[Alyssa]

In time like these while I do confide in loved ones, I also enjoy diving into self care to build myself back up. Communicating and caring for yourself are two very refreshing skills

[Hadiya Al-Shishani]

Breathe and communicate. It is easy to get caught up in the moment, so taking a second to breathe and ground yourself can help refresh your mindset. Communicate your feelings with a coworker! Removing a thought from your head by expressing it out loud helps decrease the intensity of those feelings and having someone listen to your concerns is very relieving. We want to be seen and heard the same way a child does!
I also try my best to not bring stressors from work back home. Only take the happy moments home with you!

[Maya]

Lean on your coworkers lean on your friends. Allow yourself to lean on them. If you don’t then you’ll get really tired and cranky and most likely not the kindest of person. Try being positive or giving someone a compliment.

[Kiley Kaye]

When I start to experience these feelings, I make sure to give myself a break from the current situation, and to do things that I enjoy. Even if I can only take 5 minutes away from the class, I will sit in a quiet space, and look at pictures of my cat, or watch silly videos on the internet to illicit a laugh. I will make sure to then go home that day and continue to participate in activities I take joy in.

[maria]

I step back and reflect on the “bigger picture”. Usually the bigger picture of things and where we land shows that compassion can go a long way with everyone. All of us endure stress, but not everyone can handle the stress we care dealt. Some people could use a stronger support or an additional support to carry the load until the stress is over.

[HK]

It is important to acknowledge the issue first. Then it is important to practice strategies that help you with the compassion fatigue like mindfulness, exercising, talking to a trusting person about how you feel. It is important that we take care of ourselves, so we are able to help others.

[Brienne]

Have good communication skills with those around you and be open to speaking about things on your mind and your feelings.

[melissa]

Communicate with your coworkers make sure to let them know what’s going on and maybe they will have advice.

[Ella]

Take some time to yourself and talk with others about how they can help you

[Hannah]

I would talk with my family and friends about my feelings but I would also talk with someone who has worked in childcare or education longer than I have, to see what advice they have for me.

[Sadie Olson]

recognize your feelings, and take some time for yourself to relax and recharge. Maybe talk with a friend or professional about it and try to reset yourself.

[Matthew]

Communication is very important especially with the people around you.

[intiblue42]

When compassion fatigue shows up for me, which it has at times in these last six years in the industry, I do certain steps to help children feel cared about like getting down on their level, offering eye contact, offering but not requiring hugs from myself (and/or other students if they want to offer), offering choice of comfort stuffy to hug, ask how they feel about what’s happened and ask what they have done to feel more calm in the past. It’s a bit of a checklist in my head, because I know intellectually that it’s a big feeling for them and they need time to process. I express curiosity and caring from an intellectual place much of the time because I feel wrong faking feelings. Often it becomes a teaching moment to learn about a more complicated emotion like jealousy. I love a flip book I found on Amazon that has picture ideas of what to do when certain kinds of feelings show up. The one I use is ‘My Feelings My Choices Flip Book Tool.’ So, while I may not be feeling sympathetic, I can still choose to act in compassionate ways. Like I encourage the kids to do!

If I’m feeling a little frustrated, I explain that I’m feeling frustrated because I know it takes time to help ourselves feel calm and I had planned other activities for our class; it takes me a minute or two to let go of how I hoped things would go for the whole class before these big feelings showed up and needed attention. If a child shows a pattern of expressing big feelings without even attempting some problem solving, like three times in a day and every day for over a week, I put effort into telling and showing how I solve problems, with more verbalizing of my thinking process. I work on more repetitions of the mantras I try to instill in the kids, like “practice makes better,” and “I can do hard things,” and setting up experiences with child-sized problems that the kids can and do manage on their own.

I did change the age group I was working with a little over a year ago, and that has added variety and interest to my days because 4- and 5-year-old kids require different things (and way more prep work!) from their adults than 1- and 2-year-olds.

• This reply was modified 1 year, 3 months ago by  intiblue42. Reason: html code showed up in the text, deleted it

[Ellie]

Communicate with coworkers and understand that you as a provider cannot fix every problem, and may need to pass off jobs to coworkers sometimes.

[Rebekah]

I like to destress by doing some of my favorite hobbies and talking with my friends and roommates when I need some advice. Communication is also very crucial!!!