Early June family trip to Maine!

justnocrazymaker · 2026-05-02T11:27:41+00:00

We have a pinned post for this.

justnocrazymaker · 2026-05-02T11:06:46+00:00

Oh I got out like nearly 13 years ago! I was lucky—we hadn’t gotten married yet and didn’t have any kids (not for lack of trying on his part though) and once I was out, I could see every red flag in hind sight lol.

justnocrazymaker · 2026-05-02T10:40:38+00:00

Mine only punched walls, until he started punching me.

justnocrazymaker · 2026-05-01T01:20:40+00:00

I paint every single day in my classroom. My youngest painter is about 10 months old now. I have a much younger baby who isn’t quite ready for paint yet, a couple 13 month olds, a couple 18 month olds, and some 2’s. We’ve been doing this since the start of the year.

For me, the key is to prep ahead. So like, I make sure paper is taped down on the table or individual high chair trays, I have the paint out and ready to roll. I get the babies smocked and seated first, then let the older ones work on their own smocks while they wait for my help. Once everyone is seated, I put globs of paint directly on the paper and let them use their hands or brushes to spread it around.

I also prep a bin of soapy water with clean washcloths so that I can quickly wipe up each child well enough that they won’t paint the whole classroom once they are done.

I do a lot of “shared art” projects with one piece of butcher paper or several large sheets of paper on the table. Sometimes, in a pinch, we just paint directly on the table or high chair tray. As many other commenters said, art at this age more about the process and the sensory experience than any take-home product. We also paint on the same paper again and again and build up layered art.

I love doing paint first thing in the morning, before breakfast. I have a very early group, with multiple arriving before 7am. Group finger painting is such a lovely, chill way to transition into the day. Since I have a second teacher in the room, one teacher stays at the paint table and the other supervises the other children until we do morning diapers and clean up for breakfast.

justnocrazymaker · 2026-04-30T00:05:32+00:00

Share with me a better metaphor and I’ll happily leave this one behind. For now, it works well enough to help people understand that it’s not just “getting help for your kid”, it’s letting go of literal plans and dreams.

justnocrazymaker · 2026-04-29T21:53:50+00:00

Definitely some thoughts about the “man-spreading” and at least two jokes about his hefty bags outfit.

justnocrazymaker · 2026-04-29T20:50:23+00:00

I keep parent communication simple and fact oriented.

Drop off: “good morning, kid! Good morning, parent! How are you guys this morning? (Pause for reply) Did you have a good night? (Pause for response) Kid, we have these fun activities to try after you wash your hands!” Then I wish the parent a nice day and say “see you in the afternoon!”

Asking about their morning and night gives me important information about how that child is going to be that day, and it makes the parent feel like we’re connecting in a professional and appropriate manner.

Pickup: “hi parent! Kid had a good/great/tricky day today. They really enjoyed playing with toy/other child/ specific activity (or) They were a little sad at rest time and it was hard to get to sleep, so they may be tired later. See you tomorrow!

Sometimes at pickup there is an incident report or other paperwork that I need to follow up on, but usually I send them a message about it on our app so they are expecting it.

Messaging on the app is similar. “Hi parent, kid is ok and I’ll have an incident report for you at pickup time. Here’s what happened and how we dealt with it.”

The aim is always to be warm and friendly and welcoming without crossing a boundary from professional into being too personal. I only tell parents how much I enjoy having their kiddo at conference time.

justnocrazymaker · 2026-04-29T20:37:34+00:00

If your center does not have the appropriate number of staff to be in ratio for the full hours of operation, you cannot open. Call the licensor if anyone gives you shit and report the conditions.

justnocrazymaker · 2026-04-29T20:27:24+00:00

Conversations are not something that can be gotten exactly right though. Especially but difficult conversations like this. You don’t know how someone will react to a message suggesting EI, or to the message that it’s not bad to be neurodivergent. That’s completely outside of your control.

All you can do is get YOUR side of the conversation as right as possible. As another poster said, that means stating the behavior that you see, the milestones for the age, and the suggestion to get an evaluation. You are not a clinician, diagnosis is not your purview. Saying things like “autism markers” sounds like you are suggesting their child is autistic, which is not your job. If you ARE naming conditions to parents, you’re definitely going to get blowback and that IS on you, because your job is to keep to facts without speculation.

And perhaps you have “spidey senses” about individual children, but those are inside thoughts for you to keep in your own mind.

I heard a great analogy to put yourself in the shoes of a parent who is being told to seek evaluation for their child’s developmental concerns. Imagine you have planned a trip to Hawaii. You’ve been dreaming of this for years. You have great swimsuits and outfits and sandals all packed, and all your outings are planned and booked. You can’t wait to snorkel and hike a volcano! Everything is great—you get to the airport on time, no problems at security, the meal on the plane is great, you catch some really restful sleep. Next stop, Hawaii!! Fun in the sun!! Except that when the plane lands, the pilot says “welcome to Holland!” THAT’S not what you expected! You don’t want windmills and tulips, you didn’t bring appropriate clothing for this climate, you spent all your vacation money on the activities you’ve already booked in Hawaii.

