Just In Time!
8.The Job of a Superhero…
Can your provider be the superhero you’ve been looking for?
Who doesn’t love a superhero? They swoop in at the very last second and save the world from imminent disaster using their extraordinary powers and skill. They can leap tall buildings with a single bound, fly faster than the speed of light and rescue people from dangerous situations all in the blink of an eye! Each superhero has his or her own unique abilities but what makes them all super is that they sacrifice their own needs, while placing the needs of others first.
Many professions have what can be considered superheroes working amongst them. Many people consider police and firemen to be superheroes as they risk their lives each day to help others. Doctors and nurses can also be considered superheroes as they use their training and practiced skill to save the lives of the people we love.
Daycare providers, like superheroes, do a job each day that requires superhuman skills to perform, and they are rarely acknowledged for their ability to handle tough situations under pressure. A daycare provider must possess extraordinary powers of patience, persistence, resistance, the ability to read minds and be able to super multi-task constantly. Like Superman, they are responsible for the welfare and safety of those in their care… but wait, Superman never had to deal with biting toddlers, diaper blow-outs, and projectile vomiting of breast milk in his face while trying to save the world! That makes the villains he had to fight seem like nothing in comparison!
Daycare providers can calm several crying babies at once, get a toddler room full of 14 two-year-olds to sleep, get 20 preschoolers to follow directions, and they can cook lunch, sing songs and play games all at the same time. Daycare providers work tirelessly each day, using their unique skills and talents to teach and care for children while also keeping them safe and entertained. They may not be able to fly but watch them reach a falling child with the speed of light. They may not have super-sonic hearing, but they can hear a baby cry and know exactly from the sound of it what that baby needs. Finally, they may not have ESP, but their intuition will tell them very quickly when something is not right and needs attention. Most daycare providers have extraordinary gifts when it comes to working with children and these gifts qualify them as superheroes. It’s time they were recognized for their talents and skills, and given the credit they deserve!
Daycare Diva Saves the Day
Through the years, at my center, we have worked with a lot of children that required some extra attention. Contrary to what one might think, most times these are the children we tend to bond closer with, and really see the fruits of our labor as we see their behavior improve over time. One boy in particular, who had started at the age of two, had a very hard time controlling his anger. As a toddler, he would throw screaming fits and knock toys off shelves, but as he grew older, his rages became much more serious and violent, sometimes requiring us to hold him down in a bear hug to prevent him from hurting himself or others. With extreme behavioral issues, we make an effort to help the child improve only if the family is also willing to work with us as a team in achieving our desired goal. Part of this agreement involves the parent being available to pick up their child when called at a moment’s notice whenever we feel the child’s behavior is beyond what we can handle. We continued to work with him and his family in trying different methods to improve his behavior. He had some great days along the way, and some not-so-great days…
Three years later, about 6 months before starting Kindergarten, he began doing consistently well at the center and his behavior had drastically improved. He had adapted to a routine we laid out for him that was working really well, so when Kindergarten was just around the corner, we were all very nervous about how he would do, knowing change was hard for him to handle.
We informed his Kindergarten teacher about the methods we used to help him control his outbursts, and he did okay during his first few weeks, then later started having some rough days here and there. One day I was scheduled to do a van run, which involved picking him up with several other children that attended the same school. When I arrived at his school, I became concerned when this child didn’t come out to the van right away with the rest of the group. We waited and soon the Principal came over to tell me they were having trouble getting this child to come out, and he was in the office. They had tried contacting his mother but couldn’t get a hold of her. I asked the Principal if he would like me to go in and try to get him out. He looked at me reluctantly and said, “Sure, you can try if you think it might help.” He stayed and monitored the other children in the van while I went inside to assess the situation, thinking to myself, I hope I can get him to come out.
