Mary Pat doesn't fly around with a black umbrella, but she does have over 20 years of experience as a Child Development Expert. This column will answer questions about child development concerns & managing your employee/employer relationship.

Q. I work for a couple that both work – except that last week one of them got laid off. I’m worried about my job, but not sure what to think since neither of them has said anything to me about my own job security. I want to know if I should be worried about my job and looking for new work. What should I do? - Jessica

A: Dear Jessica,
You have valid concerns, especially in this difficult economic time. While your employers themselves may not know exactly what they need or want it's not a bad thing for you to bring up the subject with them. As always, ask to chat sometime when you know they won’t be too rushed and when you might have a quiet few minutes to talk. Let them know that you were wondering if their job change would impact your job. Ask if they know what their thoughts and plans are and how/if that impacts your job with them. They may not have specific answers for you now, but at least this will open up the topic for further conversation (if needed).

Be sure to let them know:

	You want to continue with them and that you enjoy your work with them
	You want to support them however you can

Keep in mind that even a job that goes from Full-time to Part-time could be better than no job so if they need to scale back your hours (temporarily) it might be worth it to agree to that if you can.

Also, you aren’t going to end up without a job simply because you checked in about it – it’s better to have a heads up about an upcoming change than to keep your head in the sand thinking that you won’t lose your job if you don’t talk about what’s going on.

 

Q: This cold and wet weather and the time inside makes me go stir crazy. I feel like the kids start to get bored and are tired of our regular activities. I need some help with some new ideas! -Ginger

A:  Dear Ginger,
There are a lot of fun activities that you can do indoors. Rainy or cold days are a great opportunity to get creative and have a lot of fun with your charges. Here are a few of my favorite, rainy day activities:

1. Create your own beauty salon or barbershop with shaving cream and popsicle sticks for razors, combs, brushes, gel and hair bows and barrettes.

2. A dress up box with stuff from a Thrift Store can be endless fun.

3. Have a backwards day with dinner food for breakfast and breakfast food for dinner. Try to see how many things you can do backwards… read a book from back to front, walk backwards or spell out a secret message with the words spelled backwards.

4. Put a spare sheet over the dining room table and make a great spontaneous hideout.

5. Have the kids trace their body outline on a big piece of paper then decorate and color it in.

6. Create a puppet show, using old socks and pens, yarn and other craft stuff.

7. Have an indoor picnic complete with a blanket to sit on, picnic food and a game of duck, duck, goose.

8. Pick a color and do as much as you can in that color: wear the color, make food in that color, make an art project with that color, think of living things in that color, etc.

9. Plan a scavenger hunt in the house.

10. Create a “real” restaurant at home and make dinner for mom or dad including making a menu, wearing an apron, taking orders and serving food.

11. Play a good old game of hide and seek.

12. Get your rain gear on and go splash in the puddles!

For other great rainy day and indoor activities, visit the Family Education website by clicking here.



If you have a question you want answered, you can send an
e-mail to: marypat@tandcr.com and it will be covered (anonymously) in an upcoming newsletter.

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