Another post started my mind going on how we all see ourselves in our profession.

Some call themselves babysitters, some childcare providers, teachers, nannies, the list goes on. I was wondering what you see yourself as and why?

I see myself as a childcare provider/teacher. The reason for this is I do much more then a babysitter. I take care of children for a profession, not just occasionally. Also, I have alot more skills, classtime, requirements, expectations then a babysitter. The local Red Cross give babysitting classes for 1/2 day and you have to be at least 13 to take them. Any of the classes I take you have to be 18 and a childcare provider. I also invest alot into my business that most babysitters don't.

A teacher also, I feel I am. I teach these children everyday life lessons and getting them ready for the world. Some decide to learn them, others don't, either way I don't feel like a failure because I taught them, they chose to learn or not. Alot of the teachers at the local elementary school wishes I could sub for them. They see with just experience of working with children that I could walk in and take over because of working so closely with children for so many years.

What do you consider yourself?

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Babysitter

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where is the other thread about this? ....I wanna say what I said in that one...

(sorry, having a lazy moment )

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I think I saw it in my thread of "Are there Rules"? I'm slow to though due to a trip to the dentist this morning and then still fighting a nasty sinus infection for the last two weeks.

Off to see the doctor for a fourth time this afternoon! I have to be better by next week before all the kids come back.

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I think it was this one: https://www.daycare.com/forum/showth...cher%2C+titles

This is what I said:
"People think daycare is babysitting because honesty that is why they are paying you....to watch their child while they are at work. The teaching part is just a perk for them.

Most daycare is just babysitting. Yes, we own a business and we are professional in our field but that doesn't change the fact that we are watching kids in our homes because parents are out working.

Most of us aren't watching kids in our homes just so we could teach them....if we were, there wouldn't be so many posts/vents on here about how we are frustrated because a parent is bringing their child to us when they weren't at work.

I've never heard a teacher complain that Timmy was brought to school today but his parents aren't at work.....

Babysitters might be teenagers working for mall money but daycare providers are the same thing just adults who work for bill money.

Before everyone gets all hot under the collar and starts ranting about how we are all teachers etc etc. My opinions are mine and many might disagree with me (as is your right) but unless there is a degree on your wall and possibly a student loan in your budget/finances, we are care providers. Professional adults who provide child care (i.e babysitting services) for parents while they go to work.

We may teach the kids a boat load of things while in our care (and that is awesome) but the parents didn't seek out our services to teach their child anything......they might have been swayed by the "perks" of what you teach when choosing you over the next provider, but when the day comes to a end, we are being paid to watch their kids.

Call me what you want, I don't really care. Just respect my policies and pay me on time.
FWIW~ I have the degree and the student loan, but am licensed as a family child care provider NOT as a preschool center. Yes, I choose to teach the kids but that isn't why my dck's are here everyday."

I am pretty sure there are a few other threads to about this that I replied in but this is the first one that comes to mind.

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I don't mind what parents call me.

To me, I am a daycare provider. I provide care during the day to kids. Call me a babysitter because I am that too.

I am not a licensed teacher so I prefer not to be called that although we do teach the kids things each day.

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I dont care what the parents call me.

I consider myself a daycare provider....I provide daycare services. I dont ever call myself a teacher (even though i do teach). That word carries a lot of weight with the parents so I wouldnt use it unless I was actually doing a curriculum, etc.

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I keep saying I'm a daycare provider but the parents keep referring to me as their babysitter.....

I gave up on that one...even to drive the point a crossed went as far as putting a Daycare Provider poem in the beginning of the contract...guess it didn't do much bc I am still The Babysitter....granted...Most of my children are the first child and have never been in daycare before so they haven't gotten broken in to the whole daycare scene yet. Maybe if I dressed more professionally like scrubs with a daycare logo on it it might drive the point a crossed...but I really like being in my sweats and tee shirts bc at the end of the day I am a mess hahah!!

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I tease the kids and say I would never sit on a baby
My DCB 3 laughs and trys to sit on me singing
"I'm a baby sittew I'm a baby sittew"
But honestly I don't care what they call me as long as they pick up their kids on time and pay me
But the kids camm me Miss C___ or mama for the toddlers.

