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/ Trina Richardson
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Trina shares the joy that keeps people going—parents becoming confident advocates, babies flourishing into curious learners, and former students returning as thriving adults—while naming the stress cycles, the full-moon crisis days, and the boundaries leaders need to protect their teams.
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Welcome And Guest Intro
SPEAKER_00Welcome 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're having circle time with Ms. Trina Richardson, who works as a family services manager where her career spans mental health, foster care, and early childhood education. Her experience across these fields has shaped her belief for children and families, where she brings heart, honesty, and commitment to family well-being to every single space she enters. Listeners, let's welcome Ms. Trina to the show. But now, before we start, we like to do an icebreaker so the listeners can get to know you. So just answer with a yes or no. Are you always late?
SPEAKER_01No.
SPEAKER_00Do you like reading? Yes. Are you a morning person?
SPEAKER_01Um I'm up. Oh, it's yes or no.
SPEAKER_00You're up, but you're not up. I get that. Um, have you ever seen the movie Bad Teacher? I have not. Oh, it's such a gem. I'm gonna send it to you, Trina. It is a great, terrible movie. Okay. Do you get eight or more hours of sleep a night?
SPEAKER_01No.
SPEAKER_00Do you have a side hustle? Yes. Every educator has a side hustle. I have not interviewed one or don't even know one that does not have a side hustle. Do you like Mondays? From home. Yes. Yeah, from home. Um, do you watch Abbott Elementary? I've seen some episodes. We'll take that, but you need to add that into your regular repertoire of watching. Okay. Do you drink three or more cups of coffee a day? No. Do you like your co-workers?
SPEAKER_01Um as co-workers. Yes. Most of them.
Chair-Throwing Incident And Safety
SPEAKER_00That was a good. I'm not doing this today with you. That was the perfect answer right there. Okay. Well, now that we got to know you a little bit, we like to do something called asking for a friend. So I'm gonna read something to you, and I want to know what your honest response is. This is called Co-teacher Accidentally Threw a Chair on Me. My room has half walls separating the play areas. My co-teacher was on one section cleaning up, and there were chairs in there from an activity we did earlier. Instead of just walking the chairs around, she straight up tossed it over the half wall without looking. I was sitting on the floor on the other side, cleaning books off a shelf near the door, and it landed right on my head. It hurt a lot. She did apologize and felt really bad, but I know it wasn't intentional, but still, I'm like, you know, what the hell? This isn't the first time she's done stuff like this. She occasionally throws chairs, uh high chairs, or items when cleaning up, and even the noise scares the kids sometimes. She's older and experienced, so it's not like she doesn't know better. Like, what if that would have been one of the babies standing there? Should I document this and tell her or tell a supervisor? Let me tell you, if I'm sitting down and a chair is launched from the other side of the room, I honestly don't know how I would respond.
SPEAKER_01I feel like because it's not the first time she did it either. So then I would be Larry working around her anyway. So I probably would have said something about it before she even hit me with it.
SPEAKER_00Would you have said something to her or to someone else? To her. What would you have said?
SPEAKER_01I would ask her why she threw that over there instead of bringing it over there, knowing that there's a lot of kids in here and somebody could get her, or she could tear it up, break it. It's not hers.
SPEAKER_00She said it's not hers. My biggest thing is I'm with her. What if there was a child over there? Yeah. And trying to explain that to everyone. Yeah, to a parent, to director, to licensee, trying to explain that to whomever and the ramifications of that, because I, you know, I've had situations where I've had parents trying to meet other people in the parking lot before. They're like, oh, you want to play? And I'm like, and this is just kids being kids just, you know, hitting each other at two, and the parents are trying to box in the parking lot.
SPEAKER_01Yes, yes.
SPEAKER_00And I don't think people think of those things. Um, and maybe that's outside if you have the ability to be outside of the classroom. Maybe that's a thought that we have because if you're in the classroom, you don't think about what happens outside of your walls. Being outside of the classroom, I'm thinking like this could spill over somewhere, so they could be waiting for you, and I can't save you once you're outside these doors.
SPEAKER_01I just don't understand the concept of like throwing a chair across the because I mean, I've I it's been a long time since I've been in a classroom, and I know like we didn't have half-walls, but we would use uh furniture like cubbies and shelves to separate between classrooms because most of the time it was just one large building, right? Um and you just don't throw things over, you don't you just don't do that. You don't do it. There's no reason for it because you gotta I don't know. I just think first of all, first and foremost, safety. Right.
