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AnythingsPossible 01:56 PM 01-20-2011
So, after this school year I will no longer be providing after school care. I have yet to decide what I am going to do about this summer. Considering I can hardly tolerate my afternoons, not sure how i could handle them all day during the summer. I certainly admire everyone who enjoys this age and care's for them, but as for me, not sure how I am going to make it through the rest of the school year. Every afternoon is just stressful and irritating. I dread 3:30....
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melskids 02:20 PM 01-20-2011
welcome to the club...lol
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momatheart 02:34 PM 01-20-2011
Well maybe you should have the last day of school be your last day as well. Let them know now.

Also this is a rough time of year. Maybe after Spring hits you will think differently.
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Blackcat31 02:49 PM 01-20-2011
Originally Posted by melskids:
welcome to the club...lol
There's a club?! LOL! I want to be a member too! I caught my 9 yr old dcb playing with the other kids as a group. They were all giggling and laughing and appearing to have a good time...when I went to actually check...he was taking one of the baby dolls and having the other kids take turns sniffing it's bum!!! Some kids!!! NO School Kids!! Too much of that type of stuff or me!! This kids mom is a family therapist who specializes in chidlren's play therapy! Grrrrr!
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AnythingsPossible 03:22 PM 01-20-2011
Originally Posted by Blackcat31:
There's a club?! LOL! I want to be a member too! I caught my 9 yr old dcb playing with the other kids as a group. They were all giggling and laughing and appearing to have a good time...when I went to actually check...he was taking one of the baby dolls and having the other kids take turns sniffing it's bum!!! Some kids!!! NO School Kids!! Too much of that type of stuff or me!! This kids mom is a family therapist who specializes in chidlren's play therapy! Grrrrr!
I had this exact play scenario last week! Kids mom isn't a therapist though! He will be 8 this summer and just loves his potty humor. Me, not so much.
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laundrymom 03:47 PM 01-20-2011
I'm with you on the sa opinion!! Ugh!!!
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Live and Learn 06:18 PM 01-20-2011
I love my own SA ... but take care of someone else's? Uh, no thanks!
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Lucy 08:34 PM 01-20-2011
Summer before last I had 7 SA'ers and a 2 yo. My worst summer EVER. The alarm would go off in the morning I would dread getting up to start my day.
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countrymom 05:17 AM 01-21-2011
well sign me up too. As of last september 2010, I stop providing care for school agers. I too dreaded them, getting up in the morning, but most of all, I was the referee. Now I will take the 6 yr olds because they are really good and I do take a 9 yr old (my dd and her get along so good and they are the same age so she stays out of my hair) but I had "leftover" kids, the ones that no one wanted. But every year it kept getting worse and worse, so last year when we put the pool in and the trouble the kids caused (not to mention some parents lying ) I said enough. It feels "wonderful"
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momofboys 05:20 AM 01-21-2011
Sign me up too! After this school year I plan to let my family know I won't do SA after their youngest (he's 3 1/2) reaches K. That means I still have one more school year after this year to watch his older sister. That seems like too long for me. I have enough problems with my own SA children that I don't want to have to deal with other SAs!
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momma2girls 05:41 AM 01-21-2011
Sign me up as well!!! There is always problems with SA children, no matter what!!
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missnikki 06:19 AM 01-21-2011
I'm sorry you all feel that way. More for me, I guess.

In all honesty, I enjoy the older ones. We can have hilarious conversations, I get to see incredible artwork (not that little one's can't do it), read wonderful stories, teach a game of chess (I've been beaten, too), and get visited by people taller than me who remember their time here. I have all kinds- helpers (my coffee is made for me everyday), gamers (kickball, anyone?), jokesters (they all played dead when I came back in the room), and general contractors (you should see the lego mansion the boys worked on- phenominal.)

It has its up and downs as with any age group. I would say the same about the younger ones, I don't miss the snotty noses, blowout diapers, whining, shoe tying, potty training, etc....

