Need a sitter?

Me and my second nephew, Felix

The recession is undoubtedly here, there, and everywhere. Today I learned that I will not be teaching a summer course this year - in part due to, you guessed it, the recession. Long story short, this means that I'm one PhD candidate in need of a job.

So let me introduce myself to all of you parents who still need childcare despite the recession.

Hi, I'm Chelsea. I'm kinda like Mary Poppins, but not the scary Mary. The good one. I'm a first-year doctoral student studying school psychology. I want to work with kids, teachers, parents, and the systems in which they are all involved to improve the educational and emotional functioning of children.

But can I care for your wee one(s)? Yep. I've cared for infants, toddlers, chatty elementary kids, and too-cool-for-school adolescents. I spent two summers working with girls ages 7-14 at Camp Greenwood (closed this summer due to, you guessed it, the recession). I've worked in latchkey-type after-school programs, spent two summers co-leading intervention programs for preschoolers with behavioral and emotional difficulties, interned at a community mental health center where I helped with kids' art therapy and trauma-processing groups, and a psychoeducational clinic, to name a few.

What does that mean for you and your kids? It means I can:

• Change diapers (cloth, too, thanks to some green family members)
• Be really, ridiculously patient with shorties who do the things shorties sometimes do (I've stood in Chuck E. Cheese for over 45 minutes riding out a tantrum, with onlookers and the works)
• Fill dead and potentially boring times, like walking somewhere, with camp songs and games
• Keep kids safe
• Cook and involve kids in cooking
• Clearly communicate behavioral successes and struggles with parents (I'm all about strong family-school partnerships, and any caregiver-parent communication)
  
• Stick to your rules and routines, or help to develop some if you'd like
• Safely transport children (never been pulled over/ticketed)
• Care for pets (especially Beagles)
• Charge reasonable rates. After all, I'm a grad student and used to working for peanuts ;)
• Be available almost anytime from May 1 - August 15 (nights, weekdays, weekends)

If you'd like to know more, please feel free to leave a message here with some way to contact you (email/phone or your blog if you'd like).

Chillin with the first nephew, Linus