SPEAKER_00When I read that, I was like, wow, people are really doing this. I it takes a lot to take me out of my professional, you know, mindset, but getting a chair launched at me, I think that would take me out of my profession. I don't think I would talk to her. I'll be talking at her.
Generational Tensions At Work
SPEAKER_01So I'm thinking about like where I'm at right now as a as a supervisor and the um you know and the team members that I supervise, right? Because it wouldn't be me in the classroom cleaning or throwing things around. And I'm just thinking about how that would play out between two of my team members. How would that how would that play out? I don't think it would play out very well. I mean, especially um if the the the younger generation, yeah, I I just don't I don't think and and it sounds like she just said that she was a seasoned right, you know, team member. And I do have some generational gaps between my team members, and I watched them interact, and I don't know that they would be disrespectful to her, like intentionally, but I definitely think I don't know if you said her name, but whoever she was, I think she would have known right in that moment that she, you know, how you say it was in that moment, it would have been in that moment that she knew she knew.
Break And Merch Promo
Career Path Beyond The Classroom
SPEAKER_00Oh gosh, okay. Well, thank you for that asking for a friend, and we'll be right back. 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. Okay, and we are back with Trina, and I am super excited to have you on the show. So, one of the things about circle time is we love to show different perspectives in the early childhood field. A lot of the times people think that all you can do is just work as a teacher and then you become a center director, and that's kind of it. Where I'm like, no, there's so many positions, so many things you can do in this field. And so on that note, I am gonna ask you a few questions about you know you and your position, and why are you here? Why why are you in this circle? What makes what made you become an educator and what makes you stay after seeing the reality of the field?
SPEAKER_01Well, I think that um I think about my own uh you know, early childhood. And um it just drew me to it because I know that if it wasn't for people in my position, that you know, I would not have been okay. I think that um positions such as ours are very vital to the community. And uh, you know, I just I I just feel like I um it fulfills me to be in a position to support children and families.
SPEAKER_00What do you think is the hardest part of your job that people outside of early childhood education don't understand?
Purpose, Fulfillment, And Hard Truths
SPEAKER_01Well, I think early childhood education is not seen as a um as a profession to many. And it doesn't um receive the support, whether it's financially or, you know, whatever. It just doesn't receive the support that it deserves. And I think that that causes um the challenges because um you're out here doing really hard work and people just don't see it. And so sometimes they're just thinking like, you know, you shouldn't feel the way you feel, feel as strongly about things, or maybe you aren't um, you know, if you're asking for compensation or you're asking for support to run programs, people just don't believe in it enough to give what it really needs.
SPEAKER_00You know, we do have lots of struggles, but outside of those struggles, what's part of the job that excites you still the most today?
Joy In Family Growth
SPEAKER_01I love people, right? I love seeing people um, you know, succeed. I love to see people from point A to point B that like holding babies, you know, it's like some people say, I can't wait to hold the babies, yes and no, but I do enjoy seeing moms grow, you know, from having a baby and not knowing what to do with them to being the their child's first and most important educator and advocating for their child. And I I just love to see growth. I love that. I do I like to see people from the bear to you know the bloom to blooming.
SPEAKER_00How does it make you feel when you do see that you know blooming air era?
SPEAKER_01I feel really good, and you know, and a lot of times, you know, I'll see someone that, you know, maybe it was a child who was in my class that's now I might see them somewhere with their children, and I'm like, wow, you know, I I I just it makes it fills me up, it makes me feel really full.
SPEAKER_00What's the funniest I'm not paid enough for this shit moment you've ever had? Oh, Jerry.
Classroom Realities And Mental Health
SPEAKER_01I think that um when I was in the classroom, there was a language barrier between me and one of my children in my class. And you know, it was like the first couple of weeks of um classes starting. And there was a little one, and he and he was crying for his mom. And you know, I was doing my best to to um to help him, and he slapped the shit out of me. Do you hear me? Like, you know, like when you see the light, like my brain should he probably was thinking, like, what are you doing in my face? You don't know if my mom is coming back or not. Like, you know, he he had, you know, and I was in his personal space, like I get it, but I was like, he just let me. Wow, and my co-teacher was like, I got it, I got it. I was like, thank you.
SPEAKER_00Is it like open, like open hand, straight?
SPEAKER_01Yes, like I wasn't even expecting it. Like, I was so busy like talking and being that I didn't I didn't block it, I I wasn't ready for it. And I just sat stood there for a minute. My co-teacher was like, mm-hmm, Trina, yep, mm-hmm. I got this baby. You go over there.