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I dont care what people call me, but I'm pretty close to a second mother to all of my daycare kids. 5/6 of the kids keep calling me Mommy, even though I constantly tell them to call me by my real name. I do feel bad when their real moms hear them call me Mommy. I always correct them (I do not think it is appropriate to call me mommy and they know this but they still do). They definitely know the difference, of course, but most of them see me more than their actual mothers. Maybe to them a Mommy is someone who loves you and cares for you and guides you gently through life, and it is a job description rather than a name (in the opinion of the kids)???

I am a teacher too I suppose. While I am not rigid, I do teach daily preschool activities to all the kids. I teach baby sign language. I teach manners. I teach group social skills.

I am a care giver. I give LOTS of hugs and care. I kiss boo boo's, wipe noses, and give lots of hugs when needed.

I am (not) a babysitter. LOL. I do not sit on babies. I do not plop the kids in front of the tv and eat bon bons.

ALL of my clients call me a babysitter. They know and (most of them) appreciate all I do, and to them it is just a word. I know they dont mean anything offensive by it. Yes it is an annoying term but I pick my battles.

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I am Owner/Operator Childcare Provider

I feel I do more then babysit. Years ago I used to be a babysitter.

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I like owner/operator of (Insert daycare name here)!

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So Nan your the only one that calls themselves truly a babysitter. Why, don't you call yourself a Childcare Provider? Don't say because of the check memo thing.

I would think with all the years experience you have, your consulting business, and your blogs, etc. you would want your job title to be different. It just seems with your professions you would want a different title. Especially with what it seems you put into your program, training assistants, the food you provide, etc.

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Same here....in Madison, the term Daycare Provider or Childcare Provider was more common. Out here in the boonies, I get a lot of "babysitter" and "do you watch kids?". They don't mean disrespect, it's just the local culture. In the long run, it doesn't matter, as long as they pay me, are respectful, and we have fun.

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I did see my self as a childcare provider/teacher until my DCK's were dropping to parttime due to a loss of a job, etc. And i'm preggo which nothing got done! LOL. Right now my full timers are a 1 year old and 4month old. All my teachings ( colors, alphabet, counting, etc) went out the window and i really miss those days. Come September my DD will old enough to start tracing and learning her letters so i MIGHT start that back up. Being 8 months preggo, we MIGHT get art done and that's on a great day

Right now i guess i'm just a babysitter.

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I also remember another post about this!

I'm an Early Childhood Educator by trade. It's my profession so I call myself that OR a childcare provider/Teacher. I have the training and skills to deal with children and teach them life skills. Teaching, for me, is about MUCH MUCH more than ABC's and 123's. It's about teaching resiliency, emotional regulation, assertiveness, communication, social, emotional and cognitive development etc. I am teaching children to become better adults each and every day. I am also teaching children how to break the habit of poor coping skills that they learn from their home environment.

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My main reason is that I want to be distanced as far as possible from the role of educator for children. It's another field to me and it's a field I see being emeshed into child CARE without the proper pay going towards funding the hard work it takes.

I'm very clear I do NOT do a developmentally appropriate program. I think there is a big market for it but the market for it is (here) primarily if it is for free. I can find clients to pay me a great wage for care/babysitting but I can't find clients to pay me a even greater wage for care/babysitting/ AND education. I look specifically for clients who want the care based program and are willing to pay top dollar for the high end of THAT.

I would gladly hire out a worker to offer a DAP program within IF I could find clients to pay both the high fee for care AND an additional fee for the DAP. I don't think there will be a market for that in my lifetime. I would offer a second language program, music program, karate program... etc.. IF I could have the funding in addition to CARE dollars.

So I stay within the title babysitter because it keeps the expectations simple and grounded in the CARE part of child care. CARE in a group is what I do best and get paid well for. It's what I write about... teach to other providers... and consult.

Disclaimer: When I say babysitter I'm not referring to putting my body on top of a child as a method of CARE. (Hope that works for ya Michael

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Now THAT is a teacher.

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