I found him in the main office with his shoes off, which he had thrown at the office staff, and he was full of rage and he just kept yelling “NO, NO, NO, NO!” He and I had had many moments together in the past which most times ended successfully with him giving me a hug, then returning to his preschool class, so I was hoping this would be one of those times. I decided that given the situation, I must act with confidence and swiftness. I walked over to him, quickly scooped him up in my arms, and with a big smile, said “Let’s go, the other kids are looking for you”, acting as if nothing was wrong. Even though he continued saying, “NO”, he didn’t fight me while he was in my arms so I was hopeful (but not positive yet) that this would turn out fine. Then I set him back down, helped him gather his shoes and put them on, and then grabbed his backpack. I took his hand, and as we headed toward the door, I apologized to the office ladies, who were watching in amazement. (I did ask if he would apologize to them also, but when he shook his head and began yelling, “NO” again, I decided not to push it. It’s good to know which battles to fight, and which to surrender.) When the Principle saw us coming out, his jaw dropped! He looked at me and said, “what do you have, super powers?” I must admit, I felt pretty great at that moment. I looked at him and casually replied with a smile, “Maybe, or maybe I just got lucky.”
Childcare providers do more than just “watch” children. They form bonds with them and act as a secondary family to the children and families they serve. It gives us great joy when we see the progress the children we care for make through the years. With all that we are challenged with and still strive to accomplish each day, we consider it, ‘All in A Day’s Work’ in the life of a Daycare Superhero!
Field Trip to the Emergency Room
One super power that many daycare providers wish for is the ability to foresee future events. If we could only anticipate when a normal, sunny, summer day would suddenly take a tragic turn, we might be better prepared for it, or better yet, avoid it in the first place.
On a sunny, warm day, a home daycare provider was watching a group of mainly older pre-school children happily riding bikes in her driveway and drawing pictures on her sidewalk with chalk. Her six-year-old son was among them and he happened to be sitting on his older brother’s bike teetering back and forth trying to ride it. She was not very concerned as her son was an adventurous boy who often climbed, jumped, and rode things that were too big for his small size. Suddenly she heard him cry out in pain! As she quickly ran to him, she noticed a large amount of blood soaking through the back of his shorts. Analyzing the situation, she discovered that when the bike tipped sideways, the kickstand had punctured the back of his leg, causing a large cut, from which blood was rapidly seeping!
At this point, the daycare provider flew into panic mode and without thinking she grabbed her son, took off his shirt and tightly tied it around his leg. She then put him into a car seat and tightly buckled him in. Next she grabbed the other children, who were standing in the driveway covered in chalk, and one by one buckled them in the van as well. Once everyone was in, she then ran into the house, grabbed her keys and took off for the emergency room.
A few minutes later they arrived at the emergency room and the daycare provider pulled up to the front door and loudly beeped the horn. Within a minute, a nurse appeared and offered her assistance. The provider explained the situation and told the nurse to get a wheel chair. The nurse quickly obliged and the provider lifted her son into the chair and noticed the alarming amount of blood that now covered the shirt as well as the car seat. She was terrified, but remained in control, as the nurse quickly wheeled her son through the doors of the hospital.
The provider then parked the car and walked all the kids into the hospital waiting room. Once they were all seated, she realized she had forgotten her cell phone and could not contact parents to inform them of the situation. She knew she needed to be with her son, who was probably even more terrified without her, so she asked the receptionist to call her mom and ask her to come to the hospital to stay with the kids.
The provider’s mom soon arrived at the hospital with some crackers, juice boxes, and coloring books. The provider ran off to check on her son who she found screaming, yelling and fighting with the doctors as they tried to mend his leg. A lot of struggling and 26 stitches later, they were finally ready to leave the hospital and go back home.
That evening, as parents came to pick up their kids, the provider filled them in on the events of the day and they were all so very shocked! They couldn’t believe what she had been through and how well she had handled it all with so many children to care for. They all agreed that they probably would not have known what to do if they had been in the same situation and they commended her for keeping calm and thinking straight in such a stressful situation.
Being a daycare provider or a superhero means never knowing when tragedy is going to strike. It requires the special ability to drop everything at a moment’s notice and react to an emergency while still putting the safety and well-being of others first. You must think on the run and make tough choices and split-second decisions that could affect lives. It’s not a job for the weak at heart and as any good superhero knows, we do it all for the sake of others. It’s what being a good superhero or daycare provider is all about.
Everyone occasionally has what they consider to be a “bad” day at the office. If your office happens to be a home daycare, then a “bad” day can mean a variety of things. When the illness commonly known as rotavirus enters a home daycare, a bad day suddenly takes on a whole new meaning and a provider must channel his or her inner “superhero” FAST!
