Our Budget Has Changed

by Pen Waggener

I received an e-mail from one of my employers stating their budget has changed and they will no longer need me for the foreseeable future.

I don't really have any qualms about this, seven hour work days suck anyway, but what really bothered me was the jabbing text about how they haven't heard from me in two days.  Incorrect, according to my e-mail record I responded to their previous message in about twenty-four hours.  Reasonable and professional timing in my opinion, but there is more.

Last week I worked six hours, a total of $84,  she said she would mail me my check, she lost it in her diaper bag, after a week of me contacting her, she sent one e-mail and still didn't tell me where she sent it.

Honestly, I'm kind of glad I will not be called on again for a while, her home was chaos, she was unclear about what she needed from me half the time, I was scared to throw anything away, she was very over protective, I loved her kids, but she was too dysfunctional to work for.

It was good timing anyway because I want to go back to school and I'm not going to be able to work two jobs because of how much time it costs me.  Thankfully the school I'm going too offers online classes, so it will be a little easier.  Now can I just get my tax forms from the government?  Please?

Educating for the Future

by Southbanksteve

I am a product of the education system here in the United States and I listen to program after program on NPR only to realize the system does not benefit the children anymore.


Billions of dollars go into the US school system and unless a student is from a wealthy family or apart of a wealthy school, chances are he/she will have a severe lack in basic education.


California spends, on average, about $8,887 per student, this is about $260,000 going into the class room, $68,000, on average, goes to the teacher where is the rest of the money going?


When teachers buy their own supplies, work 70+ work weeks, have to pay off a master's degree where is the money to help they be paid for their time and energy in the classroom?  


Even though California is one of the lowest in paying per student in the public schools, a quarter of a million is still a huge chunk of change and if the teachers aren't getting it who is?


Obviously it's the infrastructure filled with janitors, secretaries, administrators, who take up most of the funding.  I'm not saying schools do not need infrastructure, however, it is far from streamlined considering how teachers have to buy simple school supplies like paper.


This is a monstrous problem in the system and I truly believe no one wants to deal with it.  charter schools can be better, but not always, however the greatest difference between a charter school and a public one is if the charter fails it's shut down, but if the public school is failing it receives more money.


How does that make any sense?  It sounds like an absent father who throws money at problems rather than go to the root of the issue.  I'm not saying looking into the school system will be easy, but it looks like the whole body needs a therapist.

by Stroble, David

Root causes for the issues pop up everywhere; teachers, money, parents, students the government, but I think we need to dig deeper to an older issue.  Placing similar age groups together, learning the same subject at the same time, different classrooms or no, has not  proven to be an effective teaching practice, honestly it is an experiment.  


To go to a more recent time, the 1950s, schools trained college bound students and blue collar workers on different tracks, but with the manufacturing leaving the US to countries like China this system is no longer valid.


The roots of the educational system are flawed and unless we rip out the old dying roots the system will just try to grow again leaving the education of the future no better than before.

Playing Outside

Their mom is trying to clean the house right now and to be better organized, so the kids are staying outside more.  When I nanny, I love to play outside and let the 14 month old run around with his two siblings in the dirt.  The older siblings are very computer savvy and play Minecraft, Wizard101 and tons of youtube videos.


I remember when I was a child I spend almost every moment outside to escape to my own worlds separate from the abuse I was experiencing.  I made roller coasters our of holes and a wagon, climbed towers to fight monsters, imagined kingdoms, sat in the tall backyard grass watching the bugs crawl all around me.  I didn't have safe play structures, but tons of imagination brimming out onto the surrounding earth; creating a world of creative wonder.


Seeing this now in the children I nanny makes me want to play, create and imagine all over again.  I color with the chalk, build towers out of sand, act like crazy restaurant patrons all for the sake of play.


There is a certain magick in childlike play, it draws you down to an innocence lost underneath the realities of life like bills, school, cleaning your house, all these things wash away play.


My childhood was happy for a part, but my happiness was shaky because my mother would use my emotions to further her own insane agenda.  What was her agenda?  Who knows, I think she was just in so much pain she doesn't even know why she was angry.  There was always a cost for our happiness and it was not a fair childhood.


It is so important for children to play outside in the sunshine and develop a sensory for the earth around them.  I even play video games sometimes, but I much rather be sitting outside under the sunlight watering my plants.


This is why I like to play outside with the children, I'm redoing my childhood.  I know I can never deny what happened to me, even though my mother will, but I can choose to heal it.


What activities do you do with your children outside?

Bad Kids, No Sugar For You

One of the families I nanny for live about 1/2 an hour away from any city.  They have a compost pile, septic tank, generator, solar panels, an organic filled fridge and no sugar added.


I firmly believe feeding children sugary drinks and snacks all day is detrimental to their health, however I do not think completely depriving a child is any better for their relationship with sugar.


Sugar is apart of our everyday lives and it is healthier to teach children to make smart choices rather than completely ignoring the question.  This not only applies to food but sex, alcohol, relationships, every social interaction depends on choices and avoiding the tough questions makes them harder to answer later.


