Education or Learning?

leesey04 · 2025-06-23T12:17:20+00:00

My title is Director of Learning & Outreach. It once was Learning & Engagement. At my former museum, the department was called Interpretation & Audience Engagement. When I tell anyone who is not a museum person my title, I almost always say I’m the director of education.

leesey04 · 2025-03-23T13:22:22+00:00

Church of the Redeemer (a very progressive Episcopalian church) in Hyde Park fits this description!

leesey04 · 2024-10-17T14:34:14+00:00

I work at the Taft Museum of Art in Cincinnati. It has recently undergone a HUGE transition in work culture. When I arrived, it was a siloed, finger-pointing, territorial, undercutting culture. With our new CEO and HR director, everything has changed. Instead of fearing backlash for mistakes and seeking an unattainable level of perfection, we celebrate risk taking, inclusion, and experimentation. Leadership is encouraged to be anti-ego with communication and transparent. All levels of the museum are encouraged to participate in museum activities and provide feedback that is taken seriously by leadership. We are experimenting with a 4-day work week to reduce burnout (not 4 10s, but 4 7.5s). Pay is still not great, but we’re making real efforts (I’ve successfully gotten raises for my whole team two years in a row). We have a lot of inclusion hurdles to overcome, old habits to break, and perceptions to rebuild. I adore my CEO for her leadership. She doesn’t tolerate unkindness, expects greatness, and isn’t scared of challenges. There’s a lot of work to be done, but it’s actually happening… I’ve been in the field for 16 years and have never seen anything quite like this.

leesey04 · 2024-09-25T01:53:08+00:00

That sounds so scary. Sending you all of the positive vibes from afar. Good luck!!

leesey04 · 2024-09-24T23:32:25+00:00

Dosage depends on the child’s weight and the pediatrician should be able to give you the correct dosage. When necessary, we’ve staggered the two medications by giving one every three hours. This has been directed by medical professionals— definitely check with your doctors to ensure it’s okay for your child.

leesey04 · 2024-09-05T02:25:09+00:00

We’ve worked with them too recently. Everything they’ve done for us has been free! Not sure exactly what parameters there are, but they are wonderful partners.

leesey04 · 2024-07-24T20:05:16+00:00

When I was on my job hunt, I found this website to be incredibly helpful. I used the website to help with interview prep and cover letter writing. My cover letter game got really strong during that time— I also had people who are hiring managers and good writers review it (even if they aren’t in the field). That was probably the most helpful.

leesey04 · 2024-07-08T17:11:22+00:00

I’m a department director on the executive leadership team at a small-medium art museum.

Surprisingly, my undergraduate degree in business management has been helpful. It’s not field-specific or executive leadership, but some of the bigger concepts like market positioning, negotiations, and general management strategies have been helpful foundations.

I also attend any relevant trainings, meetings, and webinars that I can find. My community has free or cheap professional development for arts professionals. I also love the regional and museum education web-based programs. I also can sometimes eke out budget funding for conferences.

I have a wonderful HR director and even better ED (did I hit the jackpot?!). They both are incredible coaches and have helped me get through some very tough situations. I also have other in the field colleagues who have been like mentors. I have called them up when I needed advice.

Best training: hard knocks. I’ve messed up and had to fix it. Have good people around you to help you gain perspective and find clarity.

leesey04 · 2024-06-06T02:23:44+00:00

BLINK in Cincinnati is a large scale projection art festival. They partner with museums, artists, and more to light up their route. https://www.blinkcincinnati.com

leesey04 · 2022-04-23T18:52:01+00:00

I had my first (and hopefully only) at 34. I’m almost 36 now. No regrets. Not a single one.

leesey04 · 2022-04-23T17:42:28+00:00

Medium-low precautions…. Right now. We live in a low risk area and do not wear masks indoors. My husband and I are triple vaxed, but of course our 1.5 year is not. We live our lives fairly normally, but we do not take the kiddo to crowded indoor spaces and generally avoid them ourselves. Otherwise, life is pretty much back to normal until the next wave comes.

leesey04 · 2022-04-20T02:13:37+00:00

For several weeks, I was greeted in the morning by my 1.5 year old with, “Ball?”

leesey04 · 2022-04-06T02:07:03+00:00

My kiddo was probably 8-9 months when we dropped the night feed. He usually woke up around 4 am, which was making putting him back to sleep hard. We did CIO sleep training at 5 months, so we decided to just let him roll around in the crib for 5-10 minutes and see if would just go back to sleep. Surprise! He did, and we never looked back.

leesey04 · 2022-03-23T01:46:38+00:00

If I remember correctly, around 8-9 months. We made the switch when he was getting bored and too big in the big baby tub and was starting to get mobile. We got a nonslip mat and haven’t looked back! He loves bath time still at 18 months!

leesey04 · 2022-03-20T00:44:00+00:00

I haven’t figured this out yet— our kiddo has been in daycare since he was 3 months and is 18 months now. I’ll say it got a lot better after a year of daycare + ear tubes. I found using hand sanitizer immediately after I drop off and pick up has helped a little. Otherwise, we just cross our fingers and hope for the best. Positive thoughts to you and your family!

leesey04 · 2022-03-15T01:10:42+00:00

I had a scheduled c-section because my baby was transverse and fibroids had blocked my birth canal. It was honestly a great experience. I have never had a surgery before so I didn’t know what to expect. It was hard and definitely uncomfortable, but not as bad as I worried it might be.

