{"id":6954,"date":"2022-02-28T09:48:14","date_gmt":"2022-02-28T14:48:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/?p=6954"},"modified":"2025-08-24T11:10:00","modified_gmt":"2025-08-24T15:10:00","slug":"working-in-a-daycare-is-not-just-babysitting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/2022\/02\/28\/working-in-a-daycare-is-not-just-babysitting\/","title":{"rendered":"Working in a Daycare Is Not Just \u2018Babysitting\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Working in a daycare is an extremely rewarding job. A teacher molds these young minds and creates enjoyable experiences for them. Although there are many positive aspects of the profession, it is difficult. A teacher is in charge of protecting the children, keeping them safe and creating a positive environment for growth.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Teresa Rokitowski has worked for Honeybee Childcare in Poughkeepsie, New York, for over seven years now. During this time, she has bounced around from room-to-room. Although no age group is necessarily easy, she thinks that school-age has the least hands-on requirements. Mary Rokitowski, her boss and mother, has been the director of Honeybee for 11 years. She has been working with children for over 40.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

An image of Honeybee winning Daycare Center of the Year in 2015.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Mary Rokitowski finds it difficult to find the energy to care for children sometimes. \u201cThere is no such thing as down time in their world. So the teachers must be ready for that at all times,\u201d Mary said. Teachers work long hours starting as early as 6:45 a.m. Teresa Rokitowski said that the most important item for her is her coffee.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0This job is hard. \u201cWhen I hire, I am always sure that they know this. It isn\u2019t babysitting or play time,\u201d Mary said. This job requires an impressive amount of patience. \u201cThe most difficult aspect is changing your mindset and attitude to fit what the children need. You have to be very flexible and patient,\u201d Teresa said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Teresa Rokitowski loves the job, even though it is overwhelming at times. She said that getting to know the children and being able to bond with them is amazing. \u201cThe kids have their own personalities and it’s nice to get to know them,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cBut the personal benefits to caring for young children: being there for them when they scrape their knee. Or someone took their toy. Or they got no sleep the night before and are melting down over and over. Being there when they finally figure out that puzzle piece after twisting it 25 times. Seeing their faces light up when they come to you to give you the morning hug. Being a safe space for them\u2013 it is all worth it,\u201d Mary Rokitowski said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Working in a daycare is messy, exciting and sometimes gross. But it is worth it in the end when you see the impact you have made on a child. It\u2019s hard for parents to trust a stranger with their baby. But at Honeybee Childcare, the teachers treat each child like their own. They are constantly meeting with parents and their directors in order to provide the best experience for the children in their care. A daycare is more than just watching a child. It\u2019s creating a safe space for them to learn and grow.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Working in a daycare is an extremely rewarding job. A teacher molds these young minds and creates enjoyable experiences for them. Although there are many positive aspects of the profession, it is difficult. A teacher is in charge of protecting the children, keeping them safe and creating a positive environment for growth.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Teresa Rokitowski has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":230,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7381],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6954","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archives","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6954","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/230"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6954"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6954\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8209,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6954\/revisions\/8209"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6954"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6954"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6954"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}