It helps that I'm here for playtime and not academia. I teach social values and compassion, not math or English. My job is incredible, and at the end of the day I can say I got paid to fly a kite.
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Blackcat31 06:29 AM 01-21-2011
Missnikki...I totally see your point but in a mixed aged group it is the SA'ers that drive me crazy! If I could make a living like I do now with just SA'ers I would for sure! Like you said, no snotty noses, no butts to wipe and no eating and napping issues but there isn't enough $ in taking just SA'ers here so if I am doing a mixed age group the SA'ers are the first to have to go because of what they bring to the table with their potty humor and general behavior. It is okay in a SA ONLY setting..just not mixed with little ones. I would love to do only big kid stuff! I LOVE Legos!! I just do not think that SA'ers should be mixed with the under 5 crowd. IMPO.
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missnikki 06:43 AM 01-21-2011
Originally Posted by Blackcat31:
Missnikki...I totally see your point but in a mixed aged group it is the SA'ers that drive me crazy! If I could make a living like I do now with just SA'ers I would for sure! Like you said, no snotty noses, no butts to wipe and no eating and napping issues but there isn't enough $ in taking just SA'ers here so if I am doing a mixed age group the SA'ers are the first to have to go because of what they bring to the table with their potty humor and general behavior. It is okay in a SA ONLY setting..just not mixed with little ones. I would love to do only big kid stuff! I LOVE Legos!! I just do not think that SA'ers should be mixed with the under 5 crowd. IMPO.
I agree with not mixing with under 5. Mine range from kindergarten to 8th grade, and that is hard enough. I have the weird schedule- early in the morning until 8 with kids, then 3-6 pm in the afternoon. I have time outside of that doing 'director stuff', but I truly enjoy the kids.
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melskids 07:13 AM 01-21-2011
oh missnikki, i do agree. the problem comes in when, like others have said, you have to mix them in with the littles. the days i have JUST the SA, and can focus on them and doing cool activities, i actually have a lot of fun. i think alot has to do with the kids i have cant seem to occupt themselves, for even just a bit, when i'm busy with the little kids. not unless there's a screen in front of them anyway
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MarinaVanessa 08:49 AM 01-21-2011
I have to join "the club" too I'm afraid. As of this week I changed the age ranges that I will accept from 6 weeks-12 years to 6 weeks-6 years lol. Sorry but it just irritates me when an older child is just plain rude. By that time (if the child hasn't been with me since he was young) it's really too late for me to change the child, well actually I just don't feel like I should have to put in all of the work to change the child's attitude and the parents sit back and do nothing or worse; undo what I "fixed". It's obvious that rude children at daycare are rude children at home.

I'll stick to infants, toddlers, pre-schoolers and kindergarteners thank you very much lol. I enjoy them all a lot more.
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Live and Learn 08:58 AM 01-21-2011
When it is just my own school aged children here with their friends we really don't have many issues.
But when you mix my dck with sa ....that is the problem. My own sa children are great with my lil dc kids. The behavior heads south when.....somebody else's..... school agers are added to the mix with my lil dc kids!
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DCMomOf3 09:04 AM 01-21-2011
oh no. school age in the summer is painful. entirely. they get too antsy and bored and un-creative.
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lil angels 09:08 AM 01-21-2011
I am in the club to. I have my own sa and he is normally ok I can send him to his room if I need to get him out of the mix. I do not take sa in of off the street I will keep them if I had them since baby. But now I have 4 because they have all grew up here and I am not looking forward to summer.
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Jenjo 02:47 PM 01-21-2011
This last summer was the worst one for me, because of my SA, I am quitting completely at the end of summer this year but I already told the SA parents I will not watch any of them this summer. Mine are all very rude and disrespectful. They are constantly bored or fighting with each other. They really do not get along. Their parents don't get a long either. I live in a small town.
Yesterday they had been doing spit wads when I told them to clean it up one boy said hahahaha we got away with it for a while, with a smile on his face. His brother totally complained that he had to pick them up. I have had problems with a 6 year old bullying a sweet 5 year old drop in, I had. Actually he is a bit of a bully to lots of kids. Oh 4 months and I am done!
I really think my SA kids are just especially hard! I don't think they are all like this, but the experience has left a bad taste in my mouth, a very bad one.
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Blackcat31 04:11 PM 01-21-2011
The worst things my SA'ers over the last few years have done is:

