Looking for job suggestion

[PennLady]

Not for me.

I'm going to start a new story and the heroine needs to have a job that puts her around kids for a portion of the day. Teacher naturally jumps to mind but I'm not sure I want those. I also toyed with her perhaps being the manager of a diner or some other after-school place kids might gather. So I was wondering if anyone out there had any other ideas?

It'll be a nonhuman story, probably werewolf. The general scenario is that she is with the kids when bad guys appear and she protects the kids, many of whom are also werewolves but (of course) she doesn't know this. Her actions catch the attention of the pack leader.

A school obviously works well for this in many ways, but I was just curious as to what else might be there. When I think about it, I draw blanks.

 

[Tio_Narratore]

Many elementary schools have extended care programs for kids whose parents work full day jobs. After school, the kids are often out to play on the school grounds or in a nearby park. It might just be a park near the edge of some woodland, and maybe your heroine is partcularly attuned to seeing the supernatural threats at the border of the forest as twilight descends, just before the parents come for their kids...

 

[evanslily]

A quick Internet search found this:

http://www.career.fsu.edu/img/pdf/mm/child-related.pdf

Lots to consider there! I kind of quite liked the idea of being a children's author in a library...

 

[PennLady]

Many elementary schools have extended care programs for kids whose parents work full day jobs. After school, the kids are often out to play on the school grounds or in a nearby park. It might just be a park near the edge of some woodland, and maybe your heroine is partcularly attuned to seeing the supernatural threats at the border of the forest as twilight descends, just before the parents come for their kids...

My son's school has extended care programs, but I think they keep the kids inside. That might work better for the story in terms of logistics. But thanks, I'll add that to the mix.

 

[PennLady]

A quick Internet search found this:

http://www.career.fsu.edu/img/pdf/mm/child-related.pdf

Lots to consider there! I kind of quite liked the idea of being a children's author in a library...

Thanks. I suppose it doesn't even have to be her job, she could be around kids for another reason. A job just seemed easier and I am all about easier.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Foster parent or adoptions social worker.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

School social worker. They do lotsa home visits.

 

[soflabbwlvr]

Werewolves are nocturnal creatures, so it would have to be somewhere that she is around kids under a full moon. Theme park employee? Soccer coach? Girl scout troop leader?

 

[MatthewVett]

She could work with an after school program. That way, you'd have a lot of flexibility regarding what exactly she does (e.g. art, sports, drawing, zoo employee, whatever), while still giving her an excuse to be in an authority position alone with children. When I worked with one, there was a lot of diversity among the programs.

 

[EdwardMidweston]

Not for me.

I'm going to start a new story and the heroine needs to have a job that puts her around kids for a portion of the day. Teacher naturally jumps to mind but I'm not sure I want those. I also toyed with her perhaps being the manager of a diner or some other after-school place kids might gather. So I was wondering if anyone out there had any other ideas?

It'll be a nonhuman story, probably werewolf. The general scenario is that she is with the kids when bad guys appear and she protects the kids, many of whom are also werewolves but (of course) she doesn't know this. Her actions catch the attention of the pack leader.

A school obviously works well for this in many ways, but I was just curious as to what else might be there. When I think about it, I draw blanks.

Possibly a volunteer coach in some sport, a scout denmother, an academic tutor of some sort, a nurse who runs some sort of "welless program" for kids,
or a children's librarian.

 

[PennLady]

Werewolves are nocturnal creatures, so it would have to be somewhere that she is around kids under a full moon. Theme park employee? Soccer coach? Girl scout troop leader?

Actually, in the current nonhuman stuff I've read, the nocturnal and moon stuff is optional to say the least. Werewolves (mostly) can turn anytime, anywhere, although the moon often figures in somehow.

She could work with an after school program. That way, you'd have a lot of flexibility regarding what exactly she does (e.g. art, sports, drawing, zoo employee, whatever), while still giving her an excuse to be in an authority position alone with children. When I worked with one, there was a lot of diversity among the programs.

Hmmm. This all basically comes back to teaching, which I guess is not unusual or unreasonable and is probably the most likely. Although I like the idea of a zoo guide, or perhaps a museum guide who does field trips for kids. All good stuff to think about -- thanks.

