Right away, we started having problems with diaper rash in our youngest boy, who is not yet potty trained. We have NEVER had problems with rash unless he's been ill or teething. NEVER. My mother in law was watching the boys for us while we got our work schedules ironed out. She told us nearly every day there was stool in his diaper when she picked them up. Sometimes it was dried on his tender skin.
Two weeks passed. Our oldest had a few clashes with her - but that's pretty normal for a toddler. They are going to have good and bad days, right? After the two weeks, things started to get ugly.
One day, she wrote us a 5-page manifesto of things he supposedly did all day. Yes, you read that correctly... 5 pages. He was doing something, according to her, roughly every 10-15 minutes. It left me wondering how in the world she could possibly be watching other children if she was riding his case so hard.
Then... I read the document she wrote.
Things started to get real, guys. As in, mama bear was coming out.
She was making claims in that document that I knew... beyond the shadow of a doubt... were fabricated. She was telling us he was threatening to kill others. He was trying to suffocate younger children. You name it... it was in there. She even said he chanted to himself in unintelligible languages when she put him into time out.
She suggested we needed to take him to the doctor and get him on medications because her older son was the same way. (What really qualifies you for that, do you have a medical degree to back that up?)
We called her on it. It was time for his well child check up anyway. So we took him in and, as luck would have it, the sub for his physician was a behavior specialist. He gave our son tasks to do. He gave him some orders. He watched my husband with him. In the end, he concluded our child has no problems. He doesn't need medication. He is simply a 4 year old with a high level of energy who is probably a little to smart to his own good.
He went further to suggest that we may need to change the daycare for the boys because it sounded like something was clearly wrong.
She didn't like hearing that. She was certain he'd be put on meds. Of course you want him on meds, you want kids who will sit all day and watch television so you don't have to do any work. I don't pay you to let the television babysit my kids, lady.
By mid-August, she claimed he flipped a recliner holding two other children. I told her I think she needs to get her head examined because she has a clear issue and doesn't need to be trusted with the care of children. She didn't like that either. She gave us two week notice on our oldest child a couple of days later.
My mom was a nanny for many years. I asked her to come and watch the boys for a couple of weeks and see if she could coax that behavior out of him. Nothing. Not even a single threat, no trying to put pillows on anyone. He was a typical child... doing typical child things.
We have started a new daycare. Their first full day was the Tuesday after Labor Day. I know it's only been three days... but he hasn't had a single issue yet. His teacher told us they don't foresee any issues because he is a good kid that follows instructions well. And he clearly loves his little brother a LOT.
If there is something that irritates the daylights out of me, it is adults who bully and lie about children. There is no need for it. You are much bigger than they are, what do you stand to gain?
The only thing I can think of is that my son witnessed something he thought was very wrong and called her on it. He hasn't said, but he has told us she pushed him on at least one occasion and hit him on another. My husband, being an officer of the law, had to report that. I hope she enjoys the backlash.
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