Hi, sorry for the delay. I'm at the airport now so I have a little time.
We eventually had the meeting and the wait was somewhat positive as my body finally ran out of adrenaline and I was much calmer by the time we got there. Though I had a serious case of the shakes and a dry mouth, you can't win them all.
First things first, I didn't hand in my notice. I still feel like there is something to salvage, they are nice people, the baby is lovely, its good money and no job is perfect - I still stand by this as being one of the better jobs I've had!
It's a bit of a mixed bag, I didn't get across everything I wanted as strongly as I liked (though I did my absolute best) and I haven't come out of the meeting with a completely improved job; it's going to be a work in progress which I think is fair.
The Dad was fantastic, listened to everything I said and mediated brilliantly. He was very supportive. The Mum was mostly calm and seemed to take what I had to say on board.
We've agreed that I can go to more playgroups/activities, though this is sadly still limited to 3 a week. I didn't discuss the car, I will do this with the Dad separately at another time. I do not need one for the next month anyway as we're either in Switzerland or I'm on vacation.
I told them that I was unhappy and stressed in the role as it stands and feel that I'm not given enough freedom or autonomy and that I'm heavily (and unnecessarily) criticised throughout the day. The Dad in particular was very supportive of this and I think they're going to discuss it further without me. In the mean time, they agreed to back off and this is one of the things only time will tell.
In regards to the going out for a maximum 2 hours a day the Mum said this:
Going out with the baby at the moment means being in the buggy or held; which restricts her movement significantly. They want her to spend as much time as possible on the floor where she is waving her arms and legs, rolling over and "crawling" (at the moment, flailing around like a dying fish and coincidentally moving at the same time) thus the outdoor trips are limited. Mum is also afraid of the "hazardous" (her words) illnesses that go around (eg. Measles, Mumps etc etc) so doesn't want her integrating with other children excessively though says she recognises the importance of socialisation and outside stimulation. (Thus why we are allowed the 3 trips a week). Baby cannot have her MMR vaccine until June.
We have extended my probation period to the end of June. Mum didn't seem happy by this, she seemed quite offended actually. Dad was fine with it, though his main concern was the time and expense needed to arrange me going to New York with them in Autumn, which obviously would be wasted if I were to up and leave.
SO - their main arguement for not going outside is the movement thing, which I guess is fair enough. I'll push for more baby groups over time, this will be easier when the weather is better and after the vaccine.
The silver lining to this is that this excuse has an expiry date; as soon as baby begins to walk - there is no excuse to stay indoors all day.
IF Mum starts to treat me better day to day, then I'm hoping I can stick out house arrest until the aforementioned excuse expiry.
With my probation period being the end of June, I have a good amount of time to see if things have changed and am no worse off than I was a month ago regarding handing in my notice - I can still do it.
We have agreed to meet regularly to discuss the ongoing issues with autonomy and getting out more. I've also written down our routine (which includes 2.5/3 hours a day playing indoors PLUS a walk PLUS some kind of going out activity in the afternoon) which she is going to look at then amend and discuss with me.
I'm sorry that was so long, but I think I summed up most of it!
If you've stuck with me this far - thank you so much! The support has been invaluable.