 

[sun_sea_sky]

• Nanny
• Nurse/doctor at children's hospital or ward
• Worker at a kids' play center
• Usher or similar at movie theatre
• Outdoor program leader (eg. Scouts, summer camp)
• Music teacher / dance instructor
• Guard at juvenile prison
• Mom/Dad minding friends' kids after school
• Operator at fun park (eg. carousel, dodgem cars)
• Lifesaver at hotel / local swimming pool (or beach)
• Lawyer representing underage offenders
• Bus driver (school trip)
• Bouncer at pop concert (kid's music)

 

[PennLady]

Thanks, SSS. Those are all good ideas. I think I do need something more like a class, somewhere that a group of kids could be in one room, or taken into one from outside. But those are all ones to think about.

 

[nomoretears00]

Hey Penn, what about this:

When it came time to teach the letter P in my class, I took my kids to the local Pizza Hut. They'd get make their own little pan pizza. There are the kids you need, and not in an actual school setting, per se. Althought it would be a school function.

This way your MC wouldn't have to be a teacher--she could be a parent with the group or even the store owner or manager.

 

[hipnoptico]

Scouts

Boy Scouts?

 

[lovecraft68]

Maybe she's the den mother of some "cub" scouts.

Sigh, what can I say, I try

 

[sun_sea_sky]

Thanks, SSS. Those are all good ideas. I think I do need something more like a class, somewhere that a group of kids could be in one room, or taken into one from outside. But those are all ones to think about.

I've got it! A TV show. The audience has kids in it, and the supervising adult is the production assistant or something.

Or a quiz show. Where you have 3 or 4 kids per team. They meet up prior to going on air for a briefing in a small room. Then there is a growl at the door ... Blood seeps underneath ...

 

[sun_sea_sky]

Oliver Twist! They are all pickpockets. The supervising adult is Fagin.

 

[sun_sea_sky]

Choir boys/girls. They are on tour in a strange city. Just them and the choir leader.

 

[sun_sea_sky]

Set the thing a couple of hundred years in the past. Then they can all be orphans at the workhouse.

 

[PennLady]

I've got it! A TV show. The audience has kids in it, and the supervising adult is the production assistant or something.

Or a quiz show. Where you have 3 or 4 kids per team. They meet up prior to going on air for a briefing in a small room. Then there is a growl at the door ... Blood seeps underneath ...

I think Stanley Kubrick's estate would get me for perhaps ripping off The Shining with that last bit. Or perhaps not, if I don't use an elevator.

My idea -- which may change -- is that it is not just the protection of the children that attracts the man to her, but also the fact that she works with them on a regular basis. That whole "good mom" kind of thing.

Although ... pizza and TV -- that'll bring kids in!

 

[PennLady]

Oliver Twist! They are all pickpockets. The supervising adult is Fagin.

I can't. I can't. I had to deal with being on the stage crew for the musical Oliver! as a senior in high school and various things haunt me to this day.

Set the thing a couple of hundred years in the past. Then they can all be orphans at the workhouse.

No, see, that requires research, which I am too lazy -- I mean, don't have time to do.

 

[sun_sea_sky]

I can't. I can't. I had to deal with being on the stage crew for the musical Oliver! as a senior in high school and various things haunt me to this day.

Tell us more. The word "haunt" is especially haunting.

Did some thing get loose?

 

[Brandie69]

Not for me.

I'm going to start a new story and the heroine needs to have a job that puts her around kids for a portion of the day. Teacher naturally jumps to mind but I'm not sure I want those. I also toyed with her perhaps being the manager of a diner or some other after-school place kids might gather. So I was wondering if anyone out there had any other ideas?

It'll be a nonhuman story, probably werewolf. The general scenario is that she is with the kids when bad guys appear and she protects the kids, many of whom are also werewolves but (of course) she doesn't know this. Her actions catch the attention of the pack leader.

A school obviously works well for this in many ways, but I was just curious as to what else might be there. When I think about it, I draw blanks.

Cub scout den mother.

Children's librarian.

School nurse (stationary or traveling).

School bus driver.

School secretary.

Humble and lovable clerk at a children's book store.

 

[nicecthulhu]

Librarians are always sexy, but Brandie69 beat me to that...
Really you could use any type of activity that multiple children engage in on a regular basis. That includes swim instructor, gymnastics instructor, special ed (for kids having trouble with speaking, attention, tempers...), at home daycare, someone who works at a camp at a conservation area, think of any type of camp that kids go to (art, math, music, nature, space), self-defense instructor, skating teacher, hockey coach.
It could be something as simple as someone who cares for a number of children because the parents are all engaged in the same activity at the same time. She was a friend and available and liked kids.