Stumbling Through Work
Working in education is to stumble through your everyday! We love what we do, but staff, families, policies, regulations and sometimes even the children make us quit everyday then come back the next day. Just remember, you are not in this alone.
Stumbling Through Work
Childcare Math Doesn’t Add Up
Childcare isn’t expensive because anyone’s getting rich; it’s expensive because keeping tiny humans safe, fed, and learning costs real money. We open the books on rent, insurance, payroll, licensing, curriculum, food, and the constant stream of supplies that make a classroom run. Then we connect the dots to the bigger truth: parents can’t pay more, centers can’t charge less, and teachers can’t live on wages that don’t match the work. Without public investment—like K–12 receives—the math will always fail the people doing the caring and the families depending on them.
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Welcome to Stumbling Through Work where Educators Figure Shit Out. The podcast for educators and anyone who ever walked into their program and said, Nope, not today. I'm your host, Jared Huff, here to unpack the wild stories, broken systems, and to call out the chaos. Let's get into it. Hey team, welcome to another episode of Stumbling Through Work where educators figure shit out. Today, we are talking about the realities of running a childcare program. The good, the bad, and the broke. So, according to the Associated Press, yes, I read y'all, eight out of ten Americans think that child care costs are a major problem. And as a facilitator of multiple centers, I just want to say the same. I agree. It is too expensive. It's expensive for families and it's expensive for us. People always are like, why is childcare so expensive? Because it costs money to keep humans alive. That's why we're talking about rent, food, curriculum, which is not cheap, um, cleaning supplies, background checks, licensing fees, business fees, repairs, staff pay, barely, supplies, the occasional toy someone decides to flush down the toilet, then I have to pay the maintenance person to do that. See, parents see tuition and think, wow, we're rolling in the dough. Meanwhile, I'm over here pricing out paper towels on bulk discount websites like I'm on the stock market. I have directors using coffee filters as plates. I'm not making that up. One actually tried that shit before, and I'm like, okay, girl, I'm all about saving money, but damn, we not broke like that. Let me say this loud for the people in the back. Parents can't afford to pay more, and centers can't afford to charge less. Let me say that again. Parents can't afford to pay more. I totally get that. But centers can't afford to charge less. We're stuck in this awkward stalemate situation like you can't pay me, I can't not get paid, but we both agree that the system makes no sense because teachers deserve higher wages, parents deserve affordable care, and directors and owners deserve to not have daily panic attacks about payroll. But the math just doesn't add up without government investment, the same way they do for K through 12. And so the Associated Press polls are saying eight out of 10 Americans think child care costs are a major issue, to which every owner, director, and teacher said, Welcome to the conversation. We've been yelling this since 2005. This isn't a niche issue, this is a workforce issue. If childcare collapses, so does every other industry that depends on working families. We are the infrastructure no one wants to fund but everybody depends on. People think we're profiting. We're not. Because there are people that exploit children, that's a whole different episode. But you know, like I was saying, most of us just break even or actually are losing money just to keep the doors open. So let's say you're paying twelve hundred dollars a month, which some families are, especially if you have younger children, the infants, you're paying roughly ten a thousand to twelve hundred a month. So that sounds like a lot until you realize that's it that's like ten thousand wipes, three gallons of bleach, and fifteen meltdowns. Let me break down bills for you, and maybe this might make a little more sense. I'll say like some of my bills, this is what mine look like. Our energy bill is about eighteen hundred dollars a month, the building insurance is about fourteen thousand a month, building rent is about twelve thousand a month, payroll eighteen to twenty thousand bi-weekly, so that means a month we're at about thirty-six to forty thousand a month. The phone and internet is about five hundred dollars a month. Because qua it I haven't even got into quality because quality is expensive. You can't have the kids playing with spoons and spatulas, even though I know a school that did do that. But that's another episode. Everything is going up, and we shop at the same places. We down at the Walmart with you, the smart and final, the Costco, we're getting stuff from the same places that you are, and as you see rates going up, we don't get special discounts. They they ring us up with the same taxes that you get. And so the polls prove what we already know. Everyone agrees childcare costs too much, but nobody wants to fix the root cause. The system doesn't value care work, period. If childcare was funded like public education, parents could afford it, teachers could thrive better. I didn't say it'll be a whole bunch better, but a little better, and owners and directors could stop playing which bill gets paid this week, because I've done that. Until then, we all just we're just swapping stories about who has who's the most broke. Some parents like I ain't got the money, and I'm sitting here telling y'all like we ain't got the money. So, yes, childcare costs too much, but not because we're getting rich, it's because we're holding up an entire economy with duct tape, passion, and Pinterest. So to