Corporate baby-sitting is "one of the most exhausting, worst paid, and smelliest jobs in America"?

Compared to what--garbage collecting? The municipal garbage collectors in my city are paid by the night, not the hour, which means they often get paid at what is in effect below minimum wage. (When feminists compare "comparable wages", they compare what the owner of a sanitation company pays himsefl with what the trainee at a day care center gets paid, not what the trainee in both cases get paid.)

And I've worked factory jobs that not only left me physically (as well as mentally) exhausted, but left my work clothes so saturated with either grease or fiberglass that I kept (and washed) my work clothes separate from my regular clothes (and felt guilty about what I was doing to the washers in the laundramat).

I know: what she means is that corporate baby-sitting is "one of the most exhausting, worst paid, and smelliest jobs" that anyone who she would consider human could be stuck with. Mere garbage collectors and factory workers are beneath notice--or contempt--to her.

I can assure you there are worse things out there for stench than babies en masse. For example:

1. My brother once had a summer job that required him to power wash and disinfect honey buckets from construction sites.

2. The Boy, in his youth, had to clean pig barns. We're talking up to his chest (in waders) in shit.

3. I was often dragooned into cleaning the chicken house. *shudder*. That job required overalls and a respirator.

4. I also (but only once, I'm no fool) had to turn the compost pile. This involved a tiny tractor, a shovel, and a six-foot pile of nicely rotting cow manure.

Now I know that diapers are disgusting, but they're actually packaged and relatively tidy compared to the examples I gave. Maybe Emily would like to do a comparison for her next assignment?

I don't think the article suggests that there are no OTHER exhausting, disgusting, low-paying jobs out there.

hmm...maybe Mike Rowe should check out daycare for Dirty Jobs...

He did do some sort of dirty job thing that involved messy diapers. It wasn't just a daycare thing, they were testing the poo or something. Unfortunately I was coding while watching the episode so my memory is a bit fuzzy. (Or at least that's my story and I'm sticking to it!)

Yes, she said "one of"... so, garbage collecting is another "one of". I don't see your point.

I've worked in factories in my life and no, it ain't fun. But it's a different kind of exhausting than taking care of kids. You can zone out on factory work - the harder the work, the faster the day goes, then you leave, maybe go home and play with the kids for an hour and put them to bed.

There aren't any mental breaks in child care. You're always engaged (that's certainly what parents are expecting, no?), and the kids always need something from you. It isn't "baby-sitting" anymore when you're in a room full of kids, 5 days a week, 10 hours a day.

The wrench doesn't need you, you can't fuck up the wrench for the rest of its life and if the wrench breaks, you get a new wrench. We're expecting these childcare employees to raise good kids, not make good air conditioners (one of my factory jobs) - what's the worst that could happen if you buy a shitty air conditioner? The stakes are higher, that's why they deserve to earn more than they currently do, not because their job is more or less smelly than shovelling pig shit.

bugger:

Yes, she said "one of"... so, garbage collecting is another "one of". I don't see your point.

I've worked in factories in my life and no, it ain't fun. But it's a different kind of exhausting than taking care of kids. You can zone out on factory work - the harder the work, the faster the day goes, then you leave, maybe go home and play with the kids for an hour and put them to bed.

There aren't any mental breaks in child care. You're always engaged (that's certainly what parents are expecting, no?), and the kids always need something from you. It isn't "baby-sitting" anymore when you're in a room full of kids, 5 days a week, 10 hours a day.

The wrench doesn't need you, you can't fuck up the wrench for the rest of its life and if the wrench breaks, you get a new wrench. We're expecting these childcare employees to raise good kids, not make good air conditioners (one of my factory jobs) - what's the worst that could happen if you buy a shitty air conditioner? The stakes are higher, that's why they deserve to earn more than they currently do, not because their job is more or less smelly than shovelling pig shit.

Garbage collectors don't have to keep on their toes as they run to grab the garbage laid on the side of the street, then run after the truck to toss the trash in?

Factory workers "zone out" and don't risk serious injury, not to mention getting fired for slowing down production when their machine has to be stopped? I worked with a guy who unfortunately "zoned out" once; I can tell you that once your finger is cut off it assumes room temperature.

There's also the fact that you can kill people by leaving defects in a product; again, I'm speaking from experience (luckily for my conscience, it wasn't my fault).

Again, corporate baby-sitting may be "one of" the diritest, smelliest, most exhausting, etc., jobs that women perform, but calling it "one of" the hardest jobs out there only insults working-class men.

