything is, you don't know the kids and you don't know their routines. Over and over and over.
Talk about anxiety inducing!

I have zero complaints about my compensation. The benefits are much more affordable and better than they were when I worked for the cheap assholes a few years ago.

I'm being well-paid to do what I do, which is hang out with kids. Yeah, it's a lot of work at times, and do to it right requires thinking (and over-thinking) and some dedication. A love for children.

But it's not difficult.
I think this company pays generously. And I don't feel that I've been treated unfairly. I don't believe they really understand what it is I do, but most of the time, that doesn't matter.

I go in, I do my job, I go home. My paycheck shows up every two weeks in my savings account.
I know if I have a medical emergency, I have coverage.

I said all that so I could tell you that the job described below pays FIFTY CENTS an hour more than I am making already.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Job Specifics:
Provide and follow written plans for a well-balanced, age appropriate curriculum.
Supervise assistants and volunteers.
Monitor and support multiple locations.
Maintain a physically and emotionally appropriate environment for children in
compliance with state regulations and our standards.
Maintain a clean and neat environment.
Supervise children at all times.
Maintain a high level of interaction with the children.
Maintain positive interactions with parents/guardians of children.
Complete all record keeping in an accurate and timely manner.
Design and implement a daily schedule which includes activities to enhance the
development of cognitive, social, emotional and physical skills.
Maintain positive communication with school personnel.
Participate in observation, assessment and evaluation of children.
Respond appropriately to all and any emergency situations.
Perform all other duties as assigned by supervisor.

This position requires assisting with staff training, orientation, and evaluation.
Responsible for supervision of on-site staff and providing written evaluations of
permanent staff with assistance of supervisor.

Mentor, train, and evaluate incoming new hires at location in order to ensure new staff
have a comprehensive understanding of awareness, quality, and safety expectations of
job requirements.
Communicate with site directors about new staff that will be going to their locations
including providing on-boarding paperwork for continuity of expectations.
Act as a resource for other site directors as time allows
Participate as a leader in trainings.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There's more.
A LOT more.
I deleted a whole page and some.
It's a position one step above mine.
And I can't think of any circumstance that would cause me to be interested.

Most of the people who have this type of position are young, unmarried, willing to throw themselves into their work.

I am a little curious about who quit, since those positions open up when someone leaves (all the time, in other words) but not curious enough to ask anyone.

Once again I marvel at the fact that I'm exactly where I should be.
Shit has a way of working out, I guess.

Aaannnd...

Twatwaffle is still running her own site, or will be when school starts again in a little under two weeks.

She's still hateful to kids. I saw it firsthand when I stopped by at summer program. She's incredibly arrogant, and has no respect or kindness in either her face or her voice when dealing with children. She doesn't like them. To her, she is the teacher and they are the students and they'd better not forget it.

Everything has to come from her... orders, the right amount of learning, what's good enough, what's smart enough... just, what's enough. She tells them when to move on, when to learn, when to turn it off because it's time to do something else.

And she comes in for her shift, lines up her cans of soda and her candy bars and her chips along the front of the stage (the summer program is in the gym) and walks around all day, eating and drinking in front of the kids.

When you clear away all the mean things she's done, all the underhanded nasty things Fluffy has done or had her minions do for her, what remains is that Fluffy knows what a jerk Twatwaffle is. She knows that Twatwaffle is emotionally/verbally abusive to children. And she has chosen to allow it to continue. Whatever her agenda, that fact alone is the worst. She is allowing someone to be abusive to children on her watch. And as a mandatory reporter, she's not only just an asshole, she's breaking the law. By her inaction, her elevating of her friend to a position where she can continue her reign with impunity, she is breaking the law. It makes me sick.

And that's why I can't continue to work for her.

Well what a bunch of assholes

I know, I know... nothing new.

Fluffy gave me ALL kinds of shit about the curriculum and the hours I spent working on it. When I dropped by summer camp to pick up my things this morning, I talked to Hannah. Asked her if the kids had enjoyed the last unit.

She was effusive in her praise... "Best stuff we had all summer," she said. "They LOVED it!!"

But apparently Fluffy didn't even SEE the stuff I came up with. The whole binder full of information, activities, fun stuff to do. She didn't even look at it. Wasn't even in all week.

So she jumped all over me for the amount of time I spent working on something  she had NO FUCKING CLUE about.

Par for the course.

Twatwaffle is, "Lazy. And not very nice to the kids."
No shit, ya think????

"And she has her sodas and snacks in front of the kids, too!"

Yeah. We've mentioned that. Even went to upper management.For all the good it did.

Hannah is also one of the people making less money than people who are being hired this week. Apparently Fluffy has 'been scrambling' to find people who want to work for her. Good. I like that just fine. I hope it's a huge pain in the ass and that she ends up having to cover programs herself. And that Fluffy Jr. has to, also.

What a bunch of shitty people.
They deserve everything they get.

Silly Fluffy... no one can out-bitch me.

