Post by mrsbeasley on Jan 4, 2007 11:53:09 GMT -4
I need to rant about my former Child Care Provider:
My babysitter Flat out "Fired" my son with absolutely NO notice just days before Christmas. Apparently according to her, he had been biting her daughter and the other kids were now afraid of him. Again according to her, she told my husband a "few" times and said that he just blew it off and nothing was done about it. (She once told him that once she turned around and her daughters fingers were in his mouth....I'm sorry a toddler doesn't just reach out and grab the hand of a 17 month old and bite their fingers...most bite arms and legs, she must have been shoving her fingers into his mouth in order for that to happen.)
I couldn't sleep that whole night and had to call in sick the next morning from lack of sleep. While up in the night and browsing the babysitter ads, I discovered that she had posted an ad for children to sit only aweek before. Which means that she had been looking to replace him before letting us know. The worst about it is we signed a contract stating that we would give her two weeks "written notice" or pay two weeks wages without notice if we were to go elsewhere. Conveniently on the contract she left out the fact that she would offer the same courtesy of "notice" to the parents of her "charges".
She opted out of sitting my son on Tuesday of that week (hmm had interviews and didn't want him underfoot?
) then on Wednesday afternoon when my husband went to pick him up, she said I'm giving you my "notice" and handed him all of my son's belongings. Some Notice!!!!
When I called her on Thursday morning I had to be all nice at first as I needed to get her SIN number for tax purposes. I asked her what happened so she told me about the biting and that nothing was being done about it. (What I'd like to know is how on earth are we supposed to rectify a problem that doesn't happen in our house only at hers???). She then said that she can't have children come into her house and biting her daughter (said I understand) then she said that she is "sitting so she can stay home and care for her daughter and supplement the household income on the side".
After getting the SIN number, I let her have it. Reminding her about the contract we signed and said how "convenient" it was that she omitted to offering the same courtesy and giving two weeks notice to her parents. I then mentioned her posting an ad to replace him (she denied that it was to replace him, said it was to"get more children to sit"....like she needs more....sounds like she couldn't handle the ones she already had) and I said that she could have told us at that time and that would have given us sufficient notice. I told her that "I have 5 days off to enjoy my family over Christmas and would now be spending that time looking for a new sitter. (How easy was that going to be).
"That just tells me that you are not in it for the children at all, you are only in it to care for "YOUR" child and make money off all the others!!........GoodBye! " and I hung up.
Now my concern is.....if she were any sort of caregiver at all, One...she would know that biting in todlers is very common especially since they have no other means of communication. Two.. if she thought she was getting nowhere mentioning it to my husband why would she not call me directly??? (She was sure quick in calling me at work when he fell face first into a chair and was afraid his face would be bruised!!).
I have searched and found many articles on the subject, now that I'm aware that my son has been doing this....(like I said we can't fix the problem as it doesn't happen here). I have discussed the issue with my NEW babysitter...(who I luckily found on such short notice) and copied some of the articles I have found for all of us to read on the subject and how to deal with it.
So my message to parents is to read carefully any contracts you sign with a babysitter make sure your butt is just as covered as well as theirs. Make sure that they won't just dump your child and leave you stranded just because they don't want to deal with a common behavior problem.
And for any other parents of children who are going through the same behavioral issues here's a couple of links:
www.babycenter.com/dilemma/toddler/toddlerbehavior/1135767.html
parentcenter.babycenter.com/expert
My babysitter Flat out "Fired" my son with absolutely NO notice just days before Christmas. Apparently according to her, he had been biting her daughter and the other kids were now afraid of him. Again according to her, she told my husband a "few" times and said that he just blew it off and nothing was done about it. (She once told him that once she turned around and her daughters fingers were in his mouth....I'm sorry a toddler doesn't just reach out and grab the hand of a 17 month old and bite their fingers...most bite arms and legs, she must have been shoving her fingers into his mouth in order for that to happen.)
I couldn't sleep that whole night and had to call in sick the next morning from lack of sleep. While up in the night and browsing the babysitter ads, I discovered that she had posted an ad for children to sit only aweek before. Which means that she had been looking to replace him before letting us know. The worst about it is we signed a contract stating that we would give her two weeks "written notice" or pay two weeks wages without notice if we were to go elsewhere. Conveniently on the contract she left out the fact that she would offer the same courtesy of "notice" to the parents of her "charges".
She opted out of sitting my son on Tuesday of that week (hmm had interviews and didn't want him underfoot?
) then on Wednesday afternoon when my husband went to pick him up, she said I'm giving you my "notice" and handed him all of my son's belongings. Some Notice!!!!When I called her on Thursday morning I had to be all nice at first as I needed to get her SIN number for tax purposes. I asked her what happened so she told me about the biting and that nothing was being done about it. (What I'd like to know is how on earth are we supposed to rectify a problem that doesn't happen in our house only at hers???). She then said that she can't have children come into her house and biting her daughter (said I understand) then she said that she is "sitting so she can stay home and care for her daughter and supplement the household income on the side".
After getting the SIN number, I let her have it. Reminding her about the contract we signed and said how "convenient" it was that she omitted to offering the same courtesy and giving two weeks notice to her parents. I then mentioned her posting an ad to replace him (she denied that it was to replace him, said it was to"get more children to sit"....like she needs more....sounds like she couldn't handle the ones she already had) and I said that she could have told us at that time and that would have given us sufficient notice. I told her that "I have 5 days off to enjoy my family over Christmas and would now be spending that time looking for a new sitter. (How easy was that going to be).
"That just tells me that you are not in it for the children at all, you are only in it to care for "YOUR" child and make money off all the others!!........GoodBye! " and I hung up.
Now my concern is.....if she were any sort of caregiver at all, One...she would know that biting in todlers is very common especially since they have no other means of communication. Two.. if she thought she was getting nowhere mentioning it to my husband why would she not call me directly??? (She was sure quick in calling me at work when he fell face first into a chair and was afraid his face would be bruised!!).
I have searched and found many articles on the subject, now that I'm aware that my son has been doing this....(like I said we can't fix the problem as it doesn't happen here). I have discussed the issue with my NEW babysitter...(who I luckily found on such short notice) and copied some of the articles I have found for all of us to read on the subject and how to deal with it.
So my message to parents is to read carefully any contracts you sign with a babysitter make sure your butt is just as covered as well as theirs. Make sure that they won't just dump your child and leave you stranded just because they don't want to deal with a common behavior problem.
And for any other parents of children who are going through the same behavioral issues here's a couple of links:
www.babycenter.com/dilemma/toddler/toddlerbehavior/1135767.html
parentcenter.babycenter.com/expert