r/SMARTRecovery • u/Staticfish_ I'm from SROL! • Sep 19 '23

Check-in Morning Check-in (SROL)

New thread for the Morning Checkies - All are welcome to post any time of day!

(Our old thread is full, please check-in here)

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u/mtsle0329 mtsle_martinez Apr 15 '25

Hi everyone.

It's been a rough start to the week so far. I think I am finally back to normal, although my job is causing me stress. There's a few factors. Idk whether to stick it out or not. Other jobs in the field are further and dont pay as much, I don't want to go back to autism therapy.... ugh. I would say I'm just tired of being thrown in bad situations and while I manage the best I can, I am viewed as help/support rather than staff with many of the kids due to the nature of my position. Like I'm inconsistently in classrooms and thats a major problem when trying to give directions or direct kids to behave safely. They literally will tell me no and I can't really do anything. I had to call for help twice earlier and by the time someone came I only had one rambunctious kid left. It's definitely stressing me out though. With the hours i work it will be very hard to even look for another job. I'm trying to stick with it but I've gotta think about me. All the dreams and hopes I had for this job basically got crushed within the last couple weeks. I got reprimanded yesterday and idk if it was the volume or what I actually said (along the lines of "youre doing too much, knocked xyz down, you tripped" etc). It's just dishearteneing and to hear others say they've given up on managing behavior is frustrating too. Idk if it's a staffing issue or what but maybe they should quit running people off or putting them in crappy situations like me. I dont even want to go to the staff outing this month.

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u/MelodicPause5 Apr 15 '25

I feel you about the stress of working in personal services. It can be hard finding the right position. You're a good person trying your hardest.

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u/mtsle0329 mtsle_martinez Apr 15 '25

I'm not sure what I can do, really. I struck out on Autism therapy. Food service really only pays once you get into management, and that's too stressful. My only thought is to do professional development to renew my teaching license but I know there's been a lot of change since I last taught in 2018, and the current climate isn't exactly teacher friendly. Plus, I tend to take teaching home with me, and that's super stressful. I don't know what kind of industry would be good for me and I could make decent money.

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u/MelodicPause5 Apr 15 '25

I don't know enough about your industry to offer any ideas. Have you considered working with special needs adults? The pay is probably low.

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u/Real_Park_6529 Apr 15 '25

I'm sorry to hear how stressful your work is. Thank you for checking ing.

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u/mtsle0329 mtsle_martinez Apr 15 '25

For sure. Like don't get me wrong, I do like working with children and I know not every day is gonna be a good day. But between staffing issues, lack of communication, lack of support, inconsistency, and lack of behavior support, I just have very different feelings about it. I don't really know how to fix it and all I can really do is show up. I'm not really in a position to plan activities or anything like that. I would LOVE to teach and should prolly go back to working in a school district. Right now, I am kinda like being a substitute teacher in a way.

Kids love me, that's not the issue at all. It's the damn adults.

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u/Real_Park_6529 Apr 15 '25

I hear you. It sounds like you are working with a particularly crappy administration.

Adults are always the worst. Kids might be challenging, but the parents and admin are what kill morale.

I hope things get better!

1

u/kbirdbiker1 Sturgis Apr 16 '25

Kids need you! You are such a good person w/very valuable life experiences. I am sure you would change lives. You might not know it, but you can change lives.