"When WE Interview THEM"

You know what they say about interviewing. We should be interviewing them. I periodically go through the yellow pages and just cold call the daycare centers to see if they are hiring for teacher's aide. Even though I'm qualified as teacher I prefer to not have the hassle of making lesson plans so I apply for aide positions.

So, this one center gave me permission a few days ago to come in any time during business hours. The director looks really sloppy. She brings me into her cluttered tiny office which is in complete disarray. She says something to the effect of : "As you can see, I IS in the middle of a housecleaning project!"

I doubt she'll have a clipboard in which I can fill out the appl. so I tell her don't worry I'll just lean on my notebook. She surprises me and pulls a clipboard out of a file cupboard. She then asks me to sit in the lobby to fill it out because there would be more room. "Never mind that box blocking the sofa" she says.

As I'm sitting there filling the appl. out, one of the aides is on the phone with a parent. She says something to this effect:

"Little Jack are sick, there are all kinds of funky colors showing up in his diaper and his fever is high. YOu'll have to pick him up!" (very professional way of communicating!)

I begin thinking about swine flu, and the increased risk of illness, in general, that the staff faces.

I'm surprised that the applications asks:  "Make sure you include 3 personal, not employment references." I'm not prepared for this surprising request. When I go back to the director's office she conducts a 2 minute pre-interview of sorts. An aide comes in and just interrupts with her concern. The director looks at the aide briefly while the aide is talking , never addresses her concern, then looks back at me and keeps interviewing me as if the aide isn't even there. The aide is forced to stand in the door and wait for the "interview" to end so that she can finally get acknowledgement for her concern.

I get in the car and imagine the following scenario. I'm working in the center and I hear little Billy say the following: "I ain't never givin' my mother a present again"

I reply: "You aren't going to give you're mother any more presents?"

Billy-"Well, the director says "I ain't" all the time!"

I faced this challenge when nannying too. For example I didn't want my "kids" playing with guns. "Mommy says I can play with guns, why can't I when you are here?! my kids would ask me!