11.5 hour work day
I started my new job last night. After 7 hours of being on my feet all day long, lifting 5 million boxes (I counted, it was really that many... or at least it felt like it) and unpacking 12 large boxes of perfume (which gives me headaches), I went straight to job number 2 and worked for 4.5 hours watching children. And by children, I mean a little bit of watching my co-workers too.
There was absolutely no structure. We were in a mini-gym, so there was a lot of running and screaming. The ages of children spanned 2-12 years. Of the 21 kids, 6 spoke only Spanish. That was the biggest challenge. I couldn't speak with them at all. One little girl would smile and nod her head yes at everything I would say or ask because she had no clue of what I was saying. Two children were crying for their mom's and I couldn't even understand what they were saying, with the exception of "Mama". By myself, I took 4 Spanish-speaking-only children up to the water fountain. They started to run and I kept saying walk, at which one little boy would repeat what I said over and over, clearly not having any clue what I was saying. There was also an autistic 3 year old that would scream no at me whenever I would go near him, even though he was about to fall off the monkey bars and I had to get him down. Then he would do it all over again. And there was one cute little boy, so cute you just wanted to hug him, that threw a toy in my face and scratched my cheeks with his "claws". That was lovely. To top it all off, the co-worker that my new boss adores and says is her best worker, was either out of the room or on her cell phone the whole time. That left me with 2 high school workers, one that spoke Spanish (thank god!) and was great, one guy that acts as immature as the kids and would also leave the room constantly and the other new girl.
I can't say if I like or dislike the job yet. I will be by myself 2-3 times a week at other locations, which will be great. I will still have my challenges at the other locations, especially since one child I will be watching is deaf. My biggest challenge will be to learn at least a little Spanish and Sign Language. It felt terrible to have no way of communicating with those children. Thankfully, there was one 10 year old girl (the highlight my night) that was really quiet and withdrawn whom I befriended and she taught me how to say "ball", "What is your name?" and "How old are you?" It is a start. One would think that after 4 years of Spanish in high school, I would be able to speak a little bit of Spanish. But I don't.
This will be an interesting job.
There was absolutely no structure. We were in a mini-gym, so there was a lot of running and screaming. The ages of children spanned 2-12 years. Of the 21 kids, 6 spoke only Spanish. That was the biggest challenge. I couldn't speak with them at all. One little girl would smile and nod her head yes at everything I would say or ask because she had no clue of what I was saying. Two children were crying for their mom's and I couldn't even understand what they were saying, with the exception of "Mama". By myself, I took 4 Spanish-speaking-only children up to the water fountain. They started to run and I kept saying walk, at which one little boy would repeat what I said over and over, clearly not having any clue what I was saying. There was also an autistic 3 year old that would scream no at me whenever I would go near him, even though he was about to fall off the monkey bars and I had to get him down. Then he would do it all over again. And there was one cute little boy, so cute you just wanted to hug him, that threw a toy in my face and scratched my cheeks with his "claws". That was lovely. To top it all off, the co-worker that my new boss adores and says is her best worker, was either out of the room or on her cell phone the whole time. That left me with 2 high school workers, one that spoke Spanish (thank god!) and was great, one guy that acts as immature as the kids and would also leave the room constantly and the other new girl.
I can't say if I like or dislike the job yet. I will be by myself 2-3 times a week at other locations, which will be great. I will still have my challenges at the other locations, especially since one child I will be watching is deaf. My biggest challenge will be to learn at least a little Spanish and Sign Language. It felt terrible to have no way of communicating with those children. Thankfully, there was one 10 year old girl (the highlight my night) that was really quiet and withdrawn whom I befriended and she taught me how to say "ball", "What is your name?" and "How old are you?" It is a start. One would think that after 4 years of Spanish in high school, I would be able to speak a little bit of Spanish. But I don't.
This will be an interesting job.
Comments
Don't be afraid to say something to those who do nothing while you are there! Stick up for yourself so you don't have to do it all!
I took eight years of Spanish and can't say much of anything. Como te Llamas? Donde esta el bano? Where is the bathroom?
Anyway, good luck girl. Should be an adventure! :)