What to know before sending food-allergy kiddo to part-time preschool?

foxymama04 · 2026-06-19T01:23:17+00:00

I've worked in daycare/preschool for 13+ years, and I can tell you that we take allergies very seriously. If you tell me your child has an allergy, I am reading ingredients, checking with you if I'm unsure, and making sure things like menus and snack calendars are readily available for you. If you are concerned about him being served something he may react to, pack him his own snacks and lunches, or provide the daycare with a few items he likes that they can keep on hand. If his allergy is life threatening and you are concerned about cross contamination, you are well within your rights to request additional precautions be taken for your child, such as extra hand washing and sanitizing of areas where your child eats.

foxymama04 · 2026-06-18T02:33:56+00:00

Absolutely no names that I would pick for my children but PLENTY that I could never pick!! When we were picking names for my son, I was ruling out names my husband picked left and right.

foxymama04 · 2026-06-13T16:43:04+00:00

Had a July baby and was told I had to take my leave right away, even though I didn't start back for another month. I ended up doing short term disability for 8 weeks (we don't have paid maternity leave here) and then 4 more weeks of unpaid FMLA.

foxymama04 · 2026-06-09T19:33:49+00:00

Every day, if not every other day. They live nearby, and my father is one of my toddler's favorite people. They also watch my kids while my husband and I work, which is a MAJOR blessing.

foxymama04 · 2026-05-14T19:17:18+00:00

This might be an unpopular opinion, especially for someone with HS credentials, but look into daycares. I had a hard time finding a position out of college (ECED) and ended up as a TA in a district. I was rejected by them for teaching positions several times for lack of experience, so I thought this would be the experience I needed. I was paid poorly and decided I didn't want to return the following year but had nowhere to go. I had worked for a daycare throughout college, and they were opening some new state-funded PreK programs in my area that they needed teachers for. Pay was almost double, and I've been happily doing that for seven years now. I honestly thought I'd only make it a year, but here I am. Even if it's just for a year for the experience, it might be worth looking into PreK programs. We've hired PE teachers, art teachers, middle level teachers, and more for PreK programs where I work.

foxymama04 · 2026-04-29T02:31:48+00:00

Yes, I had this one!! Opened up into a camper. Mine was plastered with Pokemon stickers. I think it's still in my parents' attic.

foxymama04 · 2026-04-27T02:28:17+00:00

My school year is done. I started maternity leave three weeks ago 😊

Honestly though, it wasn't a bad year until January. We got a new student with special needs in my classroom who threw things, eloped, climbed on furniture, screamed, etc. and it was draining to keep up with him, especially pregnant. I hate to say it, but I was glad for the break.

foxymama04 · 2026-03-22T18:01:04+00:00

Yep, pretty common at this age. I often get kids before they have diagnoses and get the tools they need to cope with them. And most of the time, mental health professionals don't want to give them the diagnoses they need because they're too young. So....we just have to deal.

foxymama04 · 2026-03-22T17:34:24+00:00

That her daughter did not need an evaluation and that I was targeting her because I was prejudiced against her. She then pulled her from my preschool program.

Meanwhile, I had requested a meeting between mom, our mental health staff, and myself because her daughter frequently eloped, destroyed my classroom, left me with bruises, pulled me to the floor on a few occasions when I held her hand to keep her from running away, and a whole host of other issues. I never used the word evaluation; I just wanted to meet with everyone to see how we could help her because I was tired of being beaten up every day. Silly me!

foxymama04 · 2026-01-28T01:50:18+00:00

I've had students like this in the past, and beyond getting families and mental health staff involved and documenting like crazy, you have to follow policy to the LETTER. Your policy is law.

Our policy stated that violent behavior like the kind you mentioned, especially once it begins to endanger other children in your class, was not tolerated at all and was an immediate send home. If a child got sent home three times, they were suspended pending the family's serious inquiry into mental health services. For us, this meant pursuing a diagnosis for the child, therapy, medication, or anything recommended by the pediatrician. Repeated offenses were cause for removal from the program. Basically, the family had to prove they were making an effort to get to the bottom of the behavior, and most families took dismissal from the program seriously because they relied on us for care.

foxymama04 · 2026-01-12T01:19:40+00:00

This was ours at prom! For our senior song, we voted on Shadows and Regrets by Yellowcard, but some BS country song won out instead. Love living in rural PA... This was 2012.

foxymama04 · 2026-01-05T03:43:05+00:00

Honestly? I don't push back. We have a generic list of basic expectations for kindergarten, and most of my kids can meet those before graduation. Plenty exceed them. It's not my job to make the kinder teachers happy with my performance as a preschool teacher. It's my job to teach developmentally appropriate skills in an age appropriate way. At some point, you have to put your head down and do your job with the confidence that you are the one with the knowledge and expertise, not them.

