First post, last rant.(Hopfully, anyway)

Today was a frustrating day for me.

 Back story:
 In a mixed infant toddler class you can have 3 infants at most, ages 6weeks to 15 months, with the remaining children ages 15months-2.9, totaling 9 children, with a teacher and an assistant. My class currently has two 14 month old children, and an 8 month old with the wide range of toddlers (some the size of line backers, I swear!). My assistant is in her 40's, 18 years of experience at her own home daycare, and me- the same age as her children with 5 years experience in a center based setting. Oddly, we get along pretty well most of the time, and often talk when on vacation or on the weekends.

 We had to open a new playground recently, one specifically for infant/toddlers, due to expansion of our center. Our new playground was finally opened at the beginning of june, and we no longer had to stick to our strict outside schedule that rotated with the other classes. This being said, we were not missing our outside time due to children napping late- MA state department does not allow us to wake them up (although we make a hell of a lot of noise if they sleep too late).  oh, and I forgot to mention we have no canopy/shade on our new  playground, which is also against state code- not sure how we just got it licensed with our picky licensee. Last weekend, a bunny had her babies in the new playgrounds' play house. The decision was made not to move them, but to return to our original outdoor schedule with the big kid playground until the bunnies grew, moved, and a cleanup was done. 

The day the bunnies were found. there are 5 total.

Today:
This morning, we missed outdoor time from 9:45-10:15, we go out early if we can, since we are the first class.We were talking to a parent who is very upset that she has to take her children out for the summer, which delayed our snack time (usually 915). My assistant and I decided that it was not worth gathering the children, and the 8 month old  who was sleeping in the crib to go out for 10 minutes. At least all of the children walk except the 8 month old... not all of them walk well, but mobile enough. The baby has to stay in a pack and play, bouncy seat, stroller or car seat bucket while outdoors because it is lined with woodchips. Another dilemma- state rules say no wood chip nuggets, but does no define what a nugget is. I don't know about the state, but I see big chunks of wood that poke through my flip flops as nuggets, apparently our views differ. As it turns out, a class from a different program decided to go out during that time anyway, and they were too old to be with our children, so our decision made sense.

This is one of the 5 bunnies today!

 A half hour later, my boss comes in and asks if we went out. we explained the situation and she decided we must go out before lunch at 1130, stating that we should have woken the baby up. Frustration #1: remember, we can't wake the baby up. Legally, we have to have the infant on HER schedule, not our own. Frustration #2 It was already 1045, and we usually do a project, diapers, and lunch prep in addition to a one-on-one feeding time with the infant. Which also means that there is only one teacher carefully watching the other 8 children, since its one-on-one with the baby. Also,we are not allowed to feed her outside. this put a damper on my mood for the day, having to rush around without enough time to get everything done. We managed, and spent a whopping 15 minutes outside. the drastic change in schedule through the kids off, they did not understand why they were sitting to eat lunch when they came inside.


I am not pleased with this situation. It pains me even more, because come the end of August- I will have 4 infants, two at 9 WEEKS, one at 10 months, and one at 12 months. remember again.. we can only have 3 infants at a time? yeah, one too many, oops.... so we are supposed to open a new mixed classroom, and she wants all the infants with me and 6 of my youngest toddlers (the youngest toddler, is turning two soon)... instead of a room with just 3 non-mobile infants,which needs only one teacher, and the mobile 12 month old infant with the toddlers,with two staff needed.


HOW ARE WE GOING TO GO OUTSIDE WITH 3 NON MOBILE INFANTS WITH ONLY TWO STAFF AND A TON OF CURIOUS TODDLERS?! (and no shade!)

frustrated beyond belief, can you hear the ranting? Sorry if the state rules are a little confusing, I know every state is different. Many of MA rules are consistent with NAEYC for those of you who are familiar.