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
Circle Time w/ Airis Potts
We dig into the human side of early childhood leadership with Aris “Mama Vegas” Potts, from calling out harmful nap practices to surviving licensing scares and rebuilding trust. We push for boundaries, better funding, and a brighter path for children and the people who teach 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 having circle time with Miss Ares Potts. So Ares, who is also known as Mama Vegas, has spent over 25 years in early childhood education as a leader and is a creator, storyteller, and a woman in the middle of redefining her life intentionally and unapologetically. Through her leadership in and out of ECE, through her brand Miss Grown Life, she shares real conversations and honest reflections that speak to women in their 40s who are navigating change, growth, and rediscovery. And with that being said, I want to officially welcome Eris, also known as Mama Vegas, to stumbling through work.
SPEAKER_00:Hi guys, thank you for having me on. It is such an honor to be a guest and to chat with you and with your audience. So thank you for having me on today.
SPEAKER_03:So we always begin with a lightning round. So all you're gonna do is just answer yes or no. You ready?
SPEAKER_00:Okay, I'm ready.
SPEAKER_03:Okay. Are you always late?
SPEAKER_00:No.
SPEAKER_03:Do you like to read?
SPEAKER_00:Yes.
SPEAKER_03:Are you a morning person?
SPEAKER_01:Yes.
SPEAKER_03:Have you seen Bad Teacher?
SPEAKER_01:Yes.
SPEAKER_03:Do you get eight or more hours of sleep at night? No. Do you have a side hustle?
SPEAKER_00:Yes.
SPEAKER_03:Do you like Mondays?
SPEAKER_00:No.
SPEAKER_03:I don't think anyone does. Have you watched Abbott Elementary?
SPEAKER_00:Yes, I have.
SPEAKER_03:Do you drink three cups of coffee a day?
SPEAKER_01:Three plus, yes.
SPEAKER_03:Do you like your coworkers?
SPEAKER_01:Yes, I do.
SPEAKER_03:Oh, I love that for you. I love that for you. Okay. So now that we got to know you a little bit, yes. We are going to start with our asking for friends. So I'm gonna read something to you, and I just kind of want to know what your response is.
SPEAKER_02:Okay.
SPEAKER_03:Alright, hi there. I just started a new job in a toddler room. I have no experience with kids this age. I'm coming from a school age background. On my first day yesterday, I was told that when kids were resisting laying down for a nap, that I had to physically move them and make them lay down on their stomachs. This uh this student was sitting up and really did not want to lay down. I was trying for almost 10 minutes. I'm coming for advice because of what happened next. I was told to use force to push down on the kid to make them lay on, lay down for their nap. The wording from the lead teacher was quote, if they can get up, you aren't pushing hard enough, unquote. This seems wrong to me. And I felt really uncomfortable doing this, especially when it was my first day and had no relationships with the kids. Is this normal? I'm uncomfortable pinning kids to the mat.
SPEAKER_00:This is not normal. Um this is not normal. Um, we don't force kids to nap. We we invite them to rest for a rest period, but we don't forcefully um make them lay down. Um I don't know. I took I would go to a supervisor. I mean, if if I was that teacher, I would probably go to someone who could step in and maybe mentor and um in the moment coach. Um, but I would also speak up too, because I'm an advocate for the kids. They can't advocate for themselves. So if I'm not comfortable doing something, I'm gonna speak up and I'm gonna say that. And if I think something's not okay, then I'm gonna speak up and I'm gonna say that as well.
SPEAKER_03:I love that answer. That was such a wholesome answer. Let me tell you. Um, I love when kids go home and tell their parents stuff. And I can only imagine a child going home and saying, you know, you know, Miss Katie pushed me down when I had to go to sleep. Let me tell you, as a parent, I'm coming in there and wrecking shop. Everybody about to get it. Teacher, director, uh, lady that pushed the broom down the hall, everybody's about to get it.
SPEAKER_01:Right.
SPEAKER_03:Everybody's gonna get it. Um, I have just never heard that before. Like just push if they can get if they get up, you're not pushing hard enough.
