Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/writing-from-the-heart-keeping-a-directors-journal/5017070/
Absent staff, personality clashes, bloodletting boo-boos, a call from the nurse at your son’s school, and all before lunch; this is a typical morning in the life of the multi-stressed center director.Then come audit trails, backed-up toilets, and late pick-ups.
Thank goodness for naptime when you rest two hours, with feet propped up on the desk. Right? Wrong. Naptime is for children. For you it’s time to talk to staff, vendors, or the cook about the new soup recipe she tried for lunch but should never use again. Next you interview a replacement for the teacher who did not come back from break yesterday, then rush to a meeting across town where a regulator or grantor gives you a whole new set of rules that generates reams of paper in compliance.
Whew! I’ll say it for those who don’t want to voice the words. Some days the stress of administering a child care program outweighs the joys, unless you have good coping mechanisms. Without them, the awesome challenge of being a center director tethers you to the needs of the facility, staff, and parents, and estranges you from a personal life at home.
Unfortunately, many talented and creative directors experience far ...