I'm better at being bitchy because I'm smarter than you are.
So the nasty little email you sent to me regarding the amount of time I spent planning a curriculum unit (two, actually) for YOUR summer program just triggered some snark.

Can't deny being a little pissed off, I have one nerve left and you're getting on it.

So you got a snotty reply.
And go ahead and forward it to anyone you'd like, I don't give a shit.

At this point, I don't have much left to lose.
The joy I got from my job is gone.
Thanks for that.

If you imagine gray hair in a sort of mushroom cut and put it on top,
this actually resembles Fluffy.

Kind of like this.
Take this hair and add it to Delores Umbridge up there.
Dead ringer.

I spent a great deal of time designing two units for Fluffy's Summer Debacle.

I turned in about 14 hours of time for one about birds and trees and the beginnings of the second one which was about insects and arachnids.

And then added a total of eight hours when I completed the second unit and took it to the summer site. I put a great deal of thought and effort into those units, wanting them to be active, tactile and fun.

Knowing that Fluffy and Fluffy Jr thought segregating children by age level was a good idea (is there a more clueless demographic than educrats?) I endeavored to make activities that the children could all enjoy together as a group.

I did an excellent job, although Fluffy/Jr have yet to give me any feedback about the actual units. As in no one said, "Thank you." No one said, "Hey, the kids really liked it." No one said, "Wow, you did an amazing job."

When I think about the last year with this manager, I realize that's the biggest thing we don't have... encouragement. We are never told that we've done anything right. We're just issued peremptory orders via email from Fluffy Jr.
No support. I was trying to think of just one time that Fluffy told me that I had done something right or done something well. And came up blank.

She is the least-supportive manager we've ever had. Even worse than Caustic. And I never, ever thought I'd say that.

Hannah said that the stuff I brought in was 'by far' the best stuff they'd had. She told me the children really enjoyed the stuff I brought in.

Eric cut and polished two slabs of a tree, one for each summer camp group, and there were a ton of hands-on activities as well as things that got the kids up and moving. I spent several hours that I did not keep track of, too.

I'm guessing at least nine. I took it seriously. Knowing that their summer experience was going to be... lackluster? I wanted the kids to enjoy the stuff. Spent hours making little crafty things to give them as examples and reading tons of ideas on the internet. I took five or six trips to the library, too.

So if you divide the total 22 hours in half, I basically spent 11 paid hours per unit in planning, making projects, making copies, driving to Office Depot to make still MORE copies, used up an entire brand new set of ink cartridges for my printer, and delivered the stuff to summer. In addition, I donated many supplies for the crafts and loaned personal property to them even though I wasn't going to be there to make sure it was taken care of properly.

And all I asked for was to be paid for (some of) my time.
I most carefully didn't ask for new ink cartridges or reimbursement for anything I spent.

I wonder how much time it took their highly paid curriculum 'experts' to design the manual I was given. The reason they asked me to do more with it was because it was SO dry. The people who design these things aren't usually people who work with children and the only thing that matters to them is making sure it's laid out in a way that can be pointed to as educational. The possible enjoyment or lack of it in program is the furthest thing from their minds. I don't think it's malicious, I just think they don't know any better.

At any rate, I got paid for the 14 hours. Eventually. And when I looked at my pay stub and saw that I hadn't gotten the other eight, I debated. Should I even bother asking? But you know what? I spent so many hours that I didn't even add into the mix and I felt like I was owed at least the hours I did keep track of.

So I sent an email asking for the eight hours. Explained exactly what I'd done with those hours, including the fact that I'd gone to Office Depot to do copies and that I had used an entire set of ink cartridges. I wasn't asking for anything but my hours, but I wanted her to know what I'd done with those hours, if that makes sense.

And I got a pissy little email this evening that aggravated me so much I actually got an upset stomach.

First, 'My apologies, I thought that the 14 hours was all you needed'. Then, I was told they appreciated the 'dedication to the curriculum'. And then she said that *I *hadn't communicated my needs and hours to be used while completing the project. She suggested that next time they'd let me know how much time they'd allow.

I was told that they're 'carefully tracking' hours for the big fish. Yeah, I imagine he's asking questions like, "Why do you have four staff scheduled when there are only eight kids on site?"

I mentioned in my email to her originally that I wanted to make sure I got the items I'd loaned to summer program back. She said to email Hannah and let her know what those items were, then she (Fluffy) would bring them to my school. Because wouldn't that be easier? Or hey! I can attend the end-of-summer bbq at the summer site! And pick it all up then! Just let Hannah know what you need!!

Then, I got my hands slapped for printing things at home (hence having to buy a new set of ink cartridges) going to Office Depot and making copies when 'we could have done that ourselves.'

I was told that 'as usual' we discourage outside purchases.
That word is a great choice. I've never been more discouraged in my life.

So she got this:
Hi Fluffy,

No apologies needed.

Communication could definitely have been much better.
Sometimes we think we're doing a good job communicating when in fact people have no idea what's expected.

