Guest Author - Pam Garlick

In part one of this article I covered some of the pitfalls that may be encountered between the parents or guardians of a child and the person caring for that child while they work. In part two, I will continue with some more common problems and discuss ways of overcoming them.
A difficulty that requires a lot of understanding is caused when parents are overworked. Everything is done on the run. I refer to it as "Scoop and go". Often parent's may forget things like food, formula, clean clothing, or heaven forbid, diapers. This can be resolved by leaving an ample supply of all these with the caregiver.
Another more difficult situation is when children arrive at the caregivers tried, grouchy, hungry, dirty or in leaking diapers. These problems can all be solved with prior planning. Parents and caregivers must agree on what is expected of each of them, then adhere to that as much as possible. At the same time, caregivers must be flexible regarding extenuating circumstances.
Ailing children are another problem. It is easy to say children belong at home when they are sick; but, a parent cannot always afford to stay home. Some may even lose their job. Besides, children in contact with a lot of other children seem to have many more ailments, most of them minor. They share space; therefore, they share germs.
Still, there are those times when a child is better home in bed. It is good for the parent who can to take off a day and stay home with their child; or, if they cannot, have a backup person who will do this on an as needed basis. This also is helpful in the event the caregiver becomes ill, because if care is given in the home by a single provider there is always the chance that provider could get sick.
As I said in my first acticle, I've been on both sides of the fence. I've had a few times where I had to take time from my job because I could not find good child care, or when I realized there were problems with the child care I had.
As a caregiver, I've had to drop a child or two because things just weren't working out. Most often, the latter was not because of the child, rather because the parent and I were unable to work together to solve a difficult situation.
Neither of these situations has to happen if you follow the simple advice suggested previously. After all, most all parents and caregivers do share a common bond; love and concern for a child.

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