Life in the Fast Lane... I mean, Backup Care

I live in a city where people never stop working. I mean, lots of people come to the city for that dream job, or at least a better job to lead them to their dreams. Fast paced, demanding careers seems to be the standard for The City, and the teaching field seems to be no different. I had no idea that backup care existed before moving here. Basically, my company has full service (regular preschools or daycare) centers as well as backup and hybrid, or centers that are both full service and backup. Backup centers partner with a company as a benefit offered to employees. For example, my center is associated with New York Life Insurance Company. So as a benefit, employees with children get a certain number of days per year to bring their children to the center when school is out, their nanny is sick, parent has a commitment, etc. Literally we are the back-up child care for these parents. Kind of nice, right? I know lots of parents that would be so grateful for this wherever they are. It is a wonderful resource for these parents especially as we do a program to help transition infants after parents return from maternity leave, giving them extra days as they get back to work and finalize more permanent child care solutions. Definitely something that gives me comfort when I think about having and raising children in the city.

As a teacher in this environment, there are also lots of benefits. This atmosphere is never dull or boring. It is rarely predictable and I am always being exposed to a new issue or situation. It is also incredible to be able to work with so many children and see the development process as it differs in each of those children in the same age groups. However, there are lots of stressful and demanding aspects. While some parents plan ahead and have their child scheduled for certain days, spring break, etc, the very nature of the center leads to lots of last minute reservations making it hard to stick to even the most simple of lesson plans. I am still learning all of the children who come to our center since they don't come on a regular basis so it makes forming those relationships and trust with the children more challenging. Not impossible, but definitely challenging. Along with that, even though they complete medical information beforehand, we have many students with disabilities or challenges arrive and we have to recognize the issue and be able to respond appropriately. It's also a blessing to be able to learn about various special needs and situations, but can be stressful when a particular child may be new to the center and we are not yet familiar with how to help provide an environment that helps them be as successful as we would hope. Sometimes my husband asks me if I wouldn't rather be a bank teller or another 8-5 kind of job where the job stays at work, blah, blah blah. And though somedays that is tempting, I love those little moments of connection, of making a difference, of nurturing, guiding, teaching.