the eight out of ten Americans who see the problem, thank you for noticing. And those other two, come spend a day in a toddler room and tell me if you still think it's overpriced. And we'll be right back. Okay, quick break. If you're a teacher or director who's currently stumbling through work, and I mean that literally, figuratively or spiritually, you need to check out our new merch. We've got shirts that say exactly what you want to say in staff meetings, what you want to say to parents, mugs for caffeine that hold your entire personality together, and gear so you can walk into the building already announcing, nope, I don't have time for this today, without even opening your mouth. These are perfect for the classroom, the office, or the car where you sit for 12 minutes pretending you're going to quit. Again, grab your shirts, your mugs, and your survival merch at abbreviatedlearning.com because if you're gonna stumble through work anyway, you might as well look good doing it. Alright, y'all. Gather around the break table, grab your cold coffee, because this story is down in Detroit, Michigan, where licensing found several centers deciding food safety is optional. They walked in, found spoiled milk, curta yogurt, moldy apples, and a smell described as I quote, sewage-like. Not one center, but several centers. Now, listen, I know budgets are tight, and I know Cisco delivers when it wants to, but damn. This wasn't like, oops, we forgot to rotate the fridge. This was welcome to our museum of forgotten lunches. And the wildest part for me is the staff didn't even react in this story. They were just like, oh yeah, that's Tuesday's milk, and it's Thursday, when in fact, it was several Tuesdays ago. Tuesday. Could you imagine looking into the refrigerator and seeing milk from weeks ago? That milk is old. That milk knows secrets. That milk has lived more than all of us. Then we have the centers that are like, background checks, never heard of that. That's the other thing that went on there. Licensing found staff working with children for weeks, some months without miss with missing or incomplete background checks. I can understand missing one, but not almost the whole staff, sir. Ma'am. This isn't a center. This is like an episode of Dateline waiting to happen. Look. Directors will tell you the paperwork is endless. You submit one background check, and then suddenly you've triggered a whole government timeline. But you know what's longer than the paperwork? The list of violations your ass gets when you skip it. So try explaining that to licensing. Yeah, I know Brenda's clearance isn't done, but she's really good at circle time. Girl, no, that's not how that works. Let's be honest. Because that's what you know we do here at stumbling through work. We're honest. And these things happen because staffing shortages mean people are doing three jobs and dropping balls left and right. The budgets are stretched tight. Directors are drowning in administrative tasks that should honestly be its whole separate job. Staff don't always get trained properly because training requires time, and the time left the building in 2020. Centers are in constant crisis mode, putting out fire so often they forget to check if the milk expired during the last administration. And sometimes people just get complacent. When everything feels like an emergency, nothing gets the attention it deserves. And the system, it just feels like the system sometimes is set up for providers to just scramble, patch, and pray. We stumble, we rush, we skip steps, we normalize chaos. That sounds like early childhood education sometimes. But that's how you end up with mystery employees supervising 12 toddlers beside a fridge that smells like trauma. But see, here's the part nobody likes to say out loud. But we're gonna say it here on Stumbling Through Work. Slow the hell down. Even when everything is urgent, not everything can be done sloppily. Slow the hell down. Training people properly. You can't handle someone's key, you can't hand someone keys and say, good luck, girl, and expect the licensing not to show up like the FBI. Setting systems and actually using them. Checklists, labeling, not you know, vibes based off food storage. A lot of people do have systems in place, but they don't use that system. I just had this conversation with someone last week. Doing weekly fridge purge, if it moves, blinks, and if it has a personality, throw it out. Double checking background clearances before someone is alone with children, definitely important. And actually, giving directors real support, money, staffing, planning time, not just thoughts and prayers, but this goes back to funding yet again. I think I want to end with holding everyone accountable without shame. We fix things by improving, not by hiding the problem in the fridge with the yogurt. We get better when the people running the system are supported enough to actually run the system. When they're running the system, they're learning, they're owning their shit, and they're moving on. And we'll be right back. So, are you an educator watching everyone else get promoted, watching everyone else get raises, or even get the recognition for things you've literally have been doing forever? That's why we offer educational career development coaching designed for teachers, directors, and leaders who want to move up, earn more, and actually get the credit for the work they do. We work on interviews, resumes, salary negotiation, leadership confidence, communication skills, and how to stop letting your admin gaslight you into believing you're not ready yet. You are ready. You just need the strategy. Book your session at abbreviatedlearning.com and start moving towards the title, salary, and respect you deserve. Because stumbling through work is funny, but stumbling through your career is not. And we're back with asking for a friend. Here's the first one. I am