[Reprinted from the book Helping Children With Complex Needs Bounce Back by Kim Aumann and Angie Hart; copyright © 2009 by Kim Aumann and Angie Hart. Published by Jessica Kingsley Publishers. Reprinted with permission. This article may not be reproduced for any other use without permission.]
Dedicated adults needed to work in a busy, demanding and fraught working environment. This is a long-term position so you must have staying power, excellent communication skills and the ability to plan and organize family life for everyone. No previous experience required but you will need to be a good negotiator, determined to make the most of things, and have an excellent sense of humor.
Main purpose of the job
To raise happy children by taking the lead for their day to day care.Tasks involved
- To be flexible and adjust swiftly to bad news even if crumbling inside.
- To expose your life to professionals and ask for help from others.
- To understand child development without basic training or information.
- To anticipate children's needs at every stage of their life.
- To teach children new skills regardless of their age, ability or impairment.
- To identify problems and assess situations even when unsure of yourself.
- To keep things ticking over, pay the bills, manage the budget and share it out fairly.
- To learn on the job and promote clever solutions at a moment's notice.
- To negotiate disputes even when all are behaving badly.
- To keep track of records and reports when you'd rather forget the bad news.
- To control yourself when it feels like it's all too hard to manage and you want to explode.
- To be consistently kind and look like you're enjoying it all the time.
- To keep your spirits up even when you're feeling tired, unsupported or criticized.
- To stay in there through thick and thin and be grown up and responsible even when you are bored, exasperated and want to behave like a teenager.
Pay: Not much. You're doing this for love.