I just tried to do a good job with what I was given to go on.

And after all these years I am nothing if not exquisitely aware of the complete lack of support for outside purchases.

That's why I won't bother asking about it anymore.

I only mentioned the printer cartridges/trip to Office Depot and making copies to try to give you some understanding of what I spent my time doing, I wasn't asking you to reimburse me for supplies.
I know better.
Communication on that front has been quite clear.

I'll contact Hannah regarding the personal property I loaned to your summer program.

Tired of it yet?

There's more.

Fluffy openly discriminated against handicapped people.
Instead of making accommodations/allowances for a person in a wheelchair, she complained that person 'wasn't hanging artwork up high enough'. It would have been easy to send someone over to help hang things up. Or you know, go herself and do her fucking job. Instead, she made Shelley feel bad over and over. And Shelley, instead of trying to get some legal help, quit.

During the time she was harassing her, Shelley forwarded a couple text messages to me. My god, talk about ugly and mean.

"Your job should never be an afterthought. Your children should come FIRST. You didn't spend ANY TIME on this idea!!!"

She also got rid of Erica. Erica had JRA and did not learn to walk until she was 19 years old. She started going out to her site and reviewing her twice a week, marking her down for things that were never even required.

And then one afternoon, she came out to Erica's site and offered to hang out with the rest of the kids while Erica took three of her group to the school's book fair. While Erica was gone, Fluffy neglected to do the head count form on the half hour. She kept writing her up for this, writing her up for that... finally Erica said she would like to transfer to another district.

And the big fish said no. Because the head count form hadn't been done properly on the day that Fluffy was there.

She was horrible to everyone who had a visible physical handicap, and one by one, they left.

Erica did try to get legal help, citing a hostile work environment. Her doctor told her she needed to quit. But the attorney she consulted told her that because she had left the company instead of staying and fighting, he wouldn't be able to take her case.

I happen to know about some pending legal action involving a couple of former directors, but it would probably not be helpful to them for me to write it up.

She also discussed confidential employee information with other employees.

And when Carey went to the big fish with her concerns, Fluffy told Twatwaffle and Snippy alllll about it. As a result, they treated her like shit during Spring Break. She wasn't alone, though. They treated the kids like shit, too.

I can't believe all the stuff that has gone on. And that the big fish hasn't done anything to rein her in. At this point, he looks really stupid. Completely out of touch with what's going on in this area, too. It's not for a lack of trying. We went to him and tried to make him see... Sunshine talked to him. Carey did, too. So did I. Erica called him. He was rude to her on the phone and acted like she was the one with the problem. Told her that we were all 'in cahoots'.

Oh, you mean banding together to try to stop this asshole who's not only allowing children to be treated like crap, but treating loyal, long-term employees like it as well?

I guess we were.

I have a few people working on writing up everything that happened to them.

And I'm working on some stuff, too. In a week or so, it's being sent to some bigger people.

One more thing.
When Erica was researching the legal aspects, she found that this company has been sued and taken to court several times, many cases pending over discrimination and violations of ADA. Like that bogus summer application.

What a bunch of horrible individuals. It just makes me sick.

Dear Big Fish,

The only changes I've made to this letter involve the removal of people's names/company name.
I sent this in late March.
And I met with the guy for two hours.
Two friggin' hours. I told him in person about Twatwaffle using the bathroom WITH CHILDREN.
About her swearing in front of children.
About her eating food from McDonald's and bringing in Dr. Pepper and candy and walking around eating in front of children.

About being horrible and mean to a couple kids and putting her hand up in the face of school staff personnel and saying "I'm done talking to you!" when they have the nerve to ask her not to dump paint in the bathroom sinks.

About running into a parent at her school whose child had been in my care during the summer. (I was dropping off a tie dyed shirt for her, actually. Did it over Christmas because I learned that Mary never got a shirt. I'm dedicated that way.)

Mary attends the fabulous Twatwaffle's school but not her program because Mom told me there was 'no way in hell' that she would ever put her child in 'that woman's' care.
Fluffy is still the manager. But she is also running another district now along with ours. We almost never see her or Fluffy Jr. We just get emails. Lots and lots and lots of fucking emails.
Twatwaffle is still abusing children with impunity because Fluffy covered her ass.
What a bunch of shitty human beings.

When I told him near the end of the conversation (MY priorities are in order, whether theirs are or not) that I was not happy about the pay inequity, he said, "Well, we need to get people in the door." What he didn't say with words was, "We don't value you or the other people who have worked so tirelessly to make our programs great. Shut up, you peasant."
To which I answer... this.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Apologies in advance for the length of this missive.
I've just finished writing it. I have more to add, but I have other things to do today.
I may follow up with more after we've had a chance to talk, although I think almost everything you need to know is either here or you've already heard it from Sunshine or Carey.

I subscribe to the 'why use 10 words when 400 is so much more expressive?' school of thought. (This document is about 3,200 according to the counter... sorry.)