moon passing traffic
throw snowballs at passing cars
broke the neighbors garage window out by throwing rocks
broke several toddler ride on toys
broke large tree branches from the climbing tree
stuffed my dryer vent full of leaves and grass
threw rocks down the furnace exhaust vent
tried to flush a favorite toy so his brother couldn't have it
bite someone (biter was 8/victim was 3)
kicked ALL my playground balls down the street (we are on a hill)
threw many of my outdoor toys over the fence into the neighbors yard
tried to use climbing rope to tie around another child's neck
buried all my Tonka trucks in sandbox atleast 3 feet deep
one dcg who was 9 got her tongue stuck to the fence every winter! DUH!!
shoved a 5 year old off of play castle and broke his arm
slowly and meticulously stole all my hotwheel cars in their pockets
conned a 4 yr old into coloring his arms & legs with a permanent marker he brought from home

I'm sure there is more but that was what I thought of off the top of my head

SA'ers are too much trouble for me.
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AmandasFCC 05:17 PM 01-21-2011
Oh I am so part of this club. I find I have to spend more time directly supervising my school kids than the toddlers in the group. It never ceases to amaze me.
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My Lil' Monkeys 07:20 PM 01-21-2011
Originally Posted by AnythingsPossible:
So, after this school year I will no longer be providing after school care. I have yet to decide what I am going to do about this summer. Considering I can hardly tolerate my afternoons, not sure how i could handle them all day during the summer. I certainly admire everyone who enjoys this age and care's for them, but as for me, not sure how I am going to make it through the rest of the school year. Every afternoon is just stressful and irritating. I dread 3:30....
I'm in the same boat! I love my infants and toddlers!! My group is from 10 months to 3 years. I accepted a 6 yr old because I needed the money but I dread Fridays (she has school M-TH)!! No, I hate Fridays now... she can't keep herself entertained at all!! I feel like all do is find things for her to do other than sit on my couch and watch TV. She can be rude - telling me today that she doesn't like peanut butter so we can't have that for lunch, or that she won't drink milk. She's the sister of the 3 yr old and I've decided that I'm not doing SA this summer - at all (which yes, I know that I'll lose the sister but I need my sanity)... there is no way I would make the summer everyday with her!! I'm sorry... give me butts to wipe, baby's screaming, noses to wipe over SA any day... (I do love my own SA!!! He's awesome!! But he's mine and I wouldn't trade him for the world!! )
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VanessaEO 09:56 PM 01-21-2011
Wow! I had NO IDEA I wasn't alone in my preference for younger kids.

When I worked at a DC center, I LOVED the SA classroom. But I just let my last SA family go, and I'm so glad that I did.

My rule right now is 6 weeks to K. I'm not planning on watching K age kids. I may change my mind when my current kids because K age - but I'm not taking new kids that old.
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AfterSchoolMom 01:07 PM 01-22-2011
I have to agree with MissNikki. I really enjoy the older bunch. Before last week, I cared for SA's exclusively. Now I have SA's and babies. We'll see which I end up liking better.
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QualiTcare 01:23 PM 01-22-2011
Originally Posted by VanessaEO:
Wow! I had NO IDEA I wasn't alone in my preference for younger kids.

When I worked at a DC center, I LOVED the SA classroom. But I just let my last SA family go, and I'm so glad that I did.

My rule right now is 6 weeks to K. I'm not planning on watching K age kids. I may change my mind when my current kids because K age - but I'm not taking new kids that old.
what was it that made you love the SA in a center, but not at home?
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