SPEAKER_00:I I feel like that's a a little bit overboard. Um, maybe that teacher's a little stressed out, or maybe you know, it's hard because a lot of people have been in the field through the change. So they started when not saying you could be aggressive, but where that was more like a disciplinary thing, like what you have to lay down, you made them lay down, you have to take a nap. And so it's a lot of people that just set in their ways and also may not know, you know, right from wrong, really, in the classroom, because a lot of people tend to treat the kids in their classroom like what their kids, yeah, and we have to remember we can't do that.
SPEAKER_03:Remember, so audience people, so um, Eris and I go back, and there used to be a teacher we knew, and I she was kind of like this, and I used to always say she was probably teacher of the year in the 90s because she was so mean. Yeah, one time she said to a kid, I walked in, and this probably wasn't the adult part of me, but I walked in and she had a picture of the kid on the wall, and she told the kid, Um, if if you don't sit down, I'm gonna take this picture of you, I'm taking it off the wall. You won't even see you. And I was like, Damn, yeah, are you gonna eliminate them? Like their whole existence?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, they just sit down.
SPEAKER_03:I did eventually say something like two minutes later. I was like, you know, Miss Blink, you can't be saying that to the kids. But I was like, damn, you just wiped their existence off the planet.
SPEAKER_00:Like and can you imagine going home and saying, The teacher told me I'm not I'm not here anymore, I can't be seen anymore. I couldn't imagine a parent trying to figure out where is that coming from.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, and I'm coming in, I'm whooping everybody's ass. Everybody's gonna get it.
SPEAKER_00:You're holding her head down, you do you're doing you're doing a little too much. You're doing a little too much.
SPEAKER_03:That is a recipe for licensing.
SPEAKER_00:Absolutely. Yes, yes, it is licensing and then some.
SPEAKER_03:Definitely nobody wants that.
SPEAKER_00:Right, right.
SPEAKER_03:Well, thank you for our asking for a friend. We will be right back after this break. Okay, quick break. If you're a teacher or a 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. And we are back with our guest, Eris. So, Aris, what is your current role and how long have you been in this chaos?
SPEAKER_00:Well, I'm in between roles right now. So, my current role, um, I'm stepping back into my director's position or director's position, but I've been kind of in another avenue helping um in the healthcare field. But I'm going back into a director's position and um my days right now, I'm ready for the chaos. Does that sound crazy? I miss it. I miss the families, I miss the kids, I missed the the staff, I missed the crazy moments, the surprise business, I miss it.
SPEAKER_03:So when you first became uh a leader, when you first became actually, if I remember correctly, you were like in a Roma space. You've had lots of roles throughout the years.
SPEAKER_00:Yes, I have.
SPEAKER_03:When you left the classroom, what made you decide to be out of the classroom? Did you know, did you choose leadership or did leadership choose you because someone quit? We know that tends to happen in the field.
SPEAKER_00:Well, actually, so I was uh my very funny story, my very, very first director's position that I got. I was hired as an office assistant. And um, it was between myself and another girl to be the assistant director. She had a little more experience than me, so I became an office assistant. How I became the director is um at this school, you know, we used to have big cubbies, you know, the kind that were on the ground where you can slide cots in between and when kids were asleep. But let's go back to that story. When kids are misbehaving, you make them go lay down. This was in the early 2000s. So a teacher um had a kid lay down in between the cots, and the teacher um forgot. They closed, they started closing the building down and forgot the child was asleep. So not only did all the teachers leave, the director left, when the assistant director left, and the evening teacher, the evening closing manager, when the parent came, they told the mom that the dad picked up, they told the dad that the mom picked up. So they both was gone. The dad went to the gym, the mom went home. When they ended up coming together that night, the kid was not with neither one of them. They went back up to the school and they flashed a flashlight through it, and the baby had come out of the classroom and was just walking through a dark school, and no one answered the phone but the office assistant, which was me. And I went up to the school and I let them in. So that is how I became promoted to a director because the corporate said that I stepped up to the occasion. I did with everyone, no one was able to reach. So that's how I became a director. That's how I became my first director's position, and I loved it. I stepped up to the plate and I was there for the families, I was there for the parent, I was there for the child. Um, yeah, that's how that's how I got into that, and I loved it ever since.