I just disagree. Children suck your brains, emotions and energy in a way that inanimate objects simply do not.

Spending an afternoon baby-sitting your grandkids is fun, but tiring. In our society, this is as close as many men get to actually taking care of children, which is where the "c'mon, how hard can it be?" syndrome comes from. Spending 50 hours a week surrounded by needy kids is not "fun" and is brain-poundingly draining.

I can't for the life of me figure out why you think it's "insulting" to men to say it's one of the hardest jobs out there.

If babies smell bad or the daycares it is because the parents are not bathing the children at home. I have only smelled really smelly baby blankets when a cat uses the blankets or the wrong soap is used. My sister sherry used to baby sti for babies adn the moms would drop them lff and had not bothered th change them all night and that is when the diaper may have an odor but usally babies smell like sugarr and spice and everything nice since that what little boys and girls are made of.. baby powder and baby oil baby lotion smell great and that is what is used on babies not soap it is simple to harsh for their really preretty smooth flawless skin.

i know a nanny that makes enough to buy her own condo and a new suv have plstic surgery and the little boy Roman is her own grand son. She gets to fly to seattle and then hawaii and that is just a few of the perks. Childlhood with the fun crafts, songs and the cute little children enjoying showing off their loose tooth or their baseball stance when they bat or their new karate move are a joy.

Thank God for kids they are magic for a while HIi Roman Saladino in Seattle I am sending the Star War cards I promise.you make this world a fun place

bugger:

I just disagree. Children suck your brains, emotions and energy in a way that inanimate objects simply do not.

Spending an afternoon baby-sitting your grandkids is fun, but tiring. In our society, this is as close as many men get to actually taking care of children, which is where the "c'mon, how hard can it be?" syndrome comes from. Spending 50 hours a week surrounded by needy kids is not "fun" and is brain-poundingly draining.

I can't for the life of me figure out why you think it's "insulting" to men to say it's one of the hardest jobs out there.

Again, you're assuming that garbage collectors, factory workers, and farmers work at their own pace, and never find their "brains, emotions and energy" sucked out by working in a noisy, dirty environment, where they have to make their job quotas while dealing with co-workers who weren't hired for the way they got along with others.

As a child care worker myself, my reason for believing I am underpaid has little to do with the dirtiness or exhausting aspect of the career I have chosen. My point is that I am not a baby sitter, I am an educator. I have a BS in child development and plan activities and experiences with the specific intent of maximizing the learning and development of the children I care for to help them be as successful in life as possible. The current research in child development and brain research shows that the first 5 years of life is the window in which the most growth and learning occurs. Yes I also meet the need for working parents to have a safe and nurturing place for their children to be while they are at work, but I am more than a babysitter. There have been many a times when my pay was less than what I could have made flipping burgers. I am a teacher of the very young and as most teachers and other civil servents I am underpaid.

Don Schenk:

Again, you're assuming that garbage collectors, factory workers, and farmers work at their own pace, and never find their "brains, emotions and energy" sucked out by working in a noisy, dirty environment, where they have to make their job quotas while dealing with co-workers who weren't hired for the way they got along with others.

I'm not assuming, I've worked factory jobs and manual labor and found that, for me at least, it's not the case.

Amen, LauraP.

as someone who just spent a week with the three year old set at VBS...please try it...I wanted to stick a fork in my eye by noon...i can't imagine having to do that for a living and i have had some really crappy jobs...

I am not contemptuous of any hard working person... a job is a job and puts food on the table, but credit where credit is due..all those kids, all that poo(shudder).

LauraP:

As a child care worker myself, my reason for believing I am underpaid has little to do with the dirtiness or exhausting aspect of the career I have chosen. My point is that I am not a baby sitter, I am an educator. I have a BS in child development and plan activities and experiences with the specific intent of maximizing the learning and development of the children I care for to help them be as successful in life as possible. The current research in child development and brain research shows that the first 5 years of life is the window in which the most growth and learning occurs. Yes I also meet the need for working parents to have a safe and nurturing place for their children to be while they are at work, but I am more than a babysitter. There have been many a times when my pay was less than what I could have made flipping burgers. I am a teacher of the very young and as most teachers and other civil servents I am underpaid.

...And to work for the sewage department in my city you have to pass a government test after studying a thick book of all the government regulations about sh*t. So?

everyone is missing the point.....

Children are the future...If we do not do something about the salaries for people involved in the well being of our future....

than everything else does not mean shit.