Frustration can be an everyday partner in childcare settings. The professionals working are there because they believe they can make a difference in someone’s life…and they do. But they don’t always do it according to their own internal timeline. That’s when frustration steps in.

How do we know frustration is at our doorstep? It’s easy. When the teacher begins pulling her hair out, hopefully its figuratively and not literally, or begins to raise her voice in the classroom, or even comes to say she needs a time-out from the class…the director had better pay attention.

Here are a few ways to short circuit frustration so that it never gets to the point of teachers running out the door.

 Apply the Ear Technique. Try talking everyday with each teacher about those children that are a possible source of frustration. It might be the overly active child or special needs child. It might be the child that didn’t sleep last night. Knowing someone else is listening and trying to help is a great relief for the teacher. It allows the teacher to release that bottled up frustration and try to reach for a solution. And it allows the teacher the opportunity to explore other options in the classroom.

 Apply the One to One Rule. As a standard operating procedure, it can really slow frustration down. The One To One Rule is quite simple. You can register all the complaints you want but for each complaint you have to say something good about the child, other staff member, or parent. Try that on for size sometime. What it does is help the teacher focus on what is important and begin to see that everyone has some positive aspects.

 Apply the New Glasses Technique. The director can figuratively put on other glasses to look at the child’s behavior and often re-interpret the teacher’s frustrating comments. So the child who is wiping his wet painted hands on a classmate’s clothing might be “re-seen” as a child who problem solves very well…he couldn’t reach the paper towels so he found something else to wipe his hands with. This won’t relieve the immediate problem but it will allow a pause to find a solution. Looking all around the “problem” helps everyone to understand what is going on and therefore what it will take to remedy the situation.

 Apply the Humor Technique. Never forget to see the humor in a situation because that is where the human element lies. What can be so utterly frustrating can serve as a comedy act at tonight’s dinner table.

The most important thing to remember about addressing frustration is that it is an on-going occurrence. It never completely goes away but it can definitely be mitigated with a little planning.