In addition, writing things down helps me keep my thoughts in order and sometimes is a much better way of saying what I mean, particularly when I feel passionate about the issue(s).

The trick isn't to get me talking, the trick is to get me to stop.

And right now, clarity and purpose are sitting in front of me, telling me that it's important to get this right.

As a team, we let things go on too long a couple times before.
Hoping things would change and/or being afraid to speak up.
I decided that's not going to happen this time.
I will speak up.
I will advocate for what's best for children, and I will not allow the things that are detrimental to our kids to continue.

I will not sit quietly while the things we've worked so hard to accomplish are tossed aside as if our efforts over the past decade are meaningless.

What I do is important to me. The children I spend so much time with are my number one priority when I am at work.

From finding the exact color of construction paper for a craft to explaining Cartesian divers to a child to sweeping the floor after snack is done, I attach equal importance to every aspect of my job and give each task the care it deserves.

And my program grows and children are happy, parents are happy, the school is happy, I earn money for the company and everyone wins.

To do less would be wrong for me.

I bring that same dedication to our break and summer programs. I'm not alone. We have some amazing people on our staff, and without our efforts, the reputation of our programs in our community would not be what it is. We are justifiably proud of what we do and how we do it.

This school year, I've been increasingly uncomfortable with the direction we're heading as a team.

Oh. I phrased that incorrectly.
We are no longer allowed to work as a team.

I started to worry in August when Fluffy abruptly told Sunshine that she was taking the snack ordering off her plate, which is a euphemism for 'I am giving your extra hours to my friend'.

She gave the task to Snippy, one of the personal friends she'd hired over summer.
Sunshine was doing the job just fine. And the penalty for doing the job, and doing it well for several years was to have it handed off to someone else. 

It's worth noting that every snack order has had at least one thing wrong/missing/messed up all year. We didn't have those problems when Sunshine was dealing with it.

It's frustrating.

The blatant favoritism shown to the friends Fluffy has hired (to the detriment of us and our programs) is only part of the problem.

I believe it's imperative that you understand what's going on with Twat Waffle.

This is a person that I would not, under any circumstances, leave my child alone with.

The more I learn about her, the more I hear about how things are going in her program, the more I hear about her interactions with her school staff and parents, the more I see her in action, the more uneasy I become.

This is not a stable or calm person, and the hair trigger frankly scares the hell out of me.

It's worth noting here at the beginning that I first met TW at our fall training. We were in the same group of about seven people, tasked with listing what we thought our job description was. To list everything we could think of.

I was writing as our group fired words at me.
One of the things I listed was the weekly activity plan.
She told me, "Write, 'curriculum' on there."

I explained to her (or rather attempted to after putting a / and 'curriculum' on our paper after the words activity plan) that the activity plan is part of our weekly curriculum, that we write it up and follow it.

That sometimes we plan things that aren't 'curriculum' and do many activities that aren't in our books.

She gave me a look that would blister paint at 40 yards and talked over me.

"Have you ever been a classroom teacher?" she demanded.

When I admitted that I had not, she informed me arrogantly, "Well, *I* was a classroom teacher for seven years. *I* know what curriculum is and how to use it."

"They" say first impressions are important.
They are right.
I find that my instincts are usually correct.
The implication that I was just one step up from a moron was quite clear.

Sometimes I've adjusted my first impressions of an abrasive person in a more favorable direction. In this case, though, I may have underestimated just how caustic and unsuited for her job TW really is.

She was seriously obnoxious the entire afternoon. Between the snotty tone from Peaches (the way she talked to all of us, both individually and collectively was patronizing and condescending) and the rudeness of TW (who knew something about every single topic brought up and was quite happy to let the rest of us know ad nauseam) the afternoon was possibly a little less fun than I'd hoped.

That's sarcasm, by the way.

There will be more.

An afternoon in 'training' for a job I've done for almost 12 years isn't my favorite way to spend my time in the first place.

But being required to attend, then having a brand new co-worker and a then person in a supervisory position treat all of us with disrespect was just the cinnamon and sugar on the toast of the day.

In keeping with the new precedent of giving priority to her friends, Fluffy informed us in December that TW would be in charge of our break program.

I questioned Fluffy about this via email. 
She said that she'd 'offered the program leading and that TW was the only one who'd stepped up' but that is patently false.

NONE of us were asked to lead. None of us were offered the extra hours, the tasks associated with planning a break program or an opportunity for input.

We were not asked for our ideas. Our team, the people who have built the strong programs and made every endeavor a collaborative effort and a success for more than ten years, was completely dismissed.

Result? The fun things our kids have learned to expect in addition to the curriculum at break programs didn't happen.

We weren't important or even necessary to the program.
Everything was planned for us without our input.
We were just... widgets.

Discouraged doesn't even come close to describing how I felt then and still feel now.

The fun and creativity (the theme days... for example snowed in, winter sport day, ornament day) that we bring to every break program was missing.

