Do You Show Your Emotions at Pick Up ?

[DanceMom]

When you have a BAD daycare day - kids are crazy etc and you are just WORN out from the LONG day - parents pick up...do you hide that your crabby and worn out from the day - or are there times you just cannot hide it?

I try to be as cheerful as I can at pick ups and drop offs but there are days that I am exhausted and have had enough when parents pick up and I cannot hide it - I feel unprofessional but I think and hope that they would understand working with 9 infants and toddlers all day for over 10 hours....

[katie]

I try, but don't always succeed! Dcg peed on my girls bed right before she left! I handed the soiled clothes over in a bag. I tried to be nice about it but...

[kidkair]

I try hard to be cheerful when around parents but there are the occasional parent who can tell I had a bad day regardless and will ask me about it. Once I broke down completely because a parent asked what was wrong. I felt very unprofessional but she reassured me that I was human just like her and since then we share our true emotions with each other. It's helpful knowing what is going on in the dck lives outside of dc and knowing the true emotion the parent is feeling helps me understand acting out behavior some days and the same goes with the parents knowing what's going on at daycare and how the provider truely feels. All my parents know that when we are outside and I'm sitting just watching all the kids and not interacting that it's been a tough day and when I'm up and interacting that it's been a good day because I'm still moving after 10 hours with 5 kids. Don't feel bad I'm sure the parents understand. Oh and when I'm having a bad day I get some relief by singing songs like wheels on the bus and doing silly things such as the worms on the bus go wiggle wiggle wiggle. We have started singing songs after meals while cleaning up (kind of like whistling while you work). Today we ended snack with monkeys jumping on a bed and when one fell off I helped one child down from their seat. That was hilarious and really improved my mood

[marniewon]

I've been told that I have an "open" face - that everything I'm thinking shows. So I try very hard to NOT let my emotions show if I've had a long/tough day. With that being said, sometimes it's really hard! It's not mom's fault that her 11mo boy aggravated my headache by screeching all day long. It's not other mom's fault that her 15mo boy doesn't sleep for nap and keeps everyone else up. They work hard at their jobs too, and the last thing they need is my whining. So I don't. I put a smile on my face. I tell it like it is though, I will tell dcm that baby didn't nap (just so she knows). I will tell other dcm that 11mo boy has started screeching, to see what she does at home when that happens, so we can stay on the same page. And I certainly will tell parents if there are behavioral problems in older kids that the parents can help with. But overall I try to smile and wish them a good night.

[safechner]

Well, I am not in a GREAT mood all day and tonight but I can hide my emotions from the parents at pick up/drop off. It was not hard. I also can hide when I was sick.

[kendallina]

I hide it. But I'm a very smiley person and I've always found it easy to hide negative emotions. <---- See, I even do it here and I've had a super crappy day! I can't stop being smiley! <---- also can't stop exclamation points, it's really a problem.

[DBug]

Yep, I fake it too ::. I wouldn't want a parent to come in here all grouchy when they've had a rough day, so I put on a smile when they get here. I'm honest when parents ask about their child's day, but I don't show frustration or exasperation. They all think I'm an expert, and I'd like to keep it that way

[Jewels]

I always hide it, I always have a smile on my face, and have never told a parent if I had a bad day.

[Lianne]

I'm honest if it's been a rough day but we don't have them often, luckily, and I don't go into detail about who did what unless it was an extreme situation. For a general rough day I might say that it's been a rough day with some listening or sharing trouble but that's enough. My clients all seem to understand that there are occasional rough days. I also don't tell the parents about every (or most) things their children do in my care that require being spoken to or disciplined. I will speak to the parent if there is an ongoing behaviour issue and after trying several things the issue is not resolving itself. I feel that, for the most part, if I've dealt with the situation then it's over and done with.

[laundryduchess@yahoo.com]

Im really good at turning on,... "Miss Jill". Only a few know if they smell coffee in the afternoon it has been a long day.

[DCMom]

Im really good at turning on,... "Miss Jill". Only a few know if they smell coffee in the afternoon it has been a long day.

LOL, same here

[TGT09]

I've been told that I have an "open" face - that everything I'm thinking shows. So I try very hard to NOT let my emotions show if I've had a long/tough day. With that being said, sometimes it's really hard! It's not mom's fault that her 11mo boy aggravated my headache by screeching all day long. It's not other mom's fault that her 15mo boy doesn't sleep for nap and keeps everyone else up. They work hard at their jobs too, and the last thing they need is my whining. So I don't. I put a smile on my face. I tell it like it is though, I will tell dcm that baby didn't nap (just so she knows). I will tell other dcm that 11mo boy has started screeching, to see what she does at home when that happens, so we can stay on the same page. And I certainly will tell parents if there are behavioral problems in older kids that the parents can help with. But overall I try to smile and wish them a good night.

WOW! I couldn't have wrote anything different! This is exactly me from the "open face" to the telling my parents how it is. I don't want them to go home only to find out the hard way that Johnny had a 30 minute nap when he normally takes a 2 hour!

[Bizzymom1111]

I try to to fake it! Although, one of my dcb's behavior has been so terrible lately that I've stopped trying to fake my emotions. I've been downright frustrated with this child and when Ive told mo
about his day, she's just been like,"ooh, what's wrong honeybunches? Why are you not listening? Are you mad at mommy?", in a sickening singsong voice, and apparently hasn't taken me seriously. So yesterday when she picked up I couldn' t help it! But I think she got the idea that his behavior is seriosly stressing all of us out, but we'll see! So, I say sometimes you can and should convey a little frustration, if it's going to get the point across.

[tenderhearts]

I'm good also at not showing it and being "happy", but I'm always told that I'm always happy, just kind of how I am. Now if a parent says how are you? at pickup sometimes I'll good, but we had a rough day today and usually they'll say oh I'm sorry, I know it happens.