SPEAKER_00Go, go, go, go sit down for five minutes. Go, go sit down. You gotta go collect yourself.
SPEAKER_01And I was young, you know, so I was like, what the heck just happened?
SPEAKER_00I I think that that situation actually goes into my next question was which is um, how does your job or the field impact your mental health?
Funding Gaps And Lost Supports
SPEAKER_01You know, I will say that it can impact it, it just kind of depends, right? Um, like I said, like seeing growth with families, sometimes it impacts it in a great way, right? Because you are um seeing successes with your families, with your team members, and you're just feeling like, oh, this is great. This is why I do it. And then there's times when it's not so great, right? You're fighting, you don't know if there's a government shutdown, you don't know if you know what's next. Like that's in those times, it can affect it negatively. So I think that you know, you try to have the best balance as you can. Like you fill up when it's good to help you through the times when it's not.
SPEAKER_00What can't you do for your children simply because the system isn't truly funded?
SPEAKER_01Sometimes time and effort is impacted by uh funding, just because it's either like you don't have the team members or um the caliber of team members because of the pay, or you know, you don't have uh enough uh resources on hand to give families, you know, the things that they need, because some things just aren't available in the community, or it's limited. So you send your families to a place and you know you have to do these soft handoffs because sometimes within a month an agency doesn't have any more funds or doesn't have what it, you know, isn't providing the service that it used to provide. So I think funding really impacts uh, you know, time and uh resources.
SPEAKER_00Definitely does. Time spent with the family. How would you how would your job change if you know childcare was treated like real infrastructure?
SPEAKER_01I think it would change in that um people would receive more support and the outcomes would be uh better, I think, for families. I think um sometimes you have to, because of funding, let go of families, or you there's certain things that you may not be able to um see them through. So I think like some um longevity of services and and and consistency and and more positive outcomes.
Childcare As Infrastructure
SPEAKER_00Do you feel or are there unrealistic demands that the system places on educators with zero to no support? I think so.
Data Demands vs Human Outcomes
SPEAKER_01I think that that um people think there's this magic wand for families that like if you do this, then it's going to be great. And they don't understand that, like, um, you know, so especially times when things are data driven, right? It's like, show me, show me where this is happening. But there um, you know, it's not always concrete data. Sometimes there's um stories that you hear about families, and it may not be a number, but just seeing a small change in that family, or maybe it didn't happen right. Like, so you might be working with a mom and their children, and things may not go as planned with the children, but you know, a couple years down the later, years down the you know, later, you see that child, you know, making a difference, like generational changes. And so sometimes we're like, well, this mom didn't get her GD, or she didn't um, you know, she wasn't up to date with all of her children's medical, but something that that educator is instilled in the child made them want to be an educator or made them want to. So some of the things you won't see right now, you'll see them five, 10 years later, but everybody wants to hold us accountable to this. Would it happen in this year? Mm-hmm. I totally see this family growing.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. And that's hard because we don't deal with paper, we deal with people. And that's hard for a lot of policymakers, um, you know, people that make or trying to see those type of decisions are expecting an immediate outcome when sometimes it's not.
SPEAKER_01It's not, it's gonna take time.
SPEAKER_00And I I think that's where the disconnect becomes uh bigger with a lot of people that are on the ground doing the field work, opposed to the people that are making laws or making you know policies, and we we lose each other with the human aspect in there, yeah.
SPEAKER_01And especially those, like you said, those grassroots or brown people working at ground zero, they they they that's the ones who are really struggling with it because they're not getting paid very well, and then people aren't valuing the um the progress that they are making.
Consulting Promo
Staff Appreciation: Go Fly A Kite
SPEAKER_00Exactly. Okay, on that note, we're gonna take a quick break and 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, we are back with Ms. Trina. So here's a staff appreciation idea. How would you feel on the receiving end of this? And this is called go fly a kite. You know, teaching can be very stressful at times, and one of the greatest ways to recognize teachers is to recognize their stress level and provide ways to ease the strain. Try handing out inexpensive kites to the teachers at a staff meeting and go outside and enjoy the adventure of kite flying instead of dealing with the planned agenda.
SPEAKER_01Um, you know, I'm all for a little fun and lighthearted. So I mean, when you first said go fly a kite, I was going a completely different way.
SPEAKER_00I I kind of like it.
SPEAKER_01Um, I think I think it can be. Sometimes we do things like, you know, that just kind of lighten the mood. So I I I I wouldn't be opposed to it.