Some of the kids even asked me about it.
They have come to expect the extras.
The fun.
The enjoyment we get from seeing their happiness. The ability we all have to meet each child on his or her level and help them enjoy their time with us.

Our programs have traditionally been happy places for the children. They are offered many constructive choices on how to spend their time and they thrive.

I am not the only person worried about the efforts to turn our programs into classrooms rather than learning zones. This is not what our parents want, not what our children want, and not what sets us apart from the other programs available.  

In answer to, "Why didn't we have ornaments this year?" I said lightly that we were 'doing some different things' this time.

Disappointment on the faces of 'my' children is one of the things I dislike the most.

We have always been able to follow the curriculum handed to us for break programs. It's not complicated, and without exception, all staff is capable of looking at the book, presenting the ideas to the children, and doing the projects with them.

Of course that hinges on supply procurement, planning and timely delivery, something that we haven't managed to have done correctly since Georgia was still here.

When I was finally able to meet with Fluffy near the end of January, I asked why we suddenly had someone who, until this year has never done our job, telling us how to do it.

I told her that I found it insulting that not only was she placed over us, but that TW feverishly looked through the com log and interrogated staff to see if we'd done it her way the next day.

I simply have no idea how we've always been able to do our jobs without being micromanaged by TW.

The break program was completely generic. The care for the whole child, the sense of fun, the camaraderie between us... all conspicuously absent.

All the amazing contributions we bring as individuals were completely left out. The creativity and teamwork that sets our programs apart wasn't wanted or appreciated.

One of the activities of our break program, making a reptile journal, was done one morning before I arrived on site. About fifteen minutes after TW left, I noticed several of the kids in a little huddle near the blocks,  having a discussion and looking toward me.

That usually means one of two things. Either they're talking about something inappropriate and don't want to get caught so they're monitoring me, or they want to do something that one of the other staff has told them they can't do and they're thinking that now that we've had a change in teachers, they can get away with it.

Hoping for the latter, I approached the group.

"What's going on, guys?"
After a nudge and a couple, "No, YOU ask her!" one of the bolder kids asked hesitantly if they could make one of the reptile journals 'now'. I said, "Of course, why not?"

"Well, that other lady said that we already had our chance and because we didn't do it, it was too late."

Later, I heard from Carey that TW had said to them earlier that if the kids hadn't done the project that it was just too bad, their chance was over.

This is not how we do things.
These are seven and eight year old children.

A break program is exciting for them. A new school, new surroundings. Lots of new things to play with. New friends. A break from the usual.

There is so much to do and so many different new people to do things with!

To a person who has experience in working with children, it should not be surprising that they're like... little butterflies. Fluttering around and enjoying themselves. That's one of the things I love so much about what I do.

Since our activities are always to be offered as choices, it seems a bit overbearing (a euphemism for power tripping) to tell a child they missed their ONE chance to utilize the supplies provided for that purpose to make a simple project.

And it was simple.
A minute of my time to help them assemble it, and a good half hour to 45 minutes of their time having fun with it.

Exercising their creativity, enjoying the collaboration with each other, learning together and sharing ideas. Making a project they were happy with.

So I helped four kids make their reptile journals. When some of the other children noticed what was going on, they approached me and asked if they might make one, too.

There is no excuse good enough to have refused that opportunity to the children. I find it appalling and shameful that one of us felt so strongly that her agenda was much more important than the joy of children.

I'm glad I was there to help mitigate the disappointment.

When we met in January, I told Fluffy that I was concerned about some things I'd heard about TW, that I did not appreciate the way she'd behaved during the break program, and that I still wasn't sure why she was placed above all the veteran staff, in control of the break program.

That she was abrasive, rude to children, rude to staff and behaved inappropriately during program.

And with a shrug, Fluffy smiled and said, "I've never seen that."

I wanted to make sure she understood what had gone on and how I felt about things and she completely shut me down.

When I question things and phrases like 'I don't understand why there's an issue' are tossed out there, it makes me angry.

I'm not resistant to change or unable to learn new things.
Everything I do in my job is done for the benefit of the children I serve.
My priorities are in order.

So, nothing was done.
As far as I know, none of the issues that concerned me were addressed.

Twatwaffle seems to now be the default setting. The standards we've worked so tirelessly to set for our programs are now in the hands of someone who's so enamored by the idea of herself as a teacher and being in control that she forgets that the learners are the larger, more important side of the equation.

We are no longer placing children first.

Our experience, expertise and enthusiasm are no longer welcome, it seems.

Changes that are beneficial to our kids and programs are fine.
I welcome them.

Changes made so that certain people receive more clock hours and control based on friendship are inappropriate and detrimental to us all.

The blatant favoritism that's been exhibited since August is unprofessional and harmful to much more than morale.

That favoritism has caused us to operate outside our license on at least one occasion.

In the written curriculum handed to us for winter were instructions to cut up fruit for a fruit snake project. 

Once again, our school program is not a "center."

We don't have access to a kitchen and we don't have the supplies or the sanitation required to do some of these activities.

