Unfiltered Story #56786

(This story takes place in a daycare classroom with a mixed age group at dinner time. The 3 year olds typically sit in little chairs at the table, while the younger children sit in highchairs that are set into the table. However, there is one particular 3 year old that will make a complete mess out of his food and play instead of eat, unless he’s in a high chair, and so he gets put in one at meal time. On this day he’s upset because I made them all clean up the toys to prepare for the meal, so he’s crying and not happy about being restrained into the high chair. His mother also works at this center, in a room down the hall. She’s your typical entitled young mother, which is part of the reason why her kid doesn’t listen very well. No one at the facility really likes her, but she is one step below management so everyone has to deal with her. Another new woman has recently been hired as well and does not like the fact that she, in her mid 30s, is the oldest employee as the rest of the girls are currently in their late teens or early 20s, including myself).

New Worker: *comes storming into the room and takes the upset child out of the high chair while I’m serving food* You can’t just let him scream forever!

Me: *while continuing to make the plates* If he wants to throw a tantrum he can. I’m not letting him throw food all over the place, he’ll only eat and be good if he’s in the high chair; he gets out when the rest of them do after dinner.

New Worker: Well his mom’s in the other room getting upset because she hears him crying.

Me: *fed up at this point because she’s put him down and allowed him to come over to the other side of the room where I’m making plates and he’s already tried to tip over 2 of the bowls with food in them* Well if she taught him to listen, he wouldn’t have to put in the high chair and he wouldn’t cry but he doesn’t listen so he goes in the chair.

New Worker: Well she doesn’t want him crying, she’s getting upset.

(at this point he’s now taken 3 of the plates and dumped them all over the floor, spilling food all over the carpet and I am done)

Me: And THAT is why he gets put in a high chair. And THIS is why he acts like that, because he sees his mom throwing a tantrum and getting her way so he does it. NONE of the other 3 year olds act like him, they all sit down, listen, and don’t make a mess intentionally. He hits other kids and takes toys from them too and they get blamed for it by his mother. The company handbook states that employees aren’t allowed to control their own kids while they’re at the center – whatever teacher is in the room with them has the discretion, and I’ve not been able to appropriately reprimand him or punish him since I’ve been here because his mother throws a hissy fit. I’m done.

(At this point I finish making the plates and give them to the kids, walk down the hall to the director’s office who is an overly nice older woman who was overly enthused to hire me, explain the situation, which she does nothing of since the other girl has been there for a year. I quit on the spot and now work at a school, that is also paying for me to go to college through a partnership program they have set up with the local college, and have a room full of well behaved, polite, engaging 3 and 4 year olds.)