I am so furious right now that it feels like I have clenched fists inside of me waiting to punch out like a Jack-in-the-box. I am vibrating with anger.
Maybe this doesn't sound like a big deal, but it is to me.
Every single time I go to daycare whether it's for drop off or pick up, Ethan is in the swing or a baby holder equivalent. Only ONCE did I see him in a bouncer. I haven't seen him in his crib because "he doesn't like the crib", so they let him sleep in the swing which they are not supposed to do. The majority of days, he gets NO tummy time for the 8+ hours he is there. If he does, it's a meager 5 - 10 minutes for the entire day.
There are two "teachers", and it's generous to even call them that. The room is divided with the purpose of keeping mobile infants on one side, and immobile ones on the other so they don't get trampled. Today, there were three mobile infants on Ethan's side. They're playing, of course. One wanted the swing Ethan was in...you know how that goes.
The ratio is four infants to one teacher. There were seven or eight on the immobile side; basically all the kids in the room as if the divider wasn't there. One teacher was sitting in the glider playing on her smartphone. The other teacher was on the other side of the divide doing other things. There were no children on that side.
I show up; I'm not acknowledged at all. This seems to be the norm. As if me picking up or dropping off my kid is a huge inconvenience for them.
I check his log and see that for one of his bottles, he only had 5 out of 6 ounces of breast milk, which means they threw out that last ounce. I haven't told you about my struggles with breastfeeding; just know that it was a while before I took my eyes away from that row of the table.
On the bright side, he had a total of 35 minutes of tummy time, but only because I explicitly wrote it on his sheet when I dropped him off. They are supposed to do this with the infants. It's of utmost importance for their development.
The teachers speak Spanish, which is fine, but every time I'm there, they are speaking Spanish to each other, and not talking to the infants at all in English, which is also important for their development now. Exposure to language, especially because they start learning sounds and patterns now. Oh, and they're also listening to like, 105.9 The X, or some other station with top hits. I walk into Tove Lo singing about putting your body on my body, and excuse my language, but I really would prefer them not to play that shit all day in the infant room. And it is all day. Because when I go in the morning and in the evening, same shit.
My friend says I should tell the administrators, but the truth is this: they are supposedly popping into the classrooms, and they provide coverage as floating teachers since there aren't any aside from them, they surely have been in that room and have seen and heard what is going on.
When we enrolled Ethan, there were three nurturing teachers that we liked. They talked to the kids incessantly. They played with them. Kiddie music was on; nursery rhymes, lullabies...They read to them; even the immobile infants! And now...well, now what?
When we gave notice, the care seemed OK. I was uneasy, but there wasn't a consistent pattern of behavior yet for me to call it out. Now, there definitely is. I am SO happy his last day is Friday.
Part of me wishes I could take a year off to take care of Ethan. The other part of me knows I will go crazy. I want to hire a nanny to care for him but I don't even know where to start the search. I'm trying through word of mouth now, but nobody's talking.
More later.
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