SPEAKER_03:Um the school's no longer open.
SPEAKER_00:But would you believe this? When I became the director, you the kid stayed. The child stayed. The parents kept him at the school until we went to kindergarten.
SPEAKER_03:They loved you personally.
SPEAKER_00:Yes.
SPEAKER_03:Oh my gosh. Okay. Um God. Okay.
SPEAKER_00:Um, and on that note, so that's before a face to name. That was before face to name.
SPEAKER_03:What do you think is the hardest part of being a director that you know people outside of ECE don't see?
SPEAKER_00:I think the hardest part um is being that educational foundation for some children who've never had it. Um, and also explaining to parents the importance of it, um, of them learning and being there. I I think that's been the hardest struggle is separating babysitting from teaching. Uh I think there's always been a struggle to explain to parents the importance of their children, um, zero to eight. You know, that's so important. That's where it all begins. Um, I think that's been the hardest part is um showing and telling the parents, you know, we're not just that. We're not just a childcare, not just a daycare, not just a babysitter. We are educators. Um, that's been a really hard thing, I think, throughout the years is just um parents developing with the uh the field.
SPEAKER_03:Oh no, I definitely agree. What part of the job excites you the most?
SPEAKER_00:Um, enrolling, um, new families, um, welcome them in, um, being a part of the educational foundation of a child, being a part of that developmental process. That's what excites me. That I get to be a part of that.
SPEAKER_03:I love when they enroll. Um, it's almost like you see the hope in them, you see the excitement. They're like, my baby's gonna learn something today. Like I definitely see that is a highlight for me when you get to see them in the first day and how the child cries, and you're telling the parent, come on, it's all right, it's normal. They're they're gonna do this, but tomorrow's gonna be worse. So brace yourself for it.
SPEAKER_00:Right. I always tell parents it's just like um it takes six weeks to get used to anything, about six weeks to get used to any kind of new job, six weeks to get used to a school, six weeks to get used to a routine. And so I always used to tell parents that six weeks, in six weeks, you'll see the difference. They'll get to know us, they'll get to learn. And you know, it's I think it's harder on the parents than it is the kids, to be honest.
SPEAKER_03:It truly is. What is your wildest a teacher called out story that you have?
SPEAKER_00:Um, her grandmother died three times.
SPEAKER_03:Well, damn.
SPEAKER_00:That was the wildest thing. The same grandmother. I think she forgot. She's gonna be like, I think every I think she just forgot. Um, because she only had one grandma and she just kept she just kept dying and coming back to life. And that was probably the craziest one is using that poor grandma over and over again. That probably was that was probably the wildest one.
SPEAKER_03:What's something you wish your staff understood about the decisions you have to make as a leader?
SPEAKER_00:That they're not always easy, but that we make decisions in the best interest of not only the children, but also in the best interest of the staff as in the best interest of the building as a whole. Um, it's hard for staff to understand and think that you're playing favorites, but it's really hard when you put in those situations, you know, um, to make those kind of tough calls.
SPEAKER_03:How do you keep balancing? How do you balance family's, you know, family's happiness and protecting your staff at the same time?
SPEAKER_00:Um, I I think you just have to show up for everybody. You have to be able to be that person that the parents trust, and you have to be the person that the staff trusts, and you all have to come together to be one.
SPEAKER_03:Um now here's a really good question that kind of pees back off of that one. How does being a director impact your mental health?
SPEAKER_00:Um, being a director can impact your mental health in a good way and in a bad way, because sometimes you take on the lives and the issues of the families that you serve because you are so invested into it. Um, and then sometimes it's just the joy of the day and the good things that you've done that overjoy you. So I I think your cup gets fulfilled both ways, if that makes sense.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. No, no, it totally does. So when it comes to infrastructure, what gaps do you think hits the hardest? Pay, funding, staffing, ratio, building, administration. What's the hardest part do you think?