The issue has been brought up before, with similar results.
No one listens or does anything about it.
It's just... shrugged off.
As if it isn't important.

This time, the book called for a 'sanitized area in the kitchen' for this to be done, but I learned that most of the fruit had been prepared in TW's home, in her personal kitchen.

When I asked Fluffy about it, she said that she figured that since TW "had done foster care, it would be okay."

No.
It is not 'okay'.
It's a direct licensing violation.
Taking short cuts and doing things that are against the rules has never been a part of our programs.

I'd really like to go back to that way of thinking.

I happen to think our license is important and that the rules exist for a lot of good reasons.

The few things TW had not cut up earlier were being prepped when I arrived, and I saw her lick her fingers while doing so. Not just once but at least three times.

Not only is that disgusting, I know I don't have to tell you that if children had become ill, regardless of the source of the infection, anyone scrutinizing the program could have really caused us some problems.

During that same break program, our curriculum book contained a directive to 'ask parents and families for egg cartons.'

This is also against our license. Egg cartons cannot be sterilized for our use.

Due to the small but possible exposure to Salmonella, it's simply not allowed under state licensing guidelines. This was also brought to Fluffy's attention by more than one of us.

Someone should have known this before publication.
If the curriculum planners don't know what the state licensing guidelines contain, then our company needs someone who does know advising them.

The supply list that wasn't sent out to us until last Thursday for a program that was due to start on Monday (do you have these items at your site?) asked for toilet paper rolls.

Those are another thing we're not allowed to use under our license.

This afternoon, I received an email informing me that all staff will be required to fill out an application to work over summer.

After all the years we've put in, all the expertise we have contributed, all the hard work, we have to apply for a summer job?

At the very least it's insulting, and judging from the favoritism exhibited this year, our summer program will be staffed by Fluffy's friends and those who did not speak up about the issues we're dealing with.

We have EARNED the right to keep our jobs over summer.
This is completely unacceptable.

It just gets better and better.

You'll notice that I have not addressed the Craigslist ad/ wage inequity yet.

Here's the thing.
Money has never been what motivates me.

I'm very aware of the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic value...
caring for children is not about the income, it's about the outcome.

But rewarding the people who've stuck around and worked through some really amazing (that's another euphemism) conditions by hiring new site directors, paying them a better hourly wage than the people who have spent more than 10 years doing an outstanding job and then giving them a bonus for staying the next 2.5 months?

You know, completing the school year, which is what the rest of us have done for years?

That does makes a difference.
Doesn't change my lifestyle, of course.
But it stings.

Oh sure, one can always use the door.
It operates both directions and a person can simply... walk out.

To be honest, that was my first reaction.
To just walk out.
I don't know anyone who appreciates being treated with disregard/disrespect and I'm no different.

But after serious reflection I decided that it's not about what kind of person signs off on something like that.

It isn't about what kind of person you are.
It's about what kind of person I am.

That said, you know my work ethic.
You know how dedicated I am.
You know how well I do my job.

You had to know that at least one of us would see that ad.

So it's a low blow.
A couple dollars an hour doesn't make a huge difference financially.
But the symbolism?
Well, that's important, now isn't it?

Thank you for your time.

Learning at Lunch with Friends

Had lunch with Sunshine and Carey today. Sunshine had a birthday this last week and her partner set up a lunch date for the three of us.

We met at noon. I had to walk a couple blocks, but it was fine. I am wearing shoes on both feet now, although I have to loosen the right one, it's not too bad. It did not hurt me to walk that distance. Both in the larger sense (It wouldn't hurt you to get more exercise, you know...) and in the regular sense. It did not cause me pain to walk.

Carey is now working for a different branch of the company. The difference is night and day. She is being treated with the utmost respect, she has gotten a raise to bring her pay to scale with the highest paid people on our side of things, and she's very happy. She gets 40 hours a week, which she really wanted, and things are going well.

Also working with Carey in the same little branch is Karen. Karen worked as my assistant for quite awhile. She transferred to the other place earlier this year, but not before Fluffy offered HER the top of the pay scale to take over as site director at another school. That particular school had Shelley, a site director who was doing fine, but Fluffy didn't like her. So Fluffy started a campaign of harassment and finally drove Shelley out. She offered Karen a starting wage that's higher than what many of us make after years and years and years of service. No, it's not fair. Yes, I know life isn't fair. But fuck.

I got a raise this paycheck. A whopping 40 cents. Bringing me to within a dollar and 20 cents of the hourly wage she offered to Karen as a NEW SITE DIRECTOR.

I happen to know that she's paying one of the male site directors that amount as well. Which puts it in a whole different category. When you're paying men more than you're paying women to do the SAME JOB, you're in legal trouble if someone wants to pursue it.

I'm not at all certain that someone doesn't want to pursue that.

I resent the shit out of having to be the one to leave.
Fluffy needs to get the fuck out.

Even though I have to say my feelings about lawyers are pretty similar to Shakespeare's, they do have their uses. I may even call someone.

