Is it just me?

Thursday, November 3, 2005

Running a daycare can be a joy and a wonderful experience. Then there are those days where I ask myself WHY!!!! I have a couple of kids here that I absolutely adore. They are a brother and sister, 10 months apart in age and they have got to be the cuddliest, cutest little ones and I don't know what I would do without them. Their mom on the other hand is a very harsh woman, who appears to care very much for her kids but she is stuck in the mentality of 'it's all about me'. She purchased a tv and vcr for her two year old daughter for her 2nd b-day last year. For me, well, I don't find sitting children in front of a television to be very healthy nor do I find the parents who do so to be very into their parental responsibilities. But that is just me. Nuks, both kids have nuks. There is a story about that as well.

About the time the girl turned two, the mom started giving me the business about her having her nuk. I had told her that the only time a nuk is given is at nap time but said that if she didn't want the girl to have a nuk, well, fine. I think nuks should be gone by the age of 1 1/2 years old personally so I don't have a problem with that. I did what was asked. The little girl hated nap time for about 2 days until I started talking to her about what a big girl she was and how she was just like Dora The Explorer. Each day after that, well, naptime was a welcome thing. However, the mom, well, lets just say that these two kids walk in my house every day with nuks in their mouths and the minute they get into that car, she pops the nuk in their mouths. I have yelled at her about that double standard and her response was, "I can't stand their crying and I just want to shut them up." So basically what I get from that is she plops them in the bedroom in front of the tv with nuks in mouth and leaves them to watch tv all night then plans a weekend for them to be with grandma or dad. All I do is shake my head.

Her and I have had a few heated arguments in the last 2 years as she tends to take her cranky moods out on me, blames me when the County raises her co-pay, gets down on me when she forgets to bring me diapers that I have been telling her I need for a week and a half. She leaves here some mornings slamming my door so hard that my whole house shakes. The clincher of that is she puts her kids inside the door and while she is huffing and puffing towards the door, she pays no attention to wheter her kids are stable on their feet, they fall, begin to cry, and she continues out the door. Not a word to me, not a good-bye to her kids, just leaves in a huff. I am not sure what her deal is but I have grown to accept it and lavish her kids with love, hugs, kisses and discipline. And each morning her kids run into my arms with huge smiles and huge hugs yelling my name.

I don't teach a curriculum in my daycare. I just think that kids already spend too much time in school and not enough time learning social skills. This mom has placed her 2 year old little girl in pre-school already. But this little girl is very bossy, very rude, and sasses me whenever she can slip it in. The two kids have a new phrase that they have been using quite frequently, one in which I have to wonder where they have heard it before...hmmmm. They have been telling everyone to ''Shut-Up!" Ok, well, running a daycare, there have to be many rules, respect, sharing, etc. In other words, we have to be strict. To me, shut up or be quiet is very rude to tell another unless they are listening to something on the news or a teacher or something.

This morning, the little boy was being dropped off. He was crying to mommy because he wanted his nuk. I said with a smile that, 'you don't need your wuukie, you get that at naptime.' The little guy walks up to me, says my name and says, 'Shut-up!' This little guy just turned two a few weeks ago. I of course got stern, said you do not talk to me like that as did his mom but she also added this, 'you don't say shut-up, you say be quiet please.' I immediately spoke my peace on that one and said he does not say either one of those to me in this house. Of course the mom was silent and walked out the door without saying good-bye to me.

So, the point of all of this story telling today is to ask but one question. Am I wrong to ask that people try to teach their kids some semblance of respect in today's society? I don't think that I am but the look this mother gave me was one of shock with a tinge of anger. I mean it is my home and I do expect kids to have some type of respect for me. I spend more time with a lot of these kids than their own parents do. I state on my contract very clearly that I treat manners, social skills, empathy...hellllllooooo, lets get back to some basic teachings in this country parents. The fundamentals of life.

Written by louie0768 . Link to this entry