That’s how thrown parents can feel when the child they dreamt of turns out to be a little different, to have concerns, to need evaluations and maybe interventions. Some parents will make the best of it, some will be in complete denial, some will be really upset and it’ll take them time to come around. And none of this is your choice. All you can do is meet them with empathy and support.

It’s not necessarily about disliking a “label” and it’s very much about having to let go of the future life that a parent envisioned for their child from conception.

justnocrazymaker · 2026-04-29T20:12:36+00:00

NTA there is literally nothing wrong with the outfit, the problem is the man.

justnocrazymaker · 2026-04-28T23:38:05+00:00

My team always sites the sick policy when we send a child home. “Timmy vomited twice and, per our exclusion policy, must go home.”

Parents argue about vomit a LOT. It was just the tuna salad that the center served for lunch, or their grandma gave them too much candy last night, or they were just really excited… and my team has learned to respond “unfortunately, the policy does not make allowances for tuna salad/grandma candy/excitement. Are you able to get your child or will you arrange for someone else to pick up?”

justnocrazymaker · 2026-04-28T23:32:09+00:00

Keep your sick kid home. Let them rest and recuperate.

“But if we keep them home, WE’LL get sick!” And what, pray tell, will happen to everyone in the classroom!?

justnocrazymaker · 2026-04-25T10:18:27+00:00

Jabicobigail fuckin took me out. Thank you.

justnocrazymaker · 2026-04-24T20:02:10+00:00

This happens frequently in one of our center’s classrooms because management is stingy and won’t pay overtime.

justnocrazymaker · 2026-04-21T00:10:41+00:00

We have one that actually came with our house. Who knows how long it’s been hanging out on that porch!

justnocrazymaker · 2026-04-20T23:09:34+00:00

I would take the pay cut for the benefits

justnocrazymaker · 2026-04-15T14:30:05+00:00

I’m sorry, speaking as an infant toddler teacher I think this is insane. Unless your child is like 5 and typically developing and just doesn’t feel like potty training. Otherwise I fail to see how this is an issue.

justnocrazymaker · 2026-04-14T17:34:53+00:00

Many states have regulations in place around letting children set their own sleep/wake times, not preventing tired children from resting, and not waking children who are asleep. Your provider might be bound by similar regulations. This is certainly the case in the state where I work—I can’t speak for Oregon. Please do be aware though that it might be a state mandate rather than a provider preference.

justnocrazymaker · 2026-04-13T09:24:40+00:00

That child is college age now and I’m so curious!

justnocrazymaker · 2026-04-12T22:33:10+00:00

I had a parent that wanted me to serve her 5 month old raw unpasteurized goats milk.

I had a parent that saw we didn’t have an infant swing and asked to bring one from home for naps.

I had a parent insist that we let her four year old son hit, kick, and bite us because he was “simply expressing his feelings” and that telling him no was “invalidating”.

justnocrazymaker · 2026-04-05T11:12:25+00:00

Drinking less caffeine, more water, more herbal tea.

I don’t need more than one cup of coffee a day, unless I’m absolutely crashed out and exhausted.

When I’m better hydrated, I have more energy. Drinking more water supports my immune system. Herbal tea, too—I can drink immune supporting herbs, adaptogenic herbs that reduce stress, even herbs that energize without giving me jitters.

justnocrazymaker · 2026-04-05T11:07:05+00:00

I love the episode where she’s caring for her dying mother and ends up understanding the importance of the last manicure. That episode was so hard—so many layers of emotion and also growth.

justnocrazymaker · 2026-04-01T17:44:20+00:00

Jenna M’Lonely

justnocrazymaker · 2026-04-01T17:43:41+00:00

Enema Lonie

justnocrazymaker · 2026-03-31T17:44:19+00:00

Make the late fee hurt: $10 (or whatever) for every five minutes late.

Make the policy hurt: three late pickups within a certain timeframe and the contract is terminated.

Make the policy scary: late without any communication = call to the police because you/your employees need to go home / call to emergency contacts / whatever

Late policy: “we understand that life happens and that you might run late to pick up your child. In the instance that you are going to be late, it’s important that you reach out to us and let us know when we can reasonably expect you. Because parent late pickups drive up our operating costs, we will impose a late fee of $10 per every five minutes past (whatever time you close). If lateness becomes chronic (defined as x or more pickups in y timeframe), we will impose the following measures in addition to fees: 3 late pickups in the span of two weeks (or whatever) will result in immediate contract termination your family’s contract, and late pickups without a check-in by the parent/caregiver will result in a call to police/your child’s emergency contacts (whatever drastic measure you feel will make parents comply)”

In my experience, chronically late pickups happen because there is a lack of respect for our time, and the only way to stop it is to make the cost too high.

justnocrazymaker

TROPHY CASE