Or maybe I'll get a job somewhere and be able to just tell her to fuck off.

But I will be sending some emails up the line.

Fucking jerks.

Peremptory Orders from the C.O.C.

Got an email this afternoon.
Rarely has so much bullshit been compressed into one email.

First, the Jr. version of Fluffy, even though I don't like her at all, is fairly normal and not terribly obnoxious in person.

She is relentlessly and artificially cheerful when she sends out emails, though.
There are always exclamation points!!!!
A lot of them!
Sprinkled around.
Kind of like adding salt to enhance a dish and accidentally dumping three times the recommended amount!!!

Perky!
Annoys me on so many different levels.

She begins by calling us 'Team!!'.
Which starts things badly for me as we are NOT a team.
We used to be a team.
But not now.
Not anymore.
 

Many of our long time senior staff have either been forced out through a pattern of harassment or have quit in disgust over the chickenshit tactics of Fluffy and her minions. Those of us remaining know exactly what has happened, what's been said to those people, what Fluffy and her little group have done to them. She doesn't seem to realize that people communicate with each other. 

Since Fluffy turned into such a piece of crap, TEN dedicated people have departed. Ten! In one year. You'd think someone would take notice. But Fluffy is nothing if not an excellent liar. Makes me sick.

So I wish Fluffy Jr. would just fucking stop pretending that everything is cheery and exciting.

I can't imagine who she thinks she's fooling, we all know what kind of people they are. They've demonstrated it quite adequately. Treating people with blatant disrespect and allowing abusive assholes to work with children.

Protecting those assholes when people who care about kids stick their necks out and report it.

So when you send out your mass email, just state what's going on in a straightforward manner.

Stop acting like we don't know what an asshole Fluffy is and what a posterior-smooching moron you are.

Okay, now that we have that out of the way...

We are hereby commanded to attend MANDATORY trainings. Two of them. Actually 3. First one is the CPR/1st Aid class. I don't mind attending that one, my certification expires at the end of the month and I don't want that to lapse. I cannot be alone with children if my cert isn't current. Every time we have to take CPR I fervently hope that I never, ever am put in a position of having to use it. The idea of something happening to a child horrifies me. As it should. I pay close attention at those classes.

So my CPR class is on the 15th.

Then, the evening of the 26th of August and the morning of the 27th, there will be a total of 12 hours of training. MANDATORY! And because they don't give a shit about making it accessible or convenient to 3/4 of us, it's all the way across town in a district far away.

Drive an hour to sit in a six hour training on a Friday afternoon into the evening. Drive home, which will take about an hour. Drive back. Another hour. Then sit there for eight hours on Saturday. We won't even be home 12 hours before we must be back at the location for the second half of the tedium.

Training us for a job we've been doing a long time. We're going to learn about:·         The NEW hidden company name Curriculum!!
·         Licensing Training from State Licensing  – one of hidden company name licensors from the State
·         Review of Ages & Stages
·         NEW Interest Areas!
·         Engagement & Communication – How YOU own your site!
·         UPDATED Positive Guidance and PBS!!
·         And More!!

Oh sure. WE own our sites.
Sure.

If I have already found new employment, I won't have to go.

And of course Twatwaffle, that abusive pile of crap, will be in raptures over new curriculum because she wouldn't know a teachable moment from a peanut butter sandwich. She is very much a top-down kind of person, willing and able and with a proven record of treating children badly. She is very happy to be the bossy type, trust me. Only someone who isn't terribly bright allows themselves to be ruled by a curriculum. So I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, she's rather thick. Not very likeable. Of course my opinion of her is colored by what I know about how she treats children. So no matter what else she does, I hate her. Anyone who is mean to a child is a person not worth a shit in my book.

I am going to send an email to Fluffy Jr. and ask if we could move the training to our downtown office. It's still not ideal, but it would be more fair for everyone. We'd all be commuting about the same distance.

All of the stuff that's pissing me off wouldn't be upsetting me so much but I am angry. I'm angry about the wage inequity, I am angry that they're such shitty people, that they have harassed so many people right out the door, that they pretend they care about the people working there.

We were doing a wonderful job. As a team. Every person who had the same priorities was included in the planning and in the summer hours and considered an equal. We were all there for the same purpose.

And now all that is gone. I wouldn't be sane if I didn't harbor some resentment.
I think I have more hurt feelings than resentment, though.

I actually care about a J.O.B..
Not that it matters to the Cavalcade.

More 'getting thoughts in order'

Feel free to skip this post.
Although I've always written for myself, I have been glad that it's entertaining and/or informative for other people, too. So there will be a few of these posts because I need to get it written down so I can refer back to it as needed.

I've never been able to keep a journal for more than a week or so. This blog has been going for almost eleven years. In reading back over things, I find that the things I've written help bring me clarity in a lot of ways. So for that, I thank myself.

