February 24, 2009

This morning.....

Husband: So you're going to the gym today?
Me: Yeeees =(
Husband: Don't worry, LJ (2 year old) will be fine in childcare. Plus, B-girl will be with him.
Me: But every time I pick him up from childcare he is crying over some incident that took place in childcare. I don't think they (childcare workers) watch the kids very well.
Husband: He'll be fine.... relax Marlin.

2 hours later... My friend Kate and I are walking, I mean running on the treadmills.

Me: Did you see LJ when you dropped of Ryan?
Kate: No, but I saw B-girl. She was going to take Ryan to LJ
Me: Thinking to myself... I hope he's not in the bathroom all by himself. What if he drowns in the toilet or poops and tries to wipe!? He can't wipe by himself! If he does wipe by himself, he'll probably smear poop all over his hands, which will then accidentally get in his mouth - making him sick. I will then have to take him to the ER, where they'll have to pump his stomach. After pumping his stomach, they'll turn to me and think I'm a terrible mother, because I didn't wash his hands. I will then have to enroll in some 60 day mothering program, because the Judge will deem me unfit as a mother!

Then logic kicked in and I reassured myself that he was probably fine and I am a good mother.

30 minutes into the walk..er..uh..run.

A childcare worker announces on the PA: Would the parent of Elizabeth please come to the childcare room?
Me: (in a joking tone) Uh-oh, must be a biter.
We both laugh and continue our intense exercise session.

30 minutes later....

Kate and I finish our workout and decide it's time to pick up the kids.
Childcare worker: (Looking at me with a how do I say this look) Um...a little girl bit, punched, and pushed your son. Your son did hit back and they were basically going at it... fighting.
Me: As in a brawl???? :O
Childcare worker: Yeah, the little girl has space issues. She even bit me, but we handled it and took her out of childcare today.
Me: Thank you for taking care of it.
Childcare worker: Her mom usually works out at this time.
Me: Great :(

My son wasn't that upset over the incident. He did cry, but recovered quickly. I still had a little hope in the whole childcare thing. That is until we were getting into the car and my daughter said
"LJ was in the bathroom all by himself and when he came out he didn't have any pants on."
Me: What do mean he didn't have any pants on? Was he in the bathroom alone?
B-girl: Yeah. He came out of the bathroom and was naked for a little while. Then the lady came over and put his pants on.

Yes, I washed his hands immediately when I got home.
So now I am faced with a dilemma.... To gain weight or put my son in harms way?
Sigh
- decisions.

Jamie

12 comments:

Melanie O said...

I know exactly how you feel. My 3-year-old can handle Kid Care at the gym, but my 2-year-old is waaaayyy too sensitive and clingy. Not only that, but they just don't (or can't) watch all those kids properly. I watch kids fight and rub snot on stuff and yuck!

My latest solution is to put the 3-year-old in pre-school classes (we go to the Y) and I put my 2-year-old in a sling and walk the track. She's really little for her age (just over 20 pounds) so she's heavy enough to give me a good work out but not too heavy to handle. She usually naps!

Jen said...

I know how you feel too. I'm a nut about leaving my 3 and 2 yr. old in the child watch. My suggestion is to suck up, preferably with cupcakes. We've been going for so long that I feel like the workers keep a special eye out for my kids, plus my 3 yr. old is such a mother hen that she stalks her little brother the entire time.

It creeps me out that they don't watch out for bad behavior like teasing, language, etc. which has really made me rethink putting my kids in there. Same dilemma... do you just stop exercising or put up with something questionable?

Anonymous said...

Jamie, i hear this alot from my sister! So i totally know what you mean coz my sister always talk about it.

My sister's solution was hire a live-in maid to take care of the 1 yr old together with her father-in-law. The other older kid is send to pre-school. I hope somehow someway a solution will come to you!

I would also like to share this with you that im having my first giveaway on my bubble space. Im giving out a set of two cheater chopsticks. If you have time and like those little cute chopsticks, do come join in the fun.

Have a lovely merry happy day! Love to you and yours!

Pretty Ditty said...

I should mention, the workers are really nice. They just have a lot of kids to look after. It's funny to me, how all of my worries turned out to be valid. However, in the end, my little guy is just fine =)

Anonymous said...

OMG - that's so horrible! I'm glad that L is okay, but still... how traumatic - for you probably more than him!
(BTW, I'm sure you know, but in case not, Greg is down visiting in your neck of the woods. I couldn't get away, so home alone till Sunday.)

Sara said...

You face my internal battle. I just can't stomach the child care at the gym. So, I've finally decided, that I despise child care at the gym more than I do early mornings. So....I've been getting up early, working out before hubby leaves for work....than I take a nap during the kiddos nap time. It isn't ideal, but it is all I could come up with for my personal situation.

It might be a harder decision for me to make if I had a work out partner like you though. good luck!

koala brains said...

At my gym, they have a policy if a child is a repeat offender, she isn't allowed back until the bad behavior is fixed/resolved. I would seriously discuss the issue w/ the manager and express your concern and how it's making you feel. One child w/ issues shouldn't ruin it for the rest. Another thing to discuss is whether or not they are staffed appropriately. You have legit concerns that need to be addressed by the gym. Hope it works out for you.

GoyaDesigns said...

Woa, what a story! Good thing kids are resilient and you are a good mom...feu...wipe sweat off.

Christina Lane | The Sometimes Crafter said...

Just reenforces my not taking kid to child care at the gym :) Can you exercise when husband is home to watch kids?

Pretty Ditty said...

Christina - Sometimes. He leaves for work pretty early in the morning and gets home late =( I may have to start waking up at 0'dark hundred to get a workout in =)

Giabella Designs said...

My daughter, who is now 10yrs old announced to me just last week that she would rather stay at home being baby sat by big brother who is 12yrs old, than go back to child care. She used to love it but at the time I go (5:30pm Mon & Wed)it is very crowed and she said that there is sooooo much crying:(

btw - haven't been around much - FaceBook sapping all of my time.....

Anonymous said...

I worked in an athletic club daycare for all of 3 weeks. I'm college educated, have been a live-in nanny when younger, and taught in public middle school classrooms. I thought the free membership and taking my one year old with me would be a great part time job for a stay at home mom. WRONG! In Virginia if the club only lets kids stay 2 hrs, it's a "drop off center" and not "daycare" and does not have to legally meet any childcare standards such as ratios of kids to staff or training standards for staff. It was HORRIBLE! and yet from the snazzy, high end, club's reputation parents (and sadly myself) were duped into believing their kids were safe. If a child can end up wandering to the bathroom by himself and ending up naked, how long until some child chokes and no one is there to help? I saw things happen that made me afraid for my own child's safety even while I was present. Every one who worked there was just trying to do their best, but since the club was so beautiful and well run every where else, they felt like the underpaid, squeaky wheel and stopped complaining. Turnover in staff was crazy! I tried to speak to the owner of the club when I quit, but was basically shoved to HR to complain to someone who just smiled at me and said "thank you for your concern." Parents need to speak up and demand better care for their kids. Good luck.