Why??

For those who don't know- I work in a daycare (in the infant room mostly, though I help out in other rooms when needed). I love my job. I love the kids. The parents- some of them I could do without. Seriously though.....

Why send your 7 month old baby with 8 ounces of formula to last 10 HOURS! And then get pissy with me when I kindly ask you to send more tomorrow because we frown upon starving babies.

Why even attempt to send your kid to daycare when he's running a 103 fever and is, without a doubt, ill? You know we'll call you within minutes of you leaving to come pick him back up.

Why send your baby to daycare with, what you decide is, just enough diapers for the day. What if the kid poops more than normal? What would you like us to do then? We have a cubby hole for each baby for a reason- LEAVE SOME SPARE DIAPERS!

On that same note.... why would you ignore our repeated requests to send an extra outfit? What, exactly, would you like us to do when your baby has an explosive poop? Because, you know, we'll call you at work and make you come back to get him every time. Just send in spare clothes. It's much easier on us all.

Please do not get upset with us because your husband forgot to bring a coat for the baby when he dropped her off. It's not our fault.

Why insist on sending veggie baby food for us to feed the baby and then, when picking him up at the end of the day, laugh about how baby doesn't like it at home but *loves* such and such food. Every day. At least give us a break and send in a liked food once or twice a week. Please?

The "baby exchange" takes less than 5 minutes. Please get off your cell phone while picking up your child so that we can communicate anything important that has to do with your child (in all fairness- there is only one mom who does this. Every. Single. Day).

Why send your 4 year old to daycare in obviously too small clothes (size 18 month clothes on a 4 year old.... pants were just below her knees while the shirt was showing her belly and the sleeves went to her elbows). If you can't afford clothes- I understand. But when you show up in your *very* expensive clothes/shoes/purse/etc driving your Lexus..... get your daughter some new clothes. Please. She's really uncomfortable.

And the winner that happened today....

We close at 6. When your child is the last one at daycare, standing by the door terrified that her mommy isn't going to pick her up and that she'll have to spend Christmas in a dark daycare and Santa won't be able to find her..... WHY would you open the door (10 minutes late) and say "Wow, I knew I forgot something!". It's not funny. Your child was terrified. (And the only reason you didn't get a late fee was because it's Christmas. And your child is adorable and we all did what we could to calm her down).

And on the flip side....

Thank you to the parents who send in even more milk than they think the baby will drink. We do appreciate it, and so does baby when they start hitting a growth spurt!

Thank you to the parents who keep the cubby well stocked with diapers, spare clothes, baby food (and a variety too!), bibs, socks (yes, babies can get their socks very dirty and sometimes we need to change them), etc. It really makes the day go smoother.

Thank you to the parents who remember every Friday (or whatever the last day you're there is) and take the blankets/sheets/bottles home with you to wash them. The ones who do it without even a reminder from us deserve a big kudos! We hate having to tell grown adults what to do.

Thank you to the parents who pick their kids up before 6 every day. We only get paid to stay until 6. After that, we're working for free. It kinda sucks.

Thank you to the parents who took the time to wish us a happy holiday and thank us for all our hard work. We do love your kids and would do it all without any thanks. But a thank you is much appreciated.

And a huge thanks to those parents who went above and beyond in thanking us this holiday season. We do appreciate it :)

Glad I got all that off my chest!