SPEAKER_00:I would say administration and staffing.
SPEAKER_03:I think everybody's gonna say staffing.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. It's you know, because it's such a um uh overturned kind of a field sometimes, you know, because some people come for the wrong reason. They they're not there to educate, they're there to get the check, and then it shows after the first two checks that they get, and then they leave. And I think that's where a lot of the turnover comes over in in schools, it's not because they're not good schools, it's because people have a different expectation when they come in. They come in expecting to be something that is not, and we're educators.
SPEAKER_03:You know, I don't know if I've ever told you this. Um, I have this theory that new teachers, when they begin, they try to reflect on their own teaching experience, and that tends to be usually elementary school. So I don't think a lot of people, and I can say at least for me, I don't remember preschoolish time. I just remember elementary. So I remember walking down the halls with, you know, a bubble in your mouth. Um, I remember shh, don't say anything, and walking in a line and sitting your seats and don't move, you know, all these wonderful things from you know the late late 80s, early 90s. And I think because the field has changed so much, now these new teachers are coming in and they're sitting trying to make kids sit down all day. Well, we're like, no, let them be up, and it confuses them and it frustrates them a little bit. Yeah. Um, and I think that's a little bit where the disconnect is with newer teachers.
SPEAKER_00:I I do agree. And and and I also would agree that a lot of not saying that we don't want the um the ECE environment to be really educational based, but I think that we're getting away from the child discovery and a lot of it, the child discovering things and helping them emerge in that learning. Um like you said, it's more teacher-direct sit down. I'm gonna show you how to do it, and we're all gonna do it this way. And we're and I think that we're all getting back to that. We're all gonna do this, we're all gonna do this, we're all gonna be on this level. And it didn't used to be like that, right? You have centers, this one wants to write, this one wants to do math, this one wants to do that. And now it's more everybody's doing this, everybody's doing that. And like you said, it's more of an elementary um kind of mind frame. Catch a bubble, sit still, get in line. They're three, four, five years old. You know, that they're not doing that. They're learning, they're wanting to know why that doorknob is turning this way and can it turn that way? And so instead of getting upset about it, let's make an an activity out of doorknobs. Let's let's make an activity out of those things that they're curious about.
SPEAKER_03:And let me tell you what really gets me is watching an adult argue with a three-year-old to get them to do something, it throws me off. I'm sitting here, like, are you really arguing with the three-year-old? You are on the same level with the three-year-old going back and forth. I'm like, who is a three-year-old? And I'm just watching, like, look at this fool.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, and you're never gonna win an argument with the child. They you're never gonna win an argument with the child because they can go on and on and on. And before you know, you're upset and you're asking the office to come get this child out of here and take him to another classroom because you have initiated that by, like you said, going back and forth with the child.
SPEAKER_03:That that just completely throws me off. But you know, you see it all the time. You see it all the time. Fascinates me. Um, what expectations does the system place on directors that is completely unrealistic?
SPEAKER_00:I think that the system has turned has turned directors into or is trying to turn directors more into a uh superintendent uh instead of a director. And that goes back to, like you said, that they're transforming, we're transforming ECE into elementary school. Um yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Well, we're gonna stop right there and we're gonna take a quick break 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 their 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. Okay, and we are back with Eris. So we're about to do one of my favorite things, which is ways to recognize and reward staff. How would you? Feel on the receiving end of this. This is called can't talk about work. Hold a faculty gathering or department meeting with teachers and you cannot discuss education, children, or administration. Anyone overheard discussing these topics must put a dollar in a basket, then proceed going to the Sunshine Fund. This works very well if you go to a local restaurant or tavern after work or even to a home of a staff member.
SPEAKER_00:I like that.
SPEAKER_03:Do you like that?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I like that.
SPEAKER_03:Girl, hell no.
SPEAKER_00:Because I you know what? Because I can get caught up in talking about work without even realizing that I'm talking about work.