SPEAKER_00I I like it. Um, there are a lot of things that I don't like. I'm like, that's a stupid idea, but I like things that allow me to be a kid as an adult, because you know, adulting sucks and it's not fun, and we were tricked into it. So um any chance I get to be a kid again and just go outside and just play. I'm I'm kind of here for it. I'm here for it. Even though at first when I first read it, I was like, go outside and play with a kite. The hell I look like doing that. But as I, you know, the same thing as I read it and went through it, I was like, actually, that could probably be a little fun and stress relieving. As a teen, I mean, I'll probably get irritated if people were um flying their kite into mine and getting the uh getting the string wrapped up. It's no longer fun, but um, I said this could be kind of stress-free. It's a little stress-relieving.
Stress, Compensation, And Staying Power
SPEAKER_01Yeah. And you know, in early childhood education, it's like children learning from play, and there's nothing wrong with adults learning from play. So it could be a way for them to kind of release some stress and learn some uh problem solving, right? If you know, you run that way, don't run the same way as me because you keep getting caught up with mine, you know. So who knows?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I I kind of like it. I mean, if I was to greet it, I give it a I give it like a a solid B. Mm-hmm. The best gift, but it could be one of those things you do like once a year, like that was kind of fun if it's a good breezy day. Yeah, and you also have to know your team too.
SPEAKER_01Because some there are some team members who would be, you know, kind of frumpy about it, and then you'd have to be encouraging them. But that's that comes with the territory.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. So yeah, I I I rate it a strong B. I would agree. So out of all of these years you've been doing this, what's something that makes you want to leave sometimes?
Boundaries And Team Autonomy
SPEAKER_01I think sometimes uh personally, if I'm dealing with anything and and the stress becomes too much, then I'm like, this is too much, right? The stress usually it's just about stress. And you know, in other positions, maybe compensation because you know, I have to feel comfortable in my personal life in order to be, you know, but but nothing really has ever been like, let me lead this. Now I've I've gone into other fields during this time, you know, briefly, where I was like, mm-mm, that's not what I want to do. But in in early childhood education and working with children and families, really sometimes at the stress level is is too much. And and maybe not walking away from it completely, but in a what working in a different capacity.
SPEAKER_00I definitely get that. What's something that keeps you motivated?
SPEAKER_01New projects, maybe. New projects. Um, you know, sometimes working outside of my program area.
SPEAKER_00So you think it's just something out of the norm, refreshing? What is a moment that has positively changed your life?
Best Practice Series Promo
SPEAKER_01I don't know, Jerek, if there's one thing, right? Maybe um when I came of a certain age and um started to realize and that realize that some shit just don't matter. And once I got to that point, that was like a turning point for me. Like I could feel good in, you know, the things that I did and the things I didn't do or didn't do right, it didn't matter. You know, that was that was a shift for me. And it it came around a certain age and a certain stage in my life.
SPEAKER_00You just got to that. I I just don't care, phase. It is what it is.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, like I care, but not like in the way before, like where it might um like stop me from doing what I needed to do or um being who I needed to be.
SPEAKER_00Okay. What's something that ECE leaders could do today that would help the field?
Lawmakers: Listen To Families
SPEAKER_01They could be more present. You know, sometimes we we we just start, we just dig in and start working with our children and families, and we just dig in and and we forget that like we have to be out in the um community, we have to be sharing and and you know, really being out there, like being active almost, you know. And I think sometimes we just wait for things to happen, and so we just gotta take it and make things happen.
SPEAKER_00This is probably one of my favorite questions. Okay, what policy makes zero sense to you?
What Listeners Should Push For
SPEAKER_01I don't know if I can answer that. I don't, I don't, I don't when I was talking about being more active and and and being out in the community, I was hung by me, right? And so, you know, I'm I'm learning and I'm growing. And so I just think that uh there are a lot of policies that uh you know don't make sense or they are interpreted sometimes where you think that they could be helpful, but they're not. So I really can't, I can't really speak to something specific, but policies in general need to change.
SPEAKER_00Definitely. Um, what do lawmakers not understand about your day and what you do? And I feel like you touched on this a little bit already.
A Call To The Field: Know Your Why
SPEAKER_01I was gonna say a little bit, like going back to um everything needs to be uh like data driven, which I understand it, right? Because we don't want we spend a lot of money. Um, and so of course there has to be some accountability and some outcomes. There has to be. But I think that um my day-to-day work is not always um, you know, you just put a number like I got these many things, this many things done. Like I it could have just been like even we laugh about you think, oh, okay, today I'm gonna work on this report and I'm gonna do this and do that. And sometimes you don't get any of that done, right? Because you have a family who's in crisis or you have a team member who's in crisis. And so they need to understand that our day takes twists and turns, but there's always a positive outcome.
