Nursery teachers snarky comment

I am hugely pro nursery for toddlers and both my children were in nursery 4 days a week from the age of 1. I still think 11 hours is far too long for a 2 year old and I would do absolutely anything in my power to avoid having a child of mine have that long a day.

Our nursery day finished at 6pm and we had to pay until then but still always collected our children by 5pm at the latest. I don't understand parents who have to get their last penny out of nursery by leaving their children in until the final minute.

Just likes an argument I think I mean this wasn't thread worthy to begin with for most logically thinking adults and any post against what she wants to hear gets roasted... as she has admitted she can't help herself but to respond to argue further so based on the posts made here by the OP I'm sure I can guess how the exchange went at the child care when she was spoken to. I've gone from they probably should just do it until the time they advertise to feeling sorry for them not only to they have to manage toddlers each day they then need to fend off OTT argumentative parents too... I know where I live they get paid peanuts to do that God awful job so they definitely don't get enough money to handle argumentative adults too.... Christ.

OP could be using that last hour to write an essay, go to the gym, get her nails done. Whatever, it really doesn’t matter

Yes, I'd complain. Getting your DD and themselves ready to leave and 'waiting' in an obvious way is what will have caused DD to become anxious because she'd pick up that you 'should' be there but weren't. Regardless of the time (which if its 630, its 630) this isn't the right way to have handled it with a child.

Telling someone they’re being judgemental when they have presented you with that fact isn’t being judgemental - it’s stating the obvious. I was commenting specifically on people who have shown an anti-childcare attitude and a lack of understanding that people’s schedules might differ from their own. I wouldn’t be ashamed for my child to hear me call someone out for being judgemental and lacking empathy, I would be ashamed for them to see me judging people who are trying to do their best for their family now and in the future.

@itsallgonetomush

staff can be treated well and still work their contracted hours

There is but it doesn’t really matter. She’s paid until half past so she’s using the time to work. You’re showing the lack of imagination again. Some people work better if they know they have a block of time to get it done. Or maybe they know they’ll feel more present with their child if they don’t feel like they have to get back to working later in the evening. Children sometimes wake up and need you - you can’t rely on a child being in bed as a good time to work. It’s also easier to work if you’re not tired yourself. There are so many reasons a person might have the set up the OP has. It’s not to be sneered at just because you lack the imagination to understand.

What you do in the time they agreed to care for your child is nobody’s business but yours@CheekyTealFawn and they need to stick with it. Or, they have her until 6.30 on Thursday or you go somewhere else. The rest is irrelevant.

Tbh we pay til 6 and I always go for 5 and I’m always surprised when friends have their kids in til 630, feels very late. However, you pay for it so they should be expecting you at 630 unless you tell them otherwise. They should be making sure daughter knows you’ll be ‘on time’ and all is well.

Fuck me, i wish I'd got here sooner, I could have made a fortune selling boots for posters to stick in.

OP, honestly just ignore. Its not worth your time replying.

As pp have said, email the nursery asking them to confirm pick up time and making it clear you will not be picking your child up early.

This! ⬆️ They were so bloody rude! They're open till 6:30pm. Pick up was agreed at 6:30pm. You've paid till 6:30pm. It makes no difference what day of the week it is. It's their job to fulfill the contract you have. Your poor daughter. I would 100% complain.

Irony

Revenge? Bloody hell - are you always this dramatic in your dealings with others?

Former nursery worker here. Yes, it is a very long day indeed for a young child. Some parents don't have any other option though, which I thought was OP's case. Apparantly you do not need to be in a physical place though so you could fetch her earlier. Also, your husband being in finance and you say you want to put money aside for activities for dd. Believe me, she would value not spending long days at nursery far more. You could pay for an extra half day and then get her early the two other days. That's what I would have done. Especially since the nursery staff don't sound very attuned to your child's wellbeing. You only get one childhood and that's something money can't buy or compensate for.

I think the nursery are being really unprofessional. I used to work in a nursery and we used to take the last few children to the reception area for the last 10 minutes of the day, so we could shut down the rooms. We’d read stories or play games with them and we’d only phone a parent if they were 5 or more minutes late. It’s so cheeky to be calling you before 6:30pm when you are paying until then and your child was well and happy.
Also, ignore anyone who is slating you for your child’s first day being so long. If she was happy and settled, the day goes really quickly for them. It’s best to establish a routine from the beginning and early collections can confuse things. Of course if she was upset, then gradually increasing the day does work best, but there’s no need for a child who is perfectly happy. I’m not sure why some people want to add to the mum guilt you probably already feel, I think it says more about them than you.

