I’m on a doctor recommended mental health leave from my daycare work. It has its moments of good and bad and sometimes the bad was terribly debilitating (short staff meant inconsistent bathroom breaks when we really needed them when working with infants or up to a max of six younger toddlers or 6 older toddlers age 2) and this all while I got done a job seven months ago before that as a Bht with inconsistent hours with kids with some varying degrees of intensity of behavioral issues and a hour commute both ways.
There were some fun Moments here and there. Both jobs had me work with some great and interesting kids (who also were hella difficult) and the coworkers were enjoyable or I had to earn their respect for a while.
I told a daycare coworker of mine recently “If you aren’t going to be standing on the toddler playground climber again, holding that thing like rapunzel at her tower while singing songs and living her best life while the rest of us sit on the kids play cars and bikes rocking back and forth in tune like we’re the orphan kids as adults from the Annie movie looking at haggard as them then I won’t want it” this actually happened too lol