SPEAKER_03:You know, and I get that. Let me tell you why I don't like this. Because I despise places that say, like, we're a family. Let's be a family. No, what that says to me is you don't have boundaries. Y'all in my business. I don't care about what your Mima doing. I don't care about your badass kids. I don't care about none of that. So don't bring it to me because I don't care because we're not family.
SPEAKER_00:I agree.
SPEAKER_03:It's like to know you. I don't want you to know me.
SPEAKER_00:Right, right. Y'all on my social media going through my page. That's the news.
SPEAKER_03:But I mean, I get what they're trying to do. So I I I can't I get it. I get it. It's maybe you just gotta do it with the right people.
SPEAKER_00:I agree. I agree because some people go a little too deep into your business.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, like well, what is this? And how is this? And who is this? And who you know, you know me, I just listen to people, but I'm just like, I'm not going to be all in your business like that. Like, no, uh uh uh-uh. There need to be boundaries. We are not family, they're just screams we don't have boundaries, and I do not like it.
SPEAKER_00:I love boundaries, and I I agree with that you when you say that you have there has to be boundaries, it no matter the setting, the size of a company, or how many schools, one school, two schools, ten schools. I agree with you.
SPEAKER_03:There has to be boundaries, but all this like let's just talk about our personal life. Because you always got that one that talks way. I think we've all had that staff member, they just tell us way too much. Way too much.
SPEAKER_00:You're like, stop it.
SPEAKER_03:I think some of the things that you know, when I've tried things like that, of like, okay, let's try to have you know regular conversation, let's talk. Some of the things I I've I can't unhear. You can't unring a bell, and I judge them low-key. I'm judging in my mind when I see you the next time because I'm like, you totally just told me that, or you said that out loud.
SPEAKER_00:You put a pre you give me a a pre-assumption of you are with that. Yeah, like now I'm assuming. Now I'm now I'm wondering. Yeah, you're right. Because now I'm thinking, you just told me that. So were you really doing this? Are you really yeah? Then you put me in a spot to be in your business, and I don't want to be in your business.
SPEAKER_03:Or I really love when they start telling things that they did when you lied about not coming to work, and you start telling your family stuff, and I'm sitting in my brain going, But you I had somebody once was like, Yeah, and we went to Disney World about a month ago at the end of the month for my son's birthday and just talking. I'm thinking in my mind, you called out the other month because you were sick. Let me go be nosy. Then I go on your Facebook page, you got pictures with uh you're in Disneyland with Mickey ears on your head. I'm like, Oh, you just a lie, you a lie in the inside.
SPEAKER_00:You out of town at the softball tournament, but you had the flu all week. Yeah, yes.
SPEAKER_02:I'm not feeling well.
SPEAKER_03:I'm like, and if you're gonna lie, you start coughing the day before. You you see you you set the preamble, not feeling too well. Then the next day you call out.
SPEAKER_01:You work it out, yes, you work it out, yes.
SPEAKER_03:So um, if I was on the and I think too, being on the receiving end is different than the being the person that's administering it. If you're administering it, you're like, okay, yeah, I can get people to come together, we can have a good time, people can get to know each other, um, get past this work facade. But then when you're on the receiving end, it's I don't want these people to know anything about me.
SPEAKER_00:Right. I don't want these people in my business, don't want to know where I live.
unknown:Right. Right.
SPEAKER_00:Right. People are weird, man.
unknown:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Um, so for me, I'm going with a no for can't talk about work, but I see what you're giving. So if I had to grade it, I mean it gets a strong D plus for me.
SPEAKER_02:Okay, okay.
SPEAKER_03:Is that even a grade anymore? But it gets a strong D plus. A strong D. And um, 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. Because 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? Okay, we are back with Ares. So, what is your best licensing or QRIS moment?