There is a difference in ‘my shift ends at 6 and so the earliest I can get there is twenty past’ and ‘this is the only time I get to do an essay.’

One means you can only get there at twenty past: one does have a bit more flexibility.

Some bonkers posts on here!

OP, Open Uni degrees are indeed demanding, which is why I bloody love employing people who’ve done them! It will definitely set you apart as someone who is tenacious, reliable, hard working and so on. You’re doing a fantastic job, ignore the bollocks on here!

I wonder, could you put her in for three slightly shorter days and then reclaim that time in the evenings?

It is. For one so young.

If it’s a 6:30 finish, the staff are probably only paid until 6:30 and were ready and waiting for you to be able to leave at that time.
No problem in being ready and waiting. The comment was uncalled for.

I am a Nursery teacher and I am appalled reading this (and some of the responses here). Nothing you did was out of line. Everything they did was out of line.

Don’t feel bad about 2 long days at Nursery. Plenty of children do 5 long days! Also, your daughter is over 2. 2 days at nursery will be a great experience for her. Ignore the guilt tripping posters!

I am appalled they called you (twice!) before you were late and even more disgusted at the hats and coats. In my class if a child is last and the parents is late (actually late) I do everything I can to distract them from noticing this, as guess what? Children get quite upset if they notice! One of the support staff waits 10 minutes and then calls the parents (again, because they are actually late, but even then we give them 10 minutes grace!) In your daughter’s situation, I think fair enough if all but one adult was ready to go, but then essentially packing up Nursery and having her sitting there in her hat and coat would make my blood boil!

I would ask to meet with the manager and say, “I wanted to make you aware that I booked in these xday and Friday 7:30-6:30 because I need two full days of childcare. On Friday I received two phone calls asking me to pick up before 6:30, which wasn’t possible for me. If this is usual for a Friday I would like to know which other day you can offer to 6:30, as these are the hours I need.”

Although, I wouldn’t trust these staff. There are so many nurseries with really loving and caring staff that would be disgusted by what happened here. I wouldn’t withdraw her, but I’d start looking around.

I’d tell them that your daughter can either do 6:20 on a Thursday or 6:20 on a Friday then ask them to let you know, which one is more convenient and you’d be happy to change in order for them to get their early finish. I’d even be tempted to put it in writing to the owner/manager “Following our conversation on (insert date) regarding the staffs desire to finish early on a Friday, I am still able to do a Thursday as previously requested in order to accommodate this. Please let me know, which day you would prefer DD to do.” Or something along those lines.

Reading some of these awful sexist comments I wonder if I’ve stepped back in time

People lack so much imagination. They cannot fathom a world where someone’s life isn’t exactly the same as theirs and that people might need to make different choices than they might make themselves.

How wonderful for all these Super Parents who don’t work/ have family help with childcare/ finish work early enough so that their child isn’t last to be picked up from nursery. Well done them and how lovely that their children get to spend lots of extra time with their unimaginative, judgemental parents. I’m sure their parents attitudes to others will make them much nicer people than all those unlucky children who have to (horror of horrors) go to nursery to be cared for and looked after.

If the nursery is open until 6:30, it is open until 6:30. Of course they want to get home, who doesn't at the end of the day? But that doesn't mean taking it out on people who are simply using the service until 6:30 as it states it is available until.

I would have a chat with the nursery manager, explain how happy your daughter is there etc but how unprofessional it was at the end of the day.

I know, I get that. But (to give an example) I used to work in a care setting where we provided care for people in their own homes and time slots were thirty minutes. Generally we went when the tasks were done (such as help the person get up, make them breakfast and a cup of tea, etc) but sometimes you’d get family who would insist on you staying the full time slot ‘because they’d paid for it’. And it was gruelling work as it was. As a result you end up with high staff turnover and no continuity.

Generally speaking I believe things work best when staff are treated well. I’m not suggesting the OP wasn’t but I think insisting on using the entirety of your hours for the sake of it is unfair both on your child and the staff.