So, I have recently started a job and Madelynn is going to daycare. I'm currently training in Manhattan but I start in Salina on July 1st. I was really excited for Madelynn to go to daycare because I felt it would be great for Madelynn to be around other kids close to her age for both developmental and socialization reasons.
After what happened in the past week or two at Madelynn's daycare in Manhattan has me hoping and praying that the daycare I found in Salina goes better. I want to preface this by saying that Madelynn will not be going back to this daycare next week.
First off, Madelynn is really sensitive and gets diaper rash very easily. I put it diaper rash creme at least every other diaper change, if not more often. I pick her up from daycare after work and after about an hour of being home, I change her diaper. She wasn't clean from a bowel movement she had earlier in the day (sorry to those who don't change diapers regularly!) and she had the worst diaper rash I had ever seen. She cried when I changed her diaper, so I could tell it ws painful. After Madelynn was asleep, I called my daycare provider and she mentioned that her mom had changed her but that she would address the issue with her. I also mentioned using the diaper rash creme more often. Problem solved for the first issue that arose.
About a week ago, my daycare provider's mother informs me that Madelynn had been given a chocolate donut and some of a hotdog. This is not appropriate food for a 9 month old. Obviously, this is frustrating to me for the reasons of choking and that chocolate contains caffeine. When the mom told me that Madelynn had only slept about half an hour, I responded politely that it probably was because of the chocolate. What is most frustrating is that I provide all Madelynn's food and formula, so there is no reason for her to be getting anything besides what I have brought for her. I didn't want to be the parent that got very angry at what had happened so I decided to think about what I wanted to say and talk about this issue the next morning. My daycare provider wasn't there (the next issue to talk about!), so I mentioned to her mom that I would prefer that Madelynn only be given the foods that I bring for her. Her mother mentioned that her daughter might have confused Madelynn with another child that had been given a chocolate donut and a hotdog. Her daughter wasn't even there and the mother was the one who told me that she had been given those foods! Believe me, I'm all for older adults interacting with younger children but if memory issues are occurring, then it's definitely a safety issue.
Okay, next issue. This is going to be the longest blog I've ever written! My daycare provider has been absent a lot in the 3 weeks that Madelynn has been there. Except for the first week, I've seen more of her mom and teenage daughter lately than I've seen of her. I'm not sure what's going on with that but me not being told that she is going to be gone is frustrating to me.
I also heard her teenage daughter mention that Madelynn was left alone with her for a little while while her grandma did something else in the house for about 10 minutes. Now, I know it wasn't a long time but Jon and I aren't paying $125 a week for our daughter to be watched by teenagers. If that was the route we wanted to take, we would most definitely be paying a lot less.
So, I feel like Jon and I are fairly understanding people but Jon and I have decided that this daycare is not a good place for Madelynn. I pick Madelynn up Friday and after about an half hour of being home, I notice Madelynn has a little over a 2 inch bruise on her lower left leg. Nothing had happened while she was at home to cause her to bruise. Now, I know kids bruise easily but if something happened that caused Madelynn to bruise, I feel I should have been told what happened. I called the daycare provider and asked if she knew what had happened. She mentioned that she didn't as she was gone with her dad at the VA hospital all day (I did know about this) but was glad that I told her because she needed to know for documentation purposes and that she would try to figure out what happened. I haven't heard from her all day, so it makes me feel like she is hiding something from us. I took pictures of the bruise just in case. Madelynn hasn't ever gotten a bruise before, even with becoming more mobile, so it just seems suspicious to me. This is just an extremely frustrating situation and it's very upsetting to me.
I just feel like some shady things are going on and I'm not being informed of what is happening with our daughter. I'm pretty upset about this because I had such good hopes/feelings about this daycare provider. We are looking into our options on where to file a complaint at. We have already paid for next week and I'm hoping we can get our money back but I doubt that will happen.
So, that is what we are dealing with right now. Having a child sometimes makes a lot of opportunites for stressful situations! I will be going to Madelynn's daycare on Monday to get all of her things that are there. I'm nervous about it because confrontation is hard for me but I know that it needs to be done. I feel like I've been straightforward about what I expect and that hasn't been happening.
So, I thought I would end with a quote about having children so that this entire blog post isn't negative! :)
"Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body." ~Elizabeth Stone
I hope everyone's weekend is going well!
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