I like to maintain that I have the world’s most interesting part-time job. Most people start out working at a restaurant or at a department store but not me. I go to work and play with small children.
This may not sound like a very tall order, but kids really don’t come with instructions. You never know what you’re going to get from day to day; you might have a room full of screaming toddlers one day and a group of quiet first graders doing puzzles the next. But no matter the dynamic, you learn something new every day.
For example, I’ve learned that I can sometimes be okay with sitting on the floor surrounded by a massive pile of toys because I know that they’re all going to be drug out again anyway. I’ve also learned to not be fazed by much. Screaming children? Happens all the time. Internet doesn’t work? Seen that before. Everything’s a mess? No big deal. All these things just teach you that the annoying, and sometimes disgusting, things that happen are simply facts of life. You can’t do anything about it but roll with the punches, and that’s okay.
Not everything about working with kids is “just roll with it” material though. Most of the time, going to work doesn’t feel like a chore because it’s usually a fun place to be. Where else can you get paid watch "Frozen" four times in one week, color, hang out with toddlers, and play with all the toys you used to love? Even though I have discovered that I don’t have half the imagination that I used to, I have learned that sometimes you have to embrace that small part of you that still wants to be a kid. And who doesn't want to do that?