SPEAKER_00I I say that all the time. Some one of my favorite things I used to love to tell directors was if something was due today, and I'm like, if it's just one of those days, it was a full moon where everybody and their mama had a problem today, every kid was crying. Just say full moon, and I get it. Sometimes those are your days. You you set out a plan, you have a checklist, we all had a conversation, and the next thing you know, a family member comes in, and this is a problem, and this is a problem, then the staff member comes in and this is a problem, then the kid complained, and it's just like that was our code word, full moon, and I'm like, got it.
SPEAKER_01That was our can't be a full moon every day, right?
Closing And Subscribe CTA
SPEAKER_00That means you're living on a different planet, right? But sometimes we just have those days where everything just is just a parent complaint problem day, it just is what it is. What boundaries do you have to set at work to be successful?
SPEAKER_01I have to allow my team to figure it out sometimes. I like sometimes like since I we've been talking, I've gotten a couple knocks at the door, right? But um, sometimes I'm like, you probably could have figured that out. Yeah, you probably could have. And so when I get into that mode of like, oh, let me fix that, oh, let me make that call for you, oh, let me, you know, update that for you, oh, when I'm trying to fix everything for everyone and do everything for everyone, then I I lose myself and my focus on what I need to do. So I have to set boundaries with people and saying, like, no, no, you can figure that out yourself and it's gonna be okay.
SPEAKER_00How do you set that boundary, especially within our field? We are one of the most uh coaching and mentoring uh fields, I believe that there is. Um, we're always trying to help somebody, we're always trying to show someone a better way, how to grow, um, how help them with their personal growth, career growth. We just take it on. How do you create that line, that boundary to where you're coaching, but you're not doing?
SPEAKER_01Well, sometimes physical space does it for you, right? Like I say, sometimes like working from home or um seeing someone call and knowing that if they don't call right back, um, that they're gonna be okay, and letting things just kind of play out. And then, you know, try upfront training, you know, and then setting a culture where people know that they have autonomy to do what um, you know, what they need to do to get the job done. Um that that that's really helpful for me. But physical space, I mean, it does wonders. Sometimes coming in and not like saying hi to everyone and closing my door and they don't even know I'm here, right? Then they just work things out, and then I come out and they're like, oh, I didn't know you was here, so such happened. And then they did, but I did, and I'm like, that's wonderful. That is wonderful. You did a great job.
SPEAKER_00No, that's funny. And on that note, 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 warned 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 Ms. Trina and we are wrapping up. So this is your call to action. If you could stand in front of lawmakers for 60 seconds, what would you say to them?
SPEAKER_01There is no template for how to solve the problems or the challenges for children and families. And um we need to um stand together and allow to hear from families about what they need. And we need to support families like by meeting them where they're at and um giving them, empowering them to be engaged and you know, and setting some um, and some of the policies that are being created now are not allowing for families to be engaged. It's like this cookie cutter vision that they expect for families, and families are just not that way. And I just think that we need to start listening to families about what families need to be successful.
SPEAKER_00What change do you want listeners to push for after hearing this episode?
SPEAKER_01One is like I said before, that early childhood education is a profession and that the families that we serve are um are valuable and the team members or the professionals that work with families should be treated as such as well, and that um, you know, just take some time and and uh listen to families.
SPEAKER_00What is your call to action for the field to everyone you know, to your colleagues doing this work?
SPEAKER_01I think that you know there are some people who are here um because they care and they want to be, and there are some people who are just here, and you know, and and and I think that it's important for everyone to to pay attention to their why and and find out what their why is and feed it and feed it. And I think that once you pour into yourself, because they always say you can't take care of anybody else if you're not taking care of yourself, like feed it and learn about it. Like another thing too is learn. We talked about the lady throwing a chair over the over the the um the wall, the wall, and like sometimes people just get caught caught up in you know the way it used to be. And and and we have a lot of educators who are caught up in the way that it used to be. Like educate yourself on families and um you know stay stay um stay current, learn because if you want people to treat you professional, then you you have to know what your profession is and know what the upcoming, what's best practice, what's research based. Like those things are important.
SPEAKER_00Yep. Well said, well said. Well, I want to thank you, Ms. Trina, for joining us here today. And that's all that I have for you all listeners. And this is Stumbling Through Work where we stumble, but we figure shit out. Let's talk to y'all later. 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.