aware I am not great at constructive criticism, but I feel like I keep getting corrected and spoken to about things no one told me about. Or I'm getting thrown under the bus for things since I'm new and everyone I work with has been here forever. Today I was reprimanded by the Lee for refilling the serial in the classroom but not marking the date on a post-it on the container. Which, great, yes, makes sense, but no one has told me anything and there was no previous post on it there anyways. So they haven't been doing it themselves, but I imagine the director noticed, so they threw me under the bus for it. It's petty stuff like this all day, and I'm just annoyed. I'm on break and just want to drive home LOL. Girl, welcome to childcare, where nothing is written down, everything is your fault, and somehow you were supposed to magically know the secret procedures that haven't been followed since 2004. You're not imagining it. This is what happens when you're the new person in a place where everyone else has been there two days longer than you. The serial thing, please. There was no post-it there before anyway. Meanwhile, they weren't doing it either. But instead of owning that, they hit you with the classic, let's toss the new girl under the bus and then act shocked when she notices the tire marks on her back. The thing is though, girl, you didn't get written up. This is one of those, hey, now you know moments. You're learning, you're adapting. Just finish your shift and just just go take a drive. But hear me out. Let's not drive off and yell, screw you children, on the way out. And the kids ain't doing nothing to you, so don't leave during your lunch break. Not today, not yet. At least not over a post that someone else forgot from a decade ago. You're learning, it's really not that deep. I feel like the culture of that school needs to change more than you know, then you need to be changing, but whatever. Moving on to the next one. I was thrown up on this morning at 7 30, and then I was told I am not getting a lunch break because my other coworker has to leave early for something and no one else could come in early to cover her. I've been applying for jobs for months now, but had no luck because I just really don't want to work in childcare anymore. But I finally decided I just need to find a new daycare until I find something I actually want. I have four interviews this week and was stressed about not having time to get them because it's literally impossible for me to take time off during the day because no one covers for me at work, even though I'm so flexible for everyone else, and most places can't offer me interviews by the time I'm off work. So I decide I don't care anymore, and I'm calling out this week so I can knock out all my interviews at once because I'm so done with this place. Dear lady, throwing up on and before 8 a.m. and being told no lunch for the day, girl, that is wild. That's not a staffing issue, that's a management choice wrapped up in guilt trip with a side of labor law violation. Maybe it depends on where you live and how long your shift is, but honestly, I don't have any real advice for you this week, girl. This part is just this is the truth. Don't move into the same field, stay away, please. For your sanity, for your clothes, for your laundry bill. I don't think I have a lot of profound advice here other than find something else. Something that isn't this, because this ain't for you, girl, and being there ain't for you. Our final question. Can you all help me come up with some natural consequences for talking over the teacher during whole group as well as blatantly ignoring a request after it has been given? I've been struggling with this a lot in my pre-K classroom. I'm a bit at my wit's end because I have structur because I have a structured routine and constantly fun activities that rotate throughout the day. SOS. Girl, pre-K whole group time, it's where you prep a beautiful, structured, developmentally appropriate lesson, and the kids say, That's cute, anyways, and do what they want to do. It's really not that deep. You're not alone. Talking over the teacher and ignoring directions are like national hobbies for four-year-olds. But yes, natural consequences can help if they're tied to the behavior and actually make sense in the pre-K brain. Something like, I see we're not ready to listen yet, I'll wait. And you just wait. And the silence is what's is what gets them because for four-year-olds, you know, they run on drama and not noise, so it kills them. Or let them help you. Four-year-olds will climb Mount Everest for a chance to help the teacher. If they're ignoring simple directions, just give them a roll. Hey, you, Malik, I need you to be my pointer. James, can you be the turn taker keeper? Keisha, I need you to help me pass out materials. Suddenly the kids who was ignoring you is now on your payroll. And also, is not that deep. Girl, therefore, don't get into a power struggle with the four-year-old because it's just embarrassing. And we'll be right back. You know that moment in your day. The one when you stop, stare into the fluorescent lights, and think, there has to be a better way than whatever nonsense way we're doing right now. The best practice series is that better way. Cause these books, they're short, they're friendly, they're written in plain English, and not that education jargon sprinkled with fairy dust language. Hand them to your team and say, Please just do it like this so I don't lose my last good nerve. We've got guides on tours, policies, communication, safety, programming, and all the daily madness nobody warns you about. And the best part, your team will get it, families will feel the difference, and you get to breathe like a normal human again. Grab your copies at abbreviatedlearning.com or just risk another week of someone asking, wait, what's that procedure again? Here's our interview corner