Monday 1 June 2009

Unceremoniously kicked out of daycare.

Ever want to throw a family into turmoil? Tell them their child is being kicked out of daycare. That's what my daycare lady did to us on Friday morning. No, I'm not kidding. Not one little bit. I wish I were.

Was she hitting the other kids? No.

Was she biting the other kids? No.

Was she pretending to be a Mexican wrestler [like one of the other little girls we know]? Nope.

Was she just generally being a difficult kid who was just so frustrating you couldn't stand to be with her anymore? Not in the least.

Nope, it wasn't any of those things. Daycare lady was simply kicking Abner out to make room for the younger sibling of one of the little boys who was already at the daycare.

Oh. Phew! That's all? Well, that's no big...what the crap?!?! You're kicking my kid out just to make room for another kid? I don't think so lady.

So here's what happened: When we joined the daycare in April, there was also a family who already had a 4-year-old son part time at the daycare. He now had a baby sister who would be joining the daycare in the summer. Thankfully, they would only be attending part time so the new little baby, combined with another part time baby already at the daycare would add up to one full-time infant daycare spot. Since daycare lady could only have three infants at a time, everything would work out just fine.

Everything would have worked out fine if the mother of the new baby was able to go back to work full time. Unfortunately for her (and me as it turns out) her employer wouldn't hire her back unless she came back full time (those bastards!). This would mean she'd need to have both of her kids in daycare full time. No big deal for her son...very big deal for her little baby girl.

So, with the dilemma put to the daycare lady, she opted to kick Abner out so she could keep the siblings together and bring in two full-time cheques each month instead of one.

To say I was a little upset is a bit of an understatement. I dropped Abner off and got the news at 8 am and cried until about noon. Sorry to anyone who had to try to work with me on Friday - I was a bit of a write off.

The real kicker of the situation? I'd just turned down two daycare spots earlier that week. Not one -- TWO! Turns out both spots were still available, but both daycares cost significantly more than what we'd been paying. Not that we could really afford the higher rates, but just the thought of looking for daycare again made my stomach turn. It took me two months the last time - and I wasn't even working full-time back then. How the hell is anyone supposed to look for daycares when they have a job too?

Thankfully, it all worked out in the end. I don't think daycare lady had quite expected the reaction she got from me (I can be a little bit daunting when I'm upset, but I promise - I didn't swear or call her names even once). It prompted her to get on the phone with the other mother and talk to her about making other arrangements.

Turns out the mother's position was being relocated closer to her home, so coming to our daycare would actually be out of the way now and she had another daycare option lined up all along. I'm going to assume she didn't realize her request to our daycare lady would result in another kid being kicked out - no mother could be that heartless.

Long and short of it all...I got a call at the office at around 3 pm and Abner gets to stay. All is right with the world again.

5 comments:

  1. Yikes! I'm glad things worked out but that is scary.

    Have a drink.

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  2. wow - i can't believe that. i'm glad it all worked out in the end, but what a lot of stress. is it wrong to hope that abby hits, bites, mexican wrestles and is difficult to the daycare lady on a day that she has a headache just to get back at her? ;-)

    if you ever need a place to drop abby off in an emergency, you know our door is always open. i'm sure cole would love to show her how good he is at climbing on the couch now.

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  3. WOW, I was having a heart attack for you as I read your post. I'm so glad it worked out for you.

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  4. omgoodness...what an ordeal. no wonder you were upset...so glad to hear that everything turned out for you and your sweet little girl!!!

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  5. And here my biggest worries of the day are bedbugs found in one of the rooms here in Nicaragua and killer bees in the main square! Glad the crisis was averted!

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