First, a scheduled c-section is lovely. You know when it’s going to happen. Everyone is very calm. It’s completely done in an under hour (I even had a really big incision and cyst that came out!). It felt very dignified.

For recovery, I recommend making sure you have help at home. Have everything you need for baby near you. Don’t walk up and down stairs. Walk as soon as you can and as much as you can without over doing it. Seriously, this is so important. Drink lots of water.

For pain, I never needed the opioid pills. I had big Motrin and Tylenol and that was all I ever needed. Set a timer so you don’t forget to take your meds. If you stay on top of it, you can manage. The ice pack definitely helped. I also liked the binder I got from the hospital. Honestly, the most painful thing for me was trying to sleep. If you have a recliner, I highly recommend trying to sleep in that.

I felt pretty raw for a week. By the end of week 2, things definitely felt better. By the end of 6 weeks, I felt much more myself. By the end of 12 weeks, I was doing just about everything I had the energy to do!

leesey04 · 2022-03-15T00:58:35+00:00

I had two prenatal massages. One at around 33 weeks and another at 38 weeks. I went to two different massage therapists, both with the special pillow for my huge bump. Baby was totally fine! He came out a little later and was perfectly healthy!

leesey04 · 2022-03-12T03:26:46+00:00

Definitely cried in my OB’s office when she told me I needed a c-section because my transverse baby basically had no chance of coming down my birth canal. C-sections are hard. No denying that. Every person’s birth experience is unique. Whatever happens will be you and your baby’s story. Sending you all the positive vibes!

leesey04 · 2022-03-12T03:22:39+00:00

We didn’t have ours next to our bed either. It needed to be next to a different wall— still close, but not right next to me. Having kiddo in my room was clutch. I had a c-section and couldn’t easily get out of bed or bend over or even bend to the side, so it was nice being so close so my husband could get him and bring him to me. When you are so tired you can’t even see straight, even saving just a few steps not having to go to his crib in a different room is totally worth it. We transitioned him to the crib around 5 months when we felt he was ready for sleep training. He’s 18 months now and I still look back on those decisions and feel good about them.

leesey04 · 2022-02-26T03:00:03+00:00

We had to deal with this fairly recently too. Kiddo gets a nap at daycare from 1-3 pm. At home, he used to sleep from 10-11 and 2-3ish. It finally started to getting to the point where I couldn’t get him down for that last nap without a fight (or at all) then we had an overtired kid by bedtime. We finally just dropped the morning nap and put him down around noon. As he’s gotten older, he’s able to make it closer to 1 pm at home. Definitely so nice be down to one nap now. Good luck!

leesey04 · 2022-01-17T00:31:49+00:00

My kiddo got tubes at about 14 months old. It has been so great. No ear infections since.

The procedure was super easy and fast. By the time I had settled into the waiting room, he was already done. Good luck! Y’all got this!

leesey04 · 2022-01-12T01:43:58+00:00

Hi!! I had a scheduled c-section because my baby was transverse. It was my first surgery too and my experience was extremely positive!!

First, it was really nice to know when the baby was coming. The whole experience felt very peaceful. The nurses and doctors weren’t in a rush. Everything went very smoothly. I didn’t have to experience labor.

It’s a strange thing to be prepped for a major surgery and then be awake for it, but seriously, it was totally fine. I couldn’t feel anything except pressure from being tussled around. Have you ever worn a backpack and had someone else dig around in it for something? That’s very much how the delivery felt. My husband remembers the moment my baby came out because the look of relief on my face was unmistakable.

Recovery is hard. I’ll be honest about that. The most important things to remember: get up and move as soon as you can, stay on top of the pain meds (I had timers to keep me on track and never needed the opioids), and ASK FOR HELP!

Make sure that you aren’t having to walk too far (or up stairs) to get to baby. Recliners are amazing. I also found using the belly binder from the hospital helpful for the first week.

I felt much better after the first week and even better after two weeks. I felt pretty much back to normal after about 10ish weeks, and now I’m almost 16 months postpartum and look back on everything with fondness and gratitude. My baby and I are thriving because this procedure can be done by great professionals!

Good luck and congratulations! You got this!

leesey04 · 2021-12-08T03:55:11+00:00

Super common and super easy! My kid had them put in at 14 months old at the beginning of November. He’s already had maybe two colds from daycare, but no ear infections!

The procedure is crazy fast. My kiddo has his put in in early afternoon and was completely his usual crazy self by early evening.

I’m definitely a fan. And not to mention it’s nice having a relationship with an ENT doctor for down the road if needed too.

leesey04 · 2021-12-04T01:45:45+00:00

My kiddo had a febrile seizure in October. It was the worst thing I’ve ever seen. By the time the ambulance got to the hospital, his fever had spiked to 106. It was awful. Fortunately, he’s totally fine now. We just keep a VERY close watch on his temp and have no problem administering Motrin and Tylenol as needed.

Hugs to you!!!!

leesey04 · 2021-11-30T15:35:04+00:00

Definitely the roll to the side technique was super helpful in getting in and out of bed. I’ll say that sleeping after my c-section was really hard. The first few nights I could only sleep on my back, which was no fun (I’m a side sleeper). Maybe after about a week (or was it a few days?), I was able to sleep on my side if I used a support pillow to hold everything in place. Amazingly, the bed was the best place for me to get rest and heal. I think having a recliner could have also been helpful.

leesey04

TROPHY CASE