for today. You ask the question, how do you deal with stressful situations? And they respond with I walk into the supply closet, close the door, and whisper, I quit. Into the mop bucket like it was HR, and then I come back and sit in the corner and let the kids play. Don't hire them, but some of y'all will because y'all hire out of desperation. The question is asking, do you melt, explode, or disappear, or can you stay functional when things go sideways? Because in childcare, things will go sideways before 8 03 a.m. I'm not asking if you like stress. Nobody likes stress. I'm trying to figure out what version of you shows up when things get chaotic. That's what I want to know. Because in childcare, chaos is the default setting. It's not going to change. Are you going to be professional or are you going to be ratchet? That's what I want to know. I want to know do you freeze when the five parents show up at the same time and then the toddler bites somebody and then licensing walks in with a clipboard? Do you get snappy or overwhelmed, or can you stay calm to make a safe decision? Do you communicate or do you silently combust and cry in the bathroom next to the paper towels? I feel like that's something I need to know. Do you problem solve? Or do you emotionally clock out and let the building burn down metaphorically speaking? I would die if somebody just let the building burn down. But can you can you take a breath? Can you take a beat? Step back and just handle things, or do you just spiral out? Basically, I'm asking when everything goes wrong at once, because it will, because it always goes wrong at once. Are you someone we can trust not to lose your entire mind? It's never really about perfection because I don't look for perfection in anything. I just want to make sure that you're able to keep kids safe, keep yourself grounded, and not turn into a tornado when the day goes off script, which is every single damn day. If they go into the supply closet, don't hire them. I'm warning you, but because of staffing issues, y'all hire them and then be pissed when things don't work out. But we'll be right back. Listen, if your center or program is currently held together by tape, caffeine, and vibes, you might need consulting. And that's where abbreviated learning comes in. We work with childcare centers, studios, and youth programs that are doing their absolute best while simultaneously drowning in staffing issues, quality, enrollment gaps, and with that one parent who emails 14 times a day. We help you streamline your systems, fix the operational chaos, train your teachers, and get the program functioning like you're not just winging it every morning at 6 a.m. Whether you need policies, tours, staff development, or someone to just look at your program and say, okay, here's how we unjanky this. We're here for you. Visit abbreviatedlearning.com to book consulting for your center or program because stumbling through work is funny on the podcast, but not in real life. It's policy time, and remember, something became a policy because someone done messed this shit up for all of us. This week it's probationary period. Why is this a policy? Because we don't fully trust your ass yet. Those first three months are basically your extended interview. You're hired, but like soft hired. We're still watching to see if you cry in the bathroom too often, if you quit mid-circle time, or try to fight the copier or a parent. Everyone gets a three-month period. Because why? We didn't have too many terrible incidences with Brenda. And if the director wakes up one day and says, Hmm, I need a little more time to decide if this person is built for the trenches, boom, it's extended. No warning. And yes, during probation, you can be let go without a whole investigation or a stack up of write-ups. It's not personal. It's just us as administration are protecting ourselves from the chaos that you will unleash when you snap. And at the end of the three-month period, if your supervisor sits down and decides your fate, it's kind of like the Hunger Games, but with clipboards. Like, do they survive or do they gently release them back into the wild? May the odds forever be in your favor. Your probation period may be over. But then here's the other part. When you switch jobs in the building, so let's say you're in one position and then you go to another. Guess what? You get a whole new three-month trial period. Because apparently, we need to re-evaluate if you can handle the new role without setting anything on fire, figuratively or literally. That seems to be the theme this episode is fire. You know, it's congrats, you officially get the job, and we pretend like we've always believed in you if you do well, but then if you're struggling at it, it's kind of like, well, let's keep watching you for a little longer, and probably not gonna work out. So you just go back to your old position, like, hey guys, did you we know you missed her? It's okay, it's cool. So, probationary period, we're still deciding if you're built for this. Your trial period for your probationary period for the new position that you're in is we're still deciding if you're built for that. And welcome to the team. Well, that's all that I have for you this week. I want you to remember that if you're stumbling through work, as long as your milk isn't from the Obama era and everything in the building has a legal background check, you're already ahead of Detroit's highlight reel for the week, so you're already winning. Other than that, talk to y'all next week. Bye. Alright, that's another episode of Stumbling Through Work where educators figure shit out. If today made you laugh, think, or just say, Wow, that's my life, go ahead and subscribe and leave a review. Or share this with another educator who's one licensing violation away from quitting. I'm Jared Huff. See you next time, probably stumbling, but still showing up.