Rotavirus is a common and highly contagious form of stomach flu that spreads very quickly and causes young children to experience severe vomiting and very bad diarrhea. If it hits one child, be prepared for it to quickly hit the rest, as I found out the hard way in my own home daycare…
What started as a baby not wanting his breakfast and running a low-grade temperature, quickly turned into that same baby vomiting on the carpet and filling diaper after diaper with the worst diarrhea I had ever seen or smelled. I quickly called his mom then tried to keep up on his changings until she arrived, when the next child started to vomit and soon was also having severe stomach pains and diarrhea.
Before noon that day, several more children were throwing up in bowls and buckets and I was bathing and changing kids almost constantly! I didn’t stop running that day between washing, changing and scrubbing, while at the same time, trying to comfort and care for several sick children. Parents couldn’t have arrived soon enough! One mom still recalled many years later how she walked in that day and saw me holding a baby in each arm, both vomiting on my floor.
That day was an absolute nightmare but daycare providers must be prepared for anything. They must do whatever it takes to care for the children whose parents have chosen them for the job. They ARE superheroes and when the time comes, they must put on their capes and rise to the challenge. The children in their care are counting on them!
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I once decided to change my 16 month old baby’s diaper in the front seat of the car, on my lap, while seven months pregnant. My husband wanted to go back into the restaurant to change her but I assured him that any supermom could quickly and efficiently change a diaper in a snap! Once done, I proudly placed her back in her car seat and we were set to go, or so I overconfidently thought. When we walked into Target ten minutes later, I felt wetness on the back of my pants leg, and reached for it only to end up with a piece of poo in my hands. Startled, I flung it in the air without thinking, and it landed on the floor with a splat! After returning from my mad dash to the bathroom to wash up, I was humiliated as workers had to quarantine a huge section at the front of the store to disinfect it, and I quietly made my exit back out of the store as inconspicuously as possible. Sometimes, even super heroes miss their mark!
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Just In Time!
All childcare providers, both home and center, are required to be certified in First Aid and CPR. Now, it’s one thing to go through the training, where you learn and practice on resuscitation dummies, and a whole other thing to actually put these skills into practice in real life. I can probably speak for many trained professionals when I say that we dread the day we may actually have to put what we’ve learned to use in real life. It can be both a paralyzing and a powerful feeling, as an assistant director of a center discovered…
It was a late summer afternoon and the day was coming to an end with an hour left before closing time. The assistant director was making her rounds through the classrooms when she arrived at the Toddler room. She noticed one of the little girls just didn’t look right. Her complexion looked a little gray, then suddenly, right before her eyes she began turning blue! As she swiftly ran to her side, the little girl suddenly collapsed in her arms. She laid her down on the floor and tapped her to see if she was responsive; the child was completely unresponsive. The teacher thought to herself, This can’t be happening! She leaned down to see if her chest was rising, and determined the child was not breathing. She yelled to the other teachers in the room, “She’s unresponsive! Call 911!” The assistant director’s heart was beating out of her chest as she prepared to begin CPR on this little girl, thinking, I can do this.
By this time the other teacher was on the phone with 911, and when they asked her for the center’s address, she was so panicked that she couldn’t remember it even though she had been working there for two years! Another parent had entered the room by then, and she also couldn’t remember the address, but she pulled out the center’s business card and blurted it out to the teacher on the phone. The emergency team was on its way!
Meanwhile, the assistant director had blown her first breath into the little girl, with no success. She repositioned the little girl’s head and blew in another breath, this time, successfully. As anyone who’s been CPR-trained knows, one good breath deserves another! After the second breath went in, before even having to begin compressions, the little girl suddenly came to. Oh heavens, what a relief! Within the next two minutes, the emergency team arrived, followed by the child’s mother. The mother was grateful beyond words for the assistant director having saved her daughter’s life. This was truly a superhero moment!
Later, the child’s mom informed the staff involved that she had forgotten to tell them her child had a condition where her brain sometimes forgets to tell her to breathe, so she had experienced many fainting spells in the past. Wow, just a little (but significant) detail she forgot to mention!
Ultimately, the person you choose to care for your child is the person to whom you are entrusting your child’s life. Make sure they are prepared and fully aware of how to handle emergency situations that may arise. Your child’s provider will have to be their substitute superhero, while you, their main superhero, is away. Make sure they are certified and have the skills and training required for the job!
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You may ask a provider to show you their First Aid and CPR cards, so you can ensure they are current. Most states require they be renewed every 2 to 3 years.
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