Hard Times Just Get Worse

I was really debating on whether or not to make this post, but it has been something that has really been bothering me for some time and to be quite honest I need to get it off my chest. After quitting my job of over 10 years in order to stay home with my son, I decided to take up babysitting in my home in order to help bring in some extra money for us. Not only have I been babysitting since I was fresh out of high school, but have done it here and there and everywhere. I was a Nanny fresh out of high school and truly loved it. I really enjoy children and I love spending time with them.

Well, it was during the summer when one of the little girls that I babysat for and her parents decided to take a trip to the local daycare here in the area. After touring the daycare, they decided that they weren't real comfortable with sending her there which is what I have heard from many other people. They said that they would continue to keep her in my care until she turned 3 and then they would again look for another pre-school. I was fine with that because there comes a time when you have to send your child to pre-school so they can continue to grow and learn more things. Fast forward a couple months..... Remind you that this little girl was in my care for almost 2 years. We treated this little girl like she was our own. We would take her to places in order to make things easier on her parents and their inability to leave work. We were very flexible which is something that you need when you have parents that work and we took great care of her or so I thought.

Well, the week before my surgery was a very easy week. I had my son and 2 other little girls in my care and they all got along great. They played with the numerous amounts of toys that we have, watched some tv, danced, had fun reading and we even did a few crafts. It was an easy week which is what I wanted especially before my surgery so I could also tackle alot of other things that needed to be done around my house. I did however confront this little girl's Mom about a concern that I had for some time. I didn't say much and never really said much because I pretty much felt sorry for the little girl. There were numerous times when this little girl would come to my home in the morning and she would be soaking wet....her diaper would be full of urine and it was like they hadn't even changed her as soon as she woke up. She would sit on my furniture or on the floor to watch tv or play and I would normally change her after an hour of being at my home. Well, when she arrived, I noticed that her pants were soaked.....not only in the front, but also in the back. I changed her diaper instantly and noticed that it was literally soaked to the point that it was just hanging on her by the diaper tabs.....barely hanging on. Well, I decided to confront her Mom because I was more or less worn out with her coming to my home with a soaking wet diaper and sitting on my furniture or new carpet and staining it or ruining it. Well, she became quite defensive and to be honest I don't blame her, but I wanted to make sure that I brought it to her attention and that I did and we moved on. I just wanted there to be a change in things and I was worn out with my stiff being ruined. Rewind a couple months back (gosh, I have you all over the place - huh) these folks took a vacation and one thing I allow every child is at least 5 days off UNPAID for their parents to do whatever they want with them (sick, vacation, appointments) and they asked if they could take their 5 days off for vacation as unpaid and I said "Sure, I would actually prefer that so we can get paid around Christmas time". Who wouldn't want to get paid around Christmas time - right? Well, we all agreed that would be fine.

Well, to make this long story short and to get to the point..... the night before my surgery, I received a call from this little girl's Dad and he asked me if his daughter fell and hurt herself today. I said "No, things were real calm today and there was no crying or hurt kids". I told him that it was an easy week and all the kids just played and had a good time with one another. He then proceeded to inform me that he found a bruise on his daugther and I told him that there were numerous times that I changed her throughout the day and didn't notice or see anything, but then again I wasn't looking for anything either. Well, he left it as that and wished me well with my surgery. The day of my surgery..... my hubby comes home to check e-mail that evening while I am still in the hospital and he finds an e-mail from her parents where they said basically that they were implying that I abused this little girl. Of course I wasn't understanding a whole lot when he first told me because I had pretty major surgery and was pretty high on pain meds and still recovering from the anesthesia. Well, the day after my surgery when my husband came to see me, he informed me what they said and read off the e-mail to me. I was really upset that these parents could accuse me of hurting their child. I cared for this little girl for almost 2 years, treat her as though she was our own and loved and cared for her so much and then they accuse me of hurting her. It was very upsetting to me!! I was hurt and was upset, but to be honest there wasn't a whole lot that I could do with a cut open belly and still in the hospital while experiencing ALOT of pain. Well, my DH called them and left a message and they never called back. I tried calling and also sent an e-mail to her Mom and she responded that she was pulling her from my care and she also found a daycare close to her place of employment. Well, I am sure it is like this everwhere, but daycare's do not just have openings for any and all children when they need care. They always have waiting lists especially in this very well known area where I use to work for over 10 years. Getting into these daycare's is not any easy or short task to say the least. My whole point with this is that I am still very much hurt that they accused me of such a hideous thing. I would NEVER lay a hand on any child.... I find it to be absolutely UNACCEPTABLE when people abuse children or other people for that matter. I guess I have also got to the point that this money that I was bringing in was helping tremendously with Christmas gifts. Now, we are out of that money and that makes me upset. The whole situation just frustrates me and makes me unhappy. Not only do we miss her company, but we also are REALLY missing out on the money that was going to help with Christmas gifts. I sit here and think about why they would do something like this. If they wanted to send her to a daycare then why not just tell me instead of accusing me of something that I would NEVER do. Anyway, now I have shared this story that I wasn't real sure about sharing, but I did and I am hoping you all share your thoughts and feelings on this situation as well. My husband works hard at 2 jobs. He is a teacher during the day and works at a local grocery store part-time. I feel bad that he works 2 jobs and now I am sitting here doing nothing while I recover. It has put a strain on our marriage, our relationship and I can't help, but to think that I am so anxious to get back up and running so I can go out and get a part-time job in the evening so I too can help bring in money. I am not sure I can get much more frustrated right now. I know that things are bad for other people and I realize that other people may have it worse then us, but this is our struggle and what we are dealing with right now and to be honest.... it is enough to make us wanna scream.