Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Uproar at Daycare

After I picked Tree Faerie up from daycare last Thursday, I noticed she had a huge knot and bruise on her forehead. I didn't notice this until we got to the grocery store, which is only about 5 minutes away from the daycare. While I know kids get bumps and bruises, the daycare has always been very good about providing an incident report. Based on the size and color of the bump, I figured I had just missed the incident report or that it was still in the main office and hadn't been returned to the teacher for me to sign.

Friday morning I inquired about it when I dropped Tree Faerie off. The head teacher, Ms. J, did not know what happened but mentioned that yesterday was a rough day. The normal assistant teacher was not in the classroom at the time, so I couldn't ask her. There was a "floater" teacher assisting Ms. J, however I didn't think anything of it because sometimes teachers need to take off. Since they were trying to get the kids seated for snack time (yes, at 9 AM), I didn't stick around to find out more information.

When I went to pick Tree Faerie up on Friday afternoon, Ms. J was still there, which is unusual. Usually the assistant teacher (or floater when the assistant is out) is the one there in the afternoon. Since there weren't many kids left and no other parents present, I asked if everything was okay in that magical way of mine that says, "Please, pour your heart out to me! I'm here to listen!"

Turns out the assistant teacher left for lunch on Thursday and decided not to return. According to Ms. J, the assistant teacher was unhappy there, but not with the kids or Ms. J. What is odd is when I dropped Tree Faerie off on Thursday morning, I asked the assistant teacher if she was okay because she looked upset. She said she didn't feel good, so I left it at that.

So, now they are looking for another assistant teacher for Tree Faerie's toddler room. Meanwhile, floaters and teachers from other classes are covering the toddler room. What makes MY life a bit more difficult is that the time I normally drop Tree Faerie off in the morning is the same time the head teacher is driving one of the buses. She's only gone for about 30 minutes, but I usually drop off in that 30 minute window. Every day this week, I've had to hand Tree Faerie off to someone she's not as familiar with, resulting in an upset child. It breaks my heart! This morning I almost went back in to get her!

Because she did the same thing when I left her with DTTF last week when she was sick, I know she is not upset for long after I leave. This knowledge does not make walking away any easier, though. I'm very thankful that I can also call and check on her during the day, which I just did, of course. She's fine, and since I actually got to talk to Ms. J, I feel much better. My heart still aches for her, but now it's a dull throb instead of a wrenching feeling.

*sigh* On with my day...

6 comments:

Heather said...

That's a bummer. We are going through a similar thing. Both of Luke's teachers left last week. The main teacher has been his teacher for since his very first year at preschool. He misses her dearly, but is adjusting well since all of his friends are still there. O.K. band geek, what instrument did you play? I played the flute.

Coal Miner's Granddaughter said...

So sorry you're going through that. We go through that every morning when Ty-man leaves for work. The twins howl and even though I see that within 15 minutes, they're OK, it doesn't make it easier for him. Surprisingly, though, because I see it happen every morning and their quick recovery, it doesn't upset me when I leave for a date night. I know they'll be OK in a few minutes.

Monnik said...

do you know what happened with the bump on sweetie's head?

sorry you're going through that...

Unknown said...

Nope. I still don't know. It looks a lot better, though there's still a faint bruise. She probably whacked her head on the tile part of the floor.

Carrie and Troy Keiser said...

That's terrible. I hope they get replacement soon so live can settle down.

Unknown said...

Ooooh it's the worst when they cry when you leave...shove a dagger in my heart next time! So sorry:-(