If I've managed to entertain people and make new friends, well, that's a bonus.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back in March I decided that things had gone on long enough.
The last time we had to contact our big fish, one of the very first things he asked me was why I had waited so long to contact him.

So this time, I didn't wait. I actually only waited a couple months. Fluffy had done a decent job for her first year. I still can't believe the ogress person she is now was the same person who started as our manager the year before. What a horrible manager. And a nasty person. I can't think of any redeeming qualities other than she doesn't smell like perfume when I see her. But lots of people manage that and I don't hate them.
Haha.

I've been perusing the jobs available out there for a person of my qualifications.
EVERY company currently posting ads is paying more to START than I make now. With health benefits.

It's still not about money, though.
It's about respect.

And I allowed them to treat me disrespectfully from March until the end of the school year because I don't work for the company. I work for the children. I was not going to walk out on little people who depended on me to be there for them.

So they paid out bonuses to people who had only worked for the company for three or four months. Paid them a bigger hourly wage to start than I'm making after 12 years.

It's still not my first choice to leave. Change is hard for a lot of people. I'd say I have a triple dose of that myself. The idea of starting over is hurting my heart quite a bit, really. With the anxiety I have and the emotional attachments I have formed with my kids and my school and the parents and, well, everything except management and their management and the people getting rich off my hard work. I am not attached to them... well, it hurts a lot.

Knowing the staff at the school and considering them friends. Knowing every bit of my routine and how to handle just about anything that comes up. Having my designated back room to keep all my stuff in. The idea of going in and taking the things that belong to me out.

And not seeing my current kids anymore. People don't leave my program often, and it's usually because they either move away or the child ages out and heads to middle school. We form bonds. Those families care about me, I care about them, we have a great working relationship. I have what they call 'legacy kids' meaning some families have sent three or four different children through my program as they've grown. There is no bigger sign of admiration and regard than that and I'm honored by their confidence in me.

But. The protective mom person in me is horrified and appalled and disgusted that there are people working directly with children who shouldn't even have any contact with them.

These are people I would not leave a child with. People who work with children and treat them like crap are being well-paid and treated with deference by our manager.

I followed procedures. I talked to my manager about the issues. She dismissed them. Shrugged it off, said, "I haven't seen that." And did nothing.

A girl came and worked with me after working with that horrible woman in the school just up the road from me and told me about what was going on in her program. It would be dishonest to call it anything except abusive. She is a shit and I utterly hate her for what she has done to the kids under her 'care'.

Things have gotten nothing but worse. They played games with the summer application, retaliated against the people who spoke up this spring, both about the changes in our programming and about the nasty person who was handed the reins of our break programs.

During Spring Break, they ALL treated Carey like shit. It was obvious from the things they said to her that Fluffy had discussed everything with them after the big fish had talked to her.
Another really shitty and unprofessional thing.
No such thing as confidential with her.

Carey was (finally) offered a very small shift for summer. They knew she would not be able to work such a small amount of time and be able to survive. They just didn't give a shit. She asked them for more hours, but Fluffy Jr is a really nasty little thing and said that she had worked 'very hard' on scheduling. Then, they gave LARGE, as in seven or eight hour shifts to Fluffy's friends. Nope, no favoritism here.

Fluffy Jr did that shit to me once, too. She pulled Lyssa from my site and sent her somewhere else for a week. She sent Lyla to me. Lyla had just finished working with Twatwaffle at her site. Which is how I found out how Twatwaffle was treating kids.

Fluffy Jr's little asshole game (You want to go to management? FINE, have some retaliation!!) backfired.

It backfired with Carey, too. Carey won't be returning in the fall.

Sunshine was replaced as our director and offered a very small summer shift as well. Fortunately, her asthma is really bad, the building is really old, and she got very sick several times last summer. I say fortunately because it meant that her doctor said she could not work this summer.

I was offered a shift, too. It wasn't a bad shift/amount of hours, but I wasn't interested in working with any of the turds people that Fluffy has dropped.. er, hired. Thank goodness for pain and agony and not being able to work!!!
And I've given it a great deal of thought. I have not used anyone's real name. As always, the name of the company doesn't appear in writing that *I* wrote... I have not said what school I work in, what district I live in or anything that someone who doesn't already know me could figure out. In short, I've preserved the anonymity of the company, although they don't deserve any more protection or loyalty than they've given me, which is pretty close to zero.

I will probably end up posting the letter here soon, at this point the only thing I have left to lose is a job that no longer brings me joy and a company that treats me with complete disregard and such a lack of respect that it takes my breath away.

One of the benefits to being away from the craziness is time to really think. To be able to really *see* the progression from stable programs, growing enrollments, happy co-workers and joy to constantly shifting focus, peremptory orders tossed at us in a barrage of emails, people who would not know an educational opportunity from a peanut butter sandwich and mentally ill assholes who really don't care who they shit on.

So I have spent a great deal of time doing exactly that. Thinking.
And I think I may not be able to wait until they finally get tired of their games and go to a new playing field.

Time to hit post and go work on my resume.