Usually when I say that people never cease to amaze me, it is because someone has done something incredibly stupid, but this time, it is a good thing!
Remember a few weeks ago when I blogged about the mom trying to bring her sick child to daycare? If not, you can read about it here, No, I Won't Change The Rules For You. Today, this same parent had to be called because her son had a fever and needed to be picked up early. I was expecting her to be annoyed and frustrated as she usually is when things like this come up and I must admit that I was just as well pleased that I was working in the office this afternoon and wouldn't have to see her when she arrived.
As luck would have it, I needed to go up to the toddler room just as she was leaving with her son. I felt myself tense when I heard her voice in the stairway, but there was no where for me to go to avoid her. So I braced myself for her tyrant of complaints. But I couldn't have been more wrong! Despite being concerned that her son was sick, she was friendly and pleasant. She asked me about his day, as I am his main teacher and was with him all morning. We talked about his language development recently. And then she apologized to me for the way she acted a couple of weeks ago. She told me that she was just having a really bad day. She knew that she had been out of line and rude to me. And that she has felt bad about it ever since.
Even though I had long since gotten over her little outburst (blogging about it got a lot of the anger and frustration out of my system!) having her take the time to apologize to me today really made me feel good. I have always felt that I have a really good rapport with this parent (which not all the staff have, as she can be difficult) I was a little worried that the rapport I had worked hard to build with this woman had been destroyed over her mistake. I now know that she doesn't feel that I was at fault. She values the care I give to her son on a daily basis.
Showing posts with label rules. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rules. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
No, I won't change the rules for you!
Does everyone think that the world revolves around them and their needs?
I had a mother bring her son into the daycare this morning with antibiotics for a throat infection that was diagnosed last night. He was given the first dose of meds last night and promptly vomited.
There were so many problems with this situation that I hardly knew where to start! First off, I explained that vomiting aside, the child needed to be on antibiotics for at least 24 hours before returning to daycare to ensure that they are no longer contagious and that they aren't going to have an adverse reaction. Then, there was the issue of the vomiting. Kids have to be free of vomiting for 24 hours to be at daycare as well. And vomiting could be a sign of an allergic reaction.
Of course, Mommy was not at all happy when I said that he couldn't stay. First she said that the vomiting wasn't from the meds and that we could call her right away if he vomited again and she would come get him. So, I explained about the vomiting rule and told her that we've had others with stomach viruses. Of course, she quickly decided that he had only vomited because of the medication.
I my head, I was screaming "Do you really think that I'm that stupid that I wouldn't realize that you totally just contradicted yourself?"
However, the Head Teacher Nicki prevailed and I stayed very polite and professional, apologizing profusely for the inconvenience. All while unprofessional Nicki was quickly losing the little bit of sympathy that she had for this woman. Had she read her daycare policy book that every parent is given when their child starts daycare, she would have known ALL of these things. I was still thinking that this could still just have been an innocent mistake.
That all changed and every bit of sympathy I had went out the window when she snottily replied that"I don't know what I'm going to do now I have to leave for Winnipeg in two hours."
That's when I knew for sure that it was all a play on her part to get the kid into daycare today when she knew that he wasn't allowed to be there. She thought that she would be able to get me to change the rules for her. As a parent, I know how hard it is when you have somewhere you need to be and you have a sick child who cannot attend daycare, but there are reasons why we have these rules. And I am not going to risk myself to change the rules for YOU!
I had a mother bring her son into the daycare this morning with antibiotics for a throat infection that was diagnosed last night. He was given the first dose of meds last night and promptly vomited.
There were so many problems with this situation that I hardly knew where to start! First off, I explained that vomiting aside, the child needed to be on antibiotics for at least 24 hours before returning to daycare to ensure that they are no longer contagious and that they aren't going to have an adverse reaction. Then, there was the issue of the vomiting. Kids have to be free of vomiting for 24 hours to be at daycare as well. And vomiting could be a sign of an allergic reaction.
Of course, Mommy was not at all happy when I said that he couldn't stay. First she said that the vomiting wasn't from the meds and that we could call her right away if he vomited again and she would come get him. So, I explained about the vomiting rule and told her that we've had others with stomach viruses. Of course, she quickly decided that he had only vomited because of the medication.
I my head, I was screaming "Do you really think that I'm that stupid that I wouldn't realize that you totally just contradicted yourself?"
However, the Head Teacher Nicki prevailed and I stayed very polite and professional, apologizing profusely for the inconvenience. All while unprofessional Nicki was quickly losing the little bit of sympathy that she had for this woman. Had she read her daycare policy book that every parent is given when their child starts daycare, she would have known ALL of these things. I was still thinking that this could still just have been an innocent mistake.
That all changed and every bit of sympathy I had went out the window when she snottily replied that"I don't know what I'm going to do now I have to leave for Winnipeg in two hours."
That's when I knew for sure that it was all a play on her part to get the kid into daycare today when she knew that he wasn't allowed to be there. She thought that she would be able to get me to change the rules for her. As a parent, I know how hard it is when you have somewhere you need to be and you have a sick child who cannot attend daycare, but there are reasons why we have these rules. And I am not going to risk myself to change the rules for YOU!
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