A few weeks ago, I blogged about some qualms I had over the care baby K was receiving at daycare, given that there's been some turnover and a new person had just started in her room (see here for old post). I gave it my best shot... I really did! However, additional incidents happened since then that got me even more worried -- so much to the point that I was in tears one day last week when I picked baby K up.
Earlier this week, M and I had a call with VB, the person in charge of the infants area, to voice our concerns and to see if baby K can even switch to another infant room. Apparently, we were not the only parents who had spoken up about Mal's performance (although I think we were the only ones with a long laundry list of blunders she committed). One of the measures they were going to take was to ensure that Mal would not be left alone with the infants at any point in time. Mal was off on Wednesday, so that was a non-issue. Then comes Thursday. Imagine my surprise when I went to drop baby K off yesterday and saw that Mal was the only caregiver in the room! One of the other parents was sitting outside the room holding her son. I asked why she wasn't going in, and she said that baby L (baby K's classmate) had just hit her head and she was waiting to see if Mal can handle the situation (obviously not, since baby L continued crying and Mal continued ignoring her). I told the parent about the conversation I had with VB, and that Mal was not suppose to be alone with any of the infants. We spoke for a few more minutes before going into the room. By then, there were five infants in there, and Mal should have called for backup but she failed to do so until another parent told her to (they are only suppose to manage a maximum of four babies at a time). I felt so uneasy that I stayed there for over half an hour until LB, baby K's primary caregiver, came in.
Once I got to my desk, I immediately e-mailed VB, asking why Mal was left by herself with the infants. VB said that she shouldn't have, and would investigate what happened that morning. She must've had a long talk with Mal, because I noticed a dramatic improvement when I went to pick baby K up last night (also, Mal was not the only caregiver there). This morning, I was glad to see three caregivers in the room (and Mal wasn't one of them). I don't know where she was and I didn't bother asking. I don't want to get the woman fired, but at the same time, I don't think she's necessarily fit for the job. It takes a very special kind of person to work with infants so young in age, and not everyone is cut out to do it.
On a related note, baby K's daycare is hiring, so if anyone has experience working with kids and is interested (there's an infant caregiver, toddler caregiver, and pre-school teacher position open), please let me know.
11/10/09 UPDATE: Mal tendered her resignation! Next Friday will be her last day. I was shocked. Though it was her choice to leave, I can't help but feel guilty over how things played out. Hopefully she'll be able to find something else more suitable for her.
No comments:
Post a Comment