Welcome to the Forgotten ECE. The show where
before and after school educators, summer camp
and PD staff and CYWs have a place where they
are seen, heard and valued. I'm your host, Jamie
Wakeler, and I'm so excited you're here. Hey
friends, it's Jamie and welcome back. to the
forgotten EC. It feels so good to be chatting
here with you again. I don't know about you,
but these days between all the noise, all the
schedules, all the shift expectations, I've been
craving something real. Something grounded. Something
that reminds me why I started doing this work
in the first place. So today I thought we could
talk about something we don't always name out
loud. But every single before and after school
educator feels it deep down. The emotional labor
of split shift work. Join me now. All right.
There is some benefit to this split shift because
you have a whole in -between day that you can
do things in. You can do your grocery shopping.
You can prep for supper. You can get some work
done. You can work on your CPL. You can hold
space for people. But... If you've ever worked
those early mornings and late afternoons you
know it's not just about holding time. It's about
holding space for children, for families, and
for yourself. Even when you feel like there's
nothing left to hold. Blit shift life is strange,
isn't it? We start before the sun, often before
our own kids if we have them even wake up. We
unlock doors, flick on the lights, and we welcome
the very first sleepy faces of the day. Sometimes
with cereal in hand, sometimes with tears. And
those early minutes we've already been doing
a thousand invisible things. We're reading moods.
We're diffusing conflicts before they start.
We're checking the clock, checking the weather,
checking the allergies, and remembering which
child's grandma is picking them up today. And
then just as quickly as it started, it's over.
The morning ends, the room empties, and suddenly
it's quiet again. Then there's that middle space.
You know the one I mean. That strange in -between
stretch of time. When you're off the clock but
somehow your brain is still running a mile a
minute. Do I have everything ready for this afternoon?
Did I sign the attendance sheet? Will my staff
be in? And also what am I doing with my life
right now? You're not working but you're not
not working either. You're in this limbo. That
takes an emotional toll and no one really prepares
you for. We talk a lot about burnout in this
field, but we rarely talk about the unique burnout
of split shift work. The exhaustion that doesn't
just come from doing, it comes from switching,
switching gears from work mode to home mode and
then back to work mode again, trying to have
a normal day in the middle of the work day that
never really ends. Some of us spend it running
errands, prepping dinner, maybe napping if we're
lucky who naps. I mean I wish I could nap. Others
pick up a second job because let's be honest
this field doesn't always pay and now to live
comfortably on a one -shift and Some of us just
sit in our cars in silence for a while because
it's the only quiet space that we'll see all
day And yet every afternoon here we are we show
up again smiling grounded ready to hold space
for a brand new round of emotion energy and needs
That's not just a job. That's emotional resilience
That's love in emotion, and it deserves to be
recognized as real professional emotional work.
You know, sometimes I think about how we're often
described as before and after school care providers.
It sounds transactional, doesn't it? Like we
just supervise time. But what we really do is
hold the edges of a child's day. We see them
when they're waking up, when their hair's messy
and their emotions are big. We see them after
school when they're overstimulated, hungry, and
carrying the day's weight on their shoulders.
We meet them in their most human moments, tired,
silly, grumpy, joyful, and we love them through
it. We're the first smile and the last adult
they see before going home. We really were this
safe landing. The space where they can breathe,
reset, and just be. That is not filling time.
That's building trust. That right there is relationship
based teaching. That's hard work. The kind that
never fits neatly on a timesheet. But let's be
honest. It's hard sometimes to hold space for
everyone else when yours feels empty. The early
mornings catch up with you. The middle of the
day limbo makes you feel invisible. And right
now, when it's dark, when you go to work and
dark when you get home, it is taxing. By the
end of the week and by the weekends, you're so
emotionally spent that even the idea of self
-care feels like more work. So if that's you,
if you've ever driven home and cried in your
car because you love this job, but also it's
breaking your heart a little, I want you to know
that you're not alone. You're not weak for feeling
tired. You're not ungrateful for wanting more.
It is hard. It is hard. It is hard. to take all
of this emotional weight that we take each and
every day with our school -aged children, pile
on our emotional selves and our lives and the
things that are going on, and then throw on this
darkness. You definitely are not just anything.
You're an educator, a professional, a caretaker,
a guide, a bridge between school and home. The
work you do matters, even when it feels small
or invisible. It ripples out in ways you'll never
see. Every single high -five, every comforting
hug, every joke at snack time, those moments
built. Belonging they tell children you are safe
you are seen and you matter and you my friend
you as the educator do that you Make this safe
space for them every day You teach them how to
hold space for others just like you've been holding
space for them this entire time But here's the
thing you can't hold space for others if you
don't hold some for yourself So I invite you
to pause and think about what fills you back
up Is it music on your drive between shifts?
I know it is for me. You can catch me blast in
right now. It's golden in between my drives.
I have an empowering it's called empowering playlist
and I absolutely love it and it just it pumps
me up. Is it laughing with your coworker after
a chaotic day? Is it giving yourself permission
to not be productive in the middle of that time?
To rest? To walk? To just exist without guilt?
Refilling does not have to be grand. It's small,
steady moments of kindness to yourself because
this work... The human, emotional, beautiful
work of school -aged care runs on love, not caffeine.
Okay, a little caffeine too. Because I wouldn't
die without caffeine. Okay, I'm being dramatic,
but you know what I mean. It's not selfish. It's
sustainable when you take care of yourself because
you're protecting your ability to care for others.
So, in case no one's told you lately... I'm here
to do so. What you do matters. How you show up
in this role matters. And the way you keep holding
space, even when you're running on fumes, that's
something sacred. You're not just managing time,
you're managing hearts. And that's the kind of
work that leaves a mark not just on children,
but on the world around them. So take a deep
breath, take a break, drink a coffee or a tree,
maybe some water. And remember, you are not forgotten.
Thank you so much for being here with me today.
If this episode hits home, please share it with
someone who gets it. That co -worker who always
shows up earlier, stays late. Or the one who
makes you laugh on these hard days. Until next
time, keep showing up, keep caring deeply and
keep remembering that you are real. And what
you do is vital and extraordinary. You are not
forgotten. Thank you. Amazing listeners for your
support. Don't forget to follow me on Instagram
at missjamey underscore R -E -C -E. Give a star
rating and leave a review. Have something you
want to hear about in relation to before and
after school programs or full day summer camp?
DM me or comment. Again, thank you so much and
happy learning.