Sep 28, 2010

Warning - Job Rant

I love my job, I really do.  I love the chosen children that come into my life every morning.  I love the extended "family" that I get every day...

BUT...

I really wish that parents would respect my rules.  I only have 3 daycare families right now - 2 of whom are fabulous and the other one just doesn't seem to get it.  I don't have many rules for parents...really...how hard are these to follow??

1.  Please don't bring outside food in -- it's brought anyhow.  I'm not talking the tail end of a piece of toast or whatever was eaten in the car on the way here -- I'm talking a full out bag full of snacky things.  I mean, I have more than enough food to feed these little munchkins all day long.  When you bring in food from home, guess what -- it causes Tiny Toddler War.  Your child may not be the toddler, no -- but the fruit loops that she brings are akin to dropping an atom bomb in my play room.  I work hard to ensure that the children get tasty, nutritious food.  Stop sending your kid here with CRAP.

2.  Please don't bring toys from home -- yes, your little doodle-shnuckums loves her teddy bears and barbies with 1000s of pieces.  I don't.  I also don't enjoy the search for said toys at the end of the day.  Nor do I enjoy the fighting over said toys during the day.  Nor do I like the "Look at my new toy, isn't it beautiful? DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH IT" that comes out of your princess' mouth.  Nope.  Don't like it.  Do you realize that I have an entire basement that is devoted solely to daycare?  Do you realize that I have teddy bears, dolls, barbies, kitchen areas, books, cars, blocks, puzzles, crayons, paper, glue....and thousands more things here that are more than enough for your kid to play with.  Please tell me why you need to bring another thing in here?  And don't get mad at me when I can't find the stupid toy and refuse to look for it at pick up time, because, you know what?  I told you not to bring the damn thing in the first place.

That is all.

6 comments:

Amena said...

Do you give them written copies of your rules, which they sign when they join?

Hethr said...

Amena, I'm through an agency - so they definately get papers. I also repeat and repeat things like this in my newsletters (granted, I haven't done one since July) -- and tell this particular parent EVERY DAY. I send the food stuff back with her in the morning -- why keep bringing it? The toys...grr....I'm just frustrated...

Unknown said...

I use to send food for breakfast cause it wasn't provided and all the kids would eat and share their breakfast together. If I didn't have to though that'd be awesome! The toy thing makes complete sense!! I would let Julian bring his on the bus then it went in my purse or stayed on the stroller!!!! Seems like common sense to me.

Kathy said...

When my kids were in daycare and had that toy that they "just couldn't go without allllll day", I made it perfectly clear to them that the other kids were allowed to play with it, they had to share that toy and if they didn't bring it back home at night, it was their problem. They soon learned that the toys they held dearest, remained at home. I made sure the providers were aware of my feelings and my son's weren't able to fool them either. They were not responsible for lost toys and if the toy wasn't shared, it was immediately taken away. No waiting for arguments to escalate. None of the daycares (even agencies) that we had served the nutrituous food that I preferred. They all said they would (in the beginnning) but as time went on, it proved different. So, I would do "favours" for my daycare providers and make lunches that were healthy, but were enough for the whole group. Providing good food is expensive, I understood that and helping out once in a while didn't bother me. Same thing with snacks, enough for the whole group, or no one gets to eat. It was a rule I had in my own house, kids want friends over, everyone eats or no one eats. It's actually a rule I hold to this day, and my kids are young adults now. They are hungry and want to order pizza, they need to order enough for everyone. Some things are just logical.

Hopefully this parent will soon clue in, Hethr. Or maybe it will prove better to find another 'chosen child'.

Hope your day goes better..

Kathy said...

Some of what I just posted all of a sudden doesn't sound right. What I meant by 'no one gets to eat',means if my kids had a fave snack they wanted to bring along, they had to provide for everyone in the daycare or they weren't allowed to have it!! lol.. I didn't ever tell the daycare provider not to serve snacks!!

oops... :)

Hethr said...

Kathy -- You sound like the kind of parent I love.

And you're right -- feeding healthy food is EXPENSIVE! What a shame.

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