Not Sure What To Title This One...

On it's most basic level it's venting, a rant, a pouring out of frustration. It's been building, and building and building. It erupted yesterday, not like a volcano, more like a dog who has been poked, prodded, and stressed out for too long. The dog WILL snap at some point. The most docile, relaxed, content dog will snap if subjected to stress for too long. This is my disclaimer. Proceed with caution. It's wordy and ranty. I've left out any and all foul words. Read at your own risk.

The current schedule set up is 4 days on, 1 day off. 4 ten hour days with a full day off during the week. The boss has a policy of NO overtime. This is the way it has worked for years. There are 3 teachers in the classroom. 2 leads and 1 assistant. Both lead teachers work together 3 days a week. 2 days a week is a lead teacher and the assistant. Communication is key to making this system work. It has its faults, but we've always been able to overcome those faults through communication. The last 3 weeks it fell apart.

For the past few months my usual day off has Wednesday. My assistant and my co-lead were having some communication problems early on. I would come in on Thursday at 7am and be immediately confronted by the boss about every single thing that had gone wrong the day before. At 8am my co-lead would come in and I would be hit with a laundry list of everything she felt the assistant did not do correctly the day before. By 9am the co-lead and I either hashed out ways to solve the problems or, with larger issues, we would be in agreement that we would talk during nap time. I would relay the problem solving ideas to the boss on my lunch break and she would give me additional advice. This system worked fairly well.

The problem solving ideas were mostly successful. There were a few failures here and there but overall, it worked. Then it would happen again on Friday. I would arrive at 7am, the assistant would come in at 8am, and she would give me HER laundry list of everything she felt my co-lead didn't do correctly on Wednesday. We would then hash out ways to solve the problems or agree to talk at nap time, I would relay the problem solving ideas that the co-lead and I came up with, and we would go on with our day. Because my co-lead was off on Friday's, when Monday came around I would relay to her the problem solving ideas that the assistant and I discussed the previous Friday. On Tuesday all 3 of us-(me, my co-lead, and my assistant)-had a meeting and, taking their complaints & all of our problem solving ideas into account, I would make a decision as to how the problems would be handled. After a few weeks of this, I felt a bit like a referee...but it was working and the laundry list of problems was getting shorter.

Then the last 3 weeks happened.

3 weeks ago, on my day off, a child, or children, plugged up the hand washing sink with paper towel--and left the water on. Neither teacher noticed, the children didn't say anything, and the teachers took the children outside to play. The children and the teachers came back in to a partially flooded classroom. The entire tile area-(1/3 of the classroom)-was covered with water. A small portion-(roughly 2X3 feet)-of the carpet was sopping wet. The boss went crazy. I got a phone call, at home, on my day off, from the boss. She was livid.

2 weeks ago, on my day off, one of the teachers left a brand new set of black Sharpie's out on the table during nap time. She forgot about them and the children got up. Use your imagination on that one. Let's just say that when I arrived on Thursday morning and saw black Sharpie drawings all over the walls, cd's, calendar, cubbies, sink, bathroom, loft, books, toys, tables, floors, and windows, I was not impressed. The boss, who was not there on Wednesday because she was taking care of her husband, walked into my room on Thursday morning and I'm pretty sure her jaw hit the floor--much like mine did. She didn't say a word until my co-lead showed up. That show-down was ugly, and was heard through the office door. I'm STILL trying to clean up that mess. The magic eraser didn't work, and neither did comet. Any hints on how to get Sharpie off of a painted wall and linoleum would be great.

Last week was my boss's breaking point. Despite the heavy rain, rumbling thunder, and consistent lightning all day long, my co-lead decided to put the kid's jackets on and take them outside. The boss stopped her and the kids at the door to the playground, wanting to know WHY she was taking the kids outside in the pouring rain. The answer my brilliant co-lead gave?

"It says in the handbook that we take the kids outside every day."

Apparently she missed the 2 most important words about outside play.

'WEATHER PERMITTING'

I'm now the sole lead teacher in my classroom, with 2 assistants, I'm working 3 full days and 2 half days a week. Problem solved? I dunno, we'll have to wait and see.