SPEAKER_00:Okay, my best licensing moment, I worked at a I worked at a company, a big company. They have multiple locations here in Las Vegas, okay? And um, I had just gone back as assistant director, and the day I came back as assistant director, the director quit. So I was in another promotion into the director's position. They had hired a new regional director who had hired all these people. This is in 2021. And I got there and it was 15 new staff that was not in NABS, not in NABS, none of their fingers, they had they didn't have anything. They just hired these people and they started working. Well, they had got out to the child care licensing. And one day I looked up and it was two cars of licensing uh reps that came out and they said we were sitting here by the bureau chief to shut this place down because they had heard that we had all those staff working with none of those items. And that two first two weeks, I got everybody in compliance. So they came to shut us down, but they did it. They had found nothing wrong. So that was my best licensing moment. They they came ready to close the doors, but I was ready.
SPEAKER_03:You know, it's funny because you say that because I had that happen once when I took over a school and I had my second day there. The first day I was only there for half a day. Second day, licensing shows up, and there was about 70 staff members, and maybe about 40 of them weren't in. And I remember feeling so embarrassed, and the surveyor looked at me and she said, I know it's not you because you just got here. And I was like, I'm embarrassed because I was like, What the hell am I walking into? Right. Um, I remember that was a very long plan of corrections. It went on for like two months trying to get everybody done. I yeah, I know that struggle. I remember that struggle, and whoo, I'm glad I'm out of that struggle.
SPEAKER_00:And it breaks trust too, right? That breaks trust with the licensing. So then they've lost trust. They they they feel like they have to come and check up and make sure, like a kid, right? They have to come and make sure that you do what you're supposed to do. So it just is just it leads to so many other things, just not being in compliance.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And then bringing people on to take over a mess.
SPEAKER_03:Right. So, what's something the public doesn't understand about tuition, budgets, or operating cost?
SPEAKER_00:I think something that the community doesn't understand about budgets is that um budgets sometimes cut a lot of things that we don't want it to cut, or sometimes budgets allow us to do things um that we would love to do. I think the community doesn't understand that there's a budget for every aspect of it. And so they may feel like you're not given enough of this in that area or enough of this in that area, but everything is budgeted out. Everything is is put in place so we can be successful, we can continue to operate, we continue to run. And I think that the public doesn't understand the whole aspect of the daily operation and what it takes to do that.
SPEAKER_03:You know, um, kind of when you think of public school, we're the absolute opposite. We're more like private school where you know we're based off of, you know, things change because we're based off the enrollment, who's paying tuition, who's not. Right. Um, where in public school you don't have to think about that, you just drop off and go. You don't have to worry about any of those things because you're, you know, funded through taxes and you know, whatever else is funding you. And a lot of families don't realize that, or they think like, oh, you know, you're living a great life because you charged for this for tuition. And I'm just going, Yeah, but our rent went up just like yours, and we're getting groceries at the same place you are, paying this power bill, making copies, getting this curriculum together.
SPEAKER_00:It's the whole aspect. And they, like you said, they just don't understand that it takes all of that to run.
SPEAKER_03:Definitely. And because you have to deal with all of that stuff, what keeps you working in this field?
SPEAKER_00:Um, the kids that I see 12 years later that I've helped get all the way through pre through preschool, the kids that have come back to work for me, um, you that is what keeps me there because it it comes back full circle. This field, if if done right, if you do it right, if you and and embrace it well enough, it will come full circle to you. I've seen so many children that I've had at many different schools graduate and then, Miss Harris, are you hiring? Or their mom's calling me, Miss Harris, you can keep hiring my daughter or my son. So it just comes full circle.
SPEAKER_03:One, it makes you feel old, but at the same time, it touches your heart.
SPEAKER_00:Yes, yes, yep. Oh, it definitely makes me feel old. I'm like, you 20, what? Yes.
SPEAKER_03:Um, as you know, most of our lawmakers, our politicians have never been in education, never been in the classroom since they've been in the classroom.
SPEAKER_00:Right.
SPEAKER_03:What do you think they don't understand about child care centers?
SPEAKER_00:Well, I think that a lot of that they don't understand about it is that working families need it. That is a working families need that. Um, a lot of politicians probably have nannies or or or so on that can help them with it. So they didn't need that aspect of it. And I think that's where the disconnect is, right? They've never had to have child care assistance, they've never had to take their children to hair start or things like that. So I think the disconnect comes in is that everybody's not on the same level. I think that's really what the disconnect is right now, that they are putting everybody on the same level. And we're not on the same playing field. Not everyone is.