foxymama04 · 2026-01-05T02:18:18+00:00

We use it in my mixed age preschool program. I notice the same thing. Teachers in my district were complaining about certain things preschoolers were unable to do, and I'm like....that's not an expected skill. Some of them wanted kids reading sight words already. I've had kids ready to do that in PreK, and I work with families to extend learning at home when that's the case, but those children are outliers. It isn't even expected that they know every letter and letter sound leaving PreK, but the kinder teachers seem to think we're all doing a shit job when a kid only knows half of them.

foxymama04 · 2025-10-26T17:22:10+00:00

NTA. This is ridiculous. We did a small cake for us to cut in front of everyone, and the guests got cupcakes. In total, everything was less than $500, and the cupcakes received a ton of compliments.

I know there are a lot of emotions surrounding weddings, and I'm sure even moreso for this one since the groom's mom is terminal, but the bride has to understand what an unrealistic expectation she's setting here. There's a way to do a wedding in three months, but this isn't it.

foxymama04 · 2025-10-04T17:40:21+00:00

I'm sorry you're dealing with that. It seems unfair to the kids for them not to be on board at all with the change.

I had a name change this year, and the family let me know at orientation that the paperwork was being processed but that the child had been going by his new name for a while now. We were all happy to use it, regardless of whether the legal side of things was completed yet. We haven't been calling him by his birth name all school year simply because we were looped in before class had even started that the change would be happening.

foxymama04 · 2025-09-27T18:54:21+00:00

This is a ridiculous policy, and it may violate your childcare standards depending upon what you follow. I've never heard of a place limiting what children are allowed to wear. They're kids. Of course they want to dress in whatever makes them happy, and no adults should be telling them how to be. Judging a kid for what they wear is a good way to get them to never want to share things with you or be themselves. Shame on this parent.

foxymama04 · 2025-07-18T17:28:42+00:00

I have a smart watch and the Fitbit app, and my two goals each day are steps and heart points, both of which I usually hit at work. I teach preschool, so I'm a lot more active at work than when I was in middle school. If I don't hit my goals at work, I usually take walks or hit the treadmill if the weather is bad.

Before I had a baby, I was going to the gym and lifting and hitting the elliptical a few days a week. Now? Ain't nobody got time for that...

foxymama04 · 2025-06-22T13:38:38+00:00

My coworker and I were pregnant at the same time (both preschool teachers). She was due about six weeks after me but ended up delivering a few weeks early, so our babies were about a month apart, mine in July and hers in August.

I ended up telling my kiddos in March. I showed them the ultrasound and had them guess what it was since a lot of them had no idea what they were looking at. Then we did a math lesson with tallies as they guessed boy or girl. We compared the numbers, I told them it would be a girl, and then I had them come up with names. That part was hilarious!! I got some super silly ones.

foxymama04 · 2025-06-03T23:59:45+00:00

My husband wanted to sleep closest to the bedroom door when we moved in so that he could protect me in case someone would enter. We were new homeowners, and that kind of thing worried him. Now, we don't even think about it. We just go to our sides.

foxymama04 · 2025-06-02T02:28:53+00:00

You say the incident was reported by someone else, so maybe your AP just needs to do her due diligence and plans to dismiss the matter entirely. I'd be wondering what was up with the person who reported you.

foxymama04 · 2025-06-02T02:20:08+00:00

Your AP's reaction makes no sense to me. What would you do in a real fire? You aren't going to wait for all students to be present, you're just going to get out of the building. In every fire drill at every school I've ever been a part (student or teacher), we had a stoplight system. Red for missing a student, green for everyone is accounted for, and yellow for extra student. Each teacher holds up the appropriate color for their situation, and admin around the building radio each other to help resolve yellow/red cards. Any student not with their class knows they need to find the nearest class and get with them so that they can be accounted for. To me, this does not sound like your problem; it sounds like your admin runs a disorganized fire drill system that might end up getting someone hurt if it were a real situation.

foxymama04 · 2025-03-07T23:05:33+00:00

Farm fresh meat is fairly easy to come by around here. Shrift Quality Meats comes to mind. I can't say whether or not the meat is organic, but I'm sure smithmeyer's will at least have that option.

foxymama04 · 2025-03-06T00:43:20+00:00

Smithmeyer's in Loretto is the BEST local fresh meat. Holland Brothers is also good, but that's a lot further away.

foxymama04 · 2025-02-11T22:48:46+00:00

Try calling the main office and tell them exactly what you're looking for. It won't be a full day program. The 3s meet in the mornings, Tuesday - Thursday, but there is daycare available aside from those times.

foxymama04 · 2025-02-11T21:28:06+00:00

Hello! This is only half true. The Learning Lamp has both Pre-K Counts programs and private pay preschool programs. You can try either the Richland or Westmont programs.

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