So 2020 didn’t go AT ALL as planned—for anybody. If we were all to look back at our resolutions for the year, we’d probably laugh, then cry a little, and then laugh from sadness (it’s just where we’re all at). So, you probably have an understandable apprehension to have any goals for the new year. We get it.
However, we think your child care career is too important to not have the supportive guidance that goals and resolutions typically provide. Let’s talk about how you can still make career resolutions for 2021 even though we’re all still operating in a pandemic world.
Making Our Goals Agile
Insider tip: the Sittercity team uses the concept of agility to help us do our best work. That means that we have larger goals and projects that we work to accomplish, but the way we collaborate with each other allows us to easily act quickly to find new solutions to reach our goals.
How does this help you? Decide on larger or more over-arching goals for your career this year and give yourself the flexibility to accomplish those goals in different ways depending on how things evolve.
For example:
If your goal is “I’m going to join 3 new online nanny groups.” Zoom (no pun intended) out and look at the bigger picture of that goal, which is to network and meet more child care professionals. Make that bigger picture be your goal and “joining 3 new online nanny groups” can be just one of the ways you work towards that goal. (Shameless plug for the Sittercity Facebook group.)
Let’s say you meet a few nannies at the park this summer and you start a text thread so that you all can plan to bring your kids to the park at the same time. That’s not “joining an online nanny group,” but it absolutely is making networking connections with other professionals.
2020 Put a Spotlight on Some Important Issues
In deciding what your larger goal(s) for 2021 will be, take some time to think about what refreshed wisdom 2020 has to offer.
Child care providers are ESSENTIAL.
You’ve always known that your work is important, but it’s been a struggle to get society to see it that way. With daycares having to close, schools going remote, and families needing to isolate themselves from their regular nannies and sitters, it’s been extra apparent how critical having the entire village is to the health and sanity of parents and the kids.
Child care providers are STILL not all treated equally.
The social justice protests during the summer sparked important discussions about racial inequity in all corners of our society—including in child care. We’re thankful for industry leaders like Stephanie Bauchum of Nanny Tees, who hosted multiple online discussions that gave POC nannies the platform to share their experiences and challenge their colleagues to better understand and support.
Structural support for the child care profession still needs work.
The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) provided paid leave and emergency paid sick leave to child care providers, which is a great thing—but only for those who are paid legally by their families. The work protection and benefits that come with being considered an “official job” are critical to the livelihoods of so many nannies and sitters.
There are many things that you could focus on this year to better yourself as a person and as a child care professional. Whatever you decide, we simply encourage you to still keep moving forward and growing. You are helping to shape future generations with your care and attention, but you and your future matter just as much to us.