SPEAKER_03:What do you think pushes directors closest to burnout?
SPEAKER_00:I would say that not having support and where you are um just feeling like you are alone doing it. Um I think that will burn you out if you just feel like you're the only person caring. You're the only person being there. You're there every day. I I think that'll burn you out. If there, again, if there's no boundaries. I I feel like um a lot of directors get burned out because they have an expectation, like there's the expectation is so high for them, but there's no, there's no reward for them going that extra mile. It's just give me more, give me more, give me more. And it burns you out. It burns you out when you don't have a support system there who sees, like you say, the day-to-day, what's going on? They see the numbers, they see this. And and when you have someone who's just pointing their fingers and pointing their fingers because of just the operational stuff and not the whole aspect, that'll burn you out. That'll burn you out. You feel taken advantage of.
SPEAKER_03:Now, what is a leadership moment you will remember forever?
SPEAKER_00:A leadership moment that I will remember forever is when COVID happened, right? We had to take in, okay. This is when we became educators, I really think, is when you really had to show who you were in a this type of setting. During COVID, we took in school-age children, right? And we had to to educate them. We had to to to run a school with them in it, as well as still having the preschool side of it.
SPEAKER_03:Distance that incorporating distance learning was.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, it was really hard. It was really hard. And you and you got these teachers you're paying 12 and 13, 14, and you're saying go in there and teach these group of third graders what their teachers are supposed to be doing with them. Because you only get them on there for a little bit, and then the rest is up to the teachers to do it. You know, that was a really, really uh eye-opening moment, I think. COVID in so many ways. In so many ways.
SPEAKER_03:COVID did a lot. Yes, it did.
SPEAKER_00:A lot of good and bad, because I think that right now we're suffering funding-wise because everybody took advantage of that stuff during COVID. They took advantage of the the resources that we now need six years later.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. You're definitely right. And on that note, 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. Okay, I want to thank our guest Airs for having circle time with us here at Stumbling Through Work. This is your call to action. So if you had 60 seconds with lawmakers, what would you say?
SPEAKER_00:The kids are important and they need that funding. We need to educate these babies, they need to be in here to start, they need that. That is a foundation before they get into elementary school. That is not where it starts. It starts with us. Don't take our money from us, give it back to these babies, put it back into our programs.
SPEAKER_03:What should parents understand about directors?
SPEAKER_00:That we're here for you, that we're here for the kids, that we're part of the family and it's such an a way of raising your child, and that um a director is not someone who's just there to make the money. We're not there to help just the company make the money, we're here to educate your children too. Look at his director as a family member, but not too much of a family member.
SPEAKER_03:Um, what do you want us to know? Where can we find you?
SPEAKER_00:Well, you can find me on Instagram, TikTok, um, Facebook. You can find me at um The Mama Vegas Show. Um, you can find me at um Mr. Grown Life as well. Um, that's one of my new platforms um that you mentioned, and then you can find me at Harris Aisha. I'm on all platforms. Um, and then you can find me on Spotify as well.
SPEAKER_03:Okay, awesome. What do you want our listeners to fight for after hearing this episode?
SPEAKER_00:Fight for our early childhood education, make it stay around. They're trying to take it away. Keep early childhood education a part of what we're doing. Keep it here. Don't take it away. We need this. The children need this, and we'll see. If it goes away, we'll see this next generation of children and the educational struggles that they have. It really matters. And I wish that our politicians would see that and look at the studies and look at the numbers and look at the data. We're making a difference before they get to elementary school.
SPEAKER_03:Uh well said. I I don't have anything else to follow up with. Well, that's all that I have for you guys for this episode. It has been another episode of Stumbling Through Work where educators figure shit out. I want to thank Eris again for having uh for being a guest with us. And other than that, I'll talk to y'all later. Bye. All right, 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.
