Really?!

[jec]

If all of my daycare kids were mine and I had total control over their lives life would be great - at least most of the time. It isn't so much we don't like the kids or our jobs or any other thing that we can change. We are dealing with the results of someone else's parenting and while we can often find parents with similar values there will always be differences in how we approach everything from self feeding to learning to play etc. Even the complaints about naptime issues or toileting issues, or hard to transition are really complaints about another adult's parenting skills that is directly affecting our lives and that is over and beyond the late pick ups and late payments.

In any profession there are workplaces that are great and some not so great and around the water cooler and lunch room you will always find someone complaining about something. That is why many left their jobs to become self employed.

We all like to think we do the best job possible and because of that there is also the element if I do something different than you do that I am right and you are wrong and that is a natural consequence of different parenting styles. Yes it is necessary to be sensitive when posting but sometimes it is the provider that is their own worst enemy and once they know the real truth there is a hope of them moving forward instead of complaining over and over about the same situation.

We all start this job with values and ideals that are pretty much unattainable. Long term survival in any profession means finding the balance between ideals and reality and chatting with someone who has that long term perspective can help a newby overcome or avoid the earaly pitfalls in this business.

Check out some of the mommy forums and you will find the same negativity - we are afterall just moms with a whole whack of kids to deal with - including in too many cases adults that act like their kids or worse too.

I think too that by the time a provider can scrape up a few minutes to check the forum they are overwhelmed themselves before they even start to comment so a great part about what is posted needs to be read for what it is saying as well as what it isn't saying - the read between the lines sort of thing.

I agree with what you say playfelt- at the water cooler there is always someone complaining about something and we are all here to vent and get support as I mentioned. I just find too many posters are really hating their jobs. I'm not saying that it's you directly- you mentioned that it's not that you don't like the kids or your job. I'm just saying ...there are too many that seem to hate their jobs and say so ....say it's OK to just just let them all be in one room by themselves and just ensure they are fed, cleaned and returned home OK.

I just recently found the site of one provider who protrays themselves in a VERY VERY different light on their idea of how to run a daycare- the vision of their daycare and then listening to them hate their job with a passion I guess struck a cord with me.