I can just see the obsession in her eyes when Maple asks her mom if she can have sugary cakes, drinks, cookies, ice cream, processed foods on her birthday; the one day in the year where she is allowed added sugar.  Maple is only three, but I can already see the emotional desperation forming under her voice.


Every time where I find an obsession focused on food I reveal an emotionally disturbed person who does not know how to make wise decisions about food.  I was personally sugar pushed by my mother and used food to relieve my depression.  Maple does live in an emotionally adjusted family, however, their ideas about sugar need to take a turn or risk a severe obsession within Maple.

Carrots Caused This

The question is how does a parent manage sugar and let their child enjoy it?  A simple answer is not to make a big deal out of sugar, just treat it like any other food and limit it like any other food.  Carrots may be healthy, but eating too many will turn a person orange and make constipation an issue.  In short, moderation in all things.


I really do not think parents need to worry too much about their children eating added sugar if they feed them a healthy diet and let them have some sugary treat once in a while.  It's likely the sugar will be overwhelming to their taste buds and they will only want an occasional taste in the long run.  Obsession begins with denial, so don't deny children candy just don't make such a big deal about it and the children will follow suit.

Hoarding Parents

I am not a parent, but I did grow up with two parents and I nanny for a living at the moment.  I understand there is no such thing as a perfect parent, however, sometimes the parents I work for can be self destructive.


I grew up with a physically and verbally abusive mother and an emotionally absent father.  To go even further my mother is a hoarder and the only reason why she hasn't been featured on TLC for a clean up is because my two sisters and me kept throwing things out.


Right now I'm nanny for 3 children and they live in a very messy house.  The mom came from a hoarder family and the father grew up very poor because his family immigrated from South Korea.  Now they have very well paying techie jobs and emotional trauma from each of their childhoods.


Sadly, I think the mom is just overwhelmed with 3 children, her demanding job and a constantly messy house.  However, her attitude doesn't help with solving the obvious physical problems with her house.  Honestly I think the parents need professional help to deal with their emotional issues.


One example of the hoarding tendencies is how the mom insists on keeping all the baby wipe dispensers.  I recycled two and she found them, of course, and told me to check with her before I recycle anything else.

Great idea, but we don't need 7

This one incident alone makes me feel like I'm back in my mother's house.  I felt like she didn't really want to solve her problem, but just look like she is, just enough to keep people from confronting her.  I'm going to try and talk to her about it, by asking if she wants the kids to take a more active part in cleaning and have me oversee.


Another issue I've noticed is her anger towards her children.  The second day I was there she tells her children after a stressed out rant about the state of the house and how the kids do not help,  I'm bored when I go to the park, I rather be with my friends at the mall shopping.  Do you think the mall is fun for you?  


I felt the kids being emotionally manipulated by mom over her mess; she let it go, she keeps things in the house, she is now overwhelmed and blames the kids.   It makes me a little angry and I think I need to sit down and speak to her about more structure for her and the kids sake.


I'm sorry but a freedom parenting style does not work for parents emotionally disturbed or for a house already falling apart.


What do you think?

Hey Nanny

My Painting, Oh No Snow White

I started out in school seeking a degree in creative writing, but as time passed I realized I'm not a writer at this point in my life.  I just haven't lived enough to really write anything, so I've returned to another love of mine, childcare.

I find such joy in caring for children through learning and exploring and at the moment I have one job and another soon.

The parents I work for are liberal, understanding and extremely flexible, especially when it comes to me continuing school.

I think I've earned weekends off, especially after working for over 6 years without much hope for a Saturday or Sunday off.  One of the worst phrases I used to hear was "Have a great weekend!"  I'm sorry, but if you say those words to a retail/food service employee, you have committed a serious social crime.

I'm here working for eight hours on a day you have off, how do you think I feel?

I am past this now and I don't have to work weekends unless I want to.  This gives me time to focus on my art and perhaps I will write a great novel or set of short stories.  Many writers do not reach their peak until they're early thirties, maybe by then I will have something to write.

I can see why I need to write, to hone my skills in storytelling, much like how an artist takes many life drawing classes in order to understand reality before they bend reality.

Caution Zombies

I've wanted to write a screenplay about retail, especially about my coffee shop job, I never realized how much pain I've caused to the coffee pusher.  That's why people who mull around and don't know what they want piss me off.  Know what you want, then get in line these people want to think beyond you and smoke some pot in the back.

I never understood the lack of respect retail workers receive.  Heads up, we're people, have feelings and deserve better healthcare and a living wage.

I truly believe forcing the young to work a part time job, go to school, eat badly, stress about money is unhealthy for everyone.  Also, when you work retail for a career it promotes very unhealthy mental and physical habits out of fear of losing your job.

Why didn't I become a nanny years ago?

I think I was scared or just didn't know what I wanted but now, thank the gods, I do and living how I want.