Journal 4

Dealing with people is just a normal part of my job. Learning to handle the way people think they can treat or speak to me, is another. Learning to speak to people is a very vital important part of everyday life. I wonder if some people have ANY manners at all. I mean really, "where you born in a barn" doesn't seem like such a bad question for me to ask sometimes. But I love my job and try and remember that for sake of my bank account I need to maintain my calm and not have my self proclaimed "dragon moment" that I really want to unleash on these people who are supposed to be raising our future generation. I am sure I am not always at my best when conversing (god knows, we ALL have our moments) but there are a few things I always try and remember. Eye contact, body language, remembering names, and keeping complaints to a minimum are some very important things when speaking with anyone.  When someone cannot remember my name, or can not make eye contact with me, I feel very unimportant and unheard. Eye contact shows that you are genuinely listening and interested in what I have to say to you. When you can not remember my name I feel like I have not ever made an impact on your day (which is very important to me). Another peeve of mine is coming to me with a mountain of complaints all the time. Remember I deal with little people all day long! They have no patience, little manners, and a very big need for all of my attention, so please remember that you are past that phase in your life and just take a breath and come at me calm when you have an issue. I generally listen when parents are complaining to me and when it becomes excessive and I have been unable to speak, I apologise and tell them maybe they need to search out other centers if they are so unhappy. This generally makes the parent step back for a moment and puts their attitude in check. I always sandwich complaints with compliments no matter who I am speaking to. (It really does work on almost everyone.) The thing that bothers me the most is when parents come in on their cell phones or purposely avoid me or my other staff members. This lets me know for a fact that you do not care about how your childs day went. I f you can not even say hello to the teacher who cared for them all day or greet me so I can remind you about hat day on Friday you have made your message quite clear. There are 24 hours in a day, surely that phone call can be held at anonther moment in your day. Being respectful is one of the most powerful tools a person has to be sucessful in creating and maintining relationships with other humans.