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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

decorating nursery during business hours and ds clothes covered in paint

32 replies

chocolateandcoffee · 11/04/2012 17:25

I sent ds to nursery last week, they had the decorators in painting a room my ds has to walk through to access his room, bathroom etc.

when i went to collect my son the supervisor told me he had paint on his coat, I reassured her it was fine, I had planned on buying him a lighter coat for spring/summer anyway.

When we got home his coat was covered in paint, also the sleeve of his long and short sleeve t's he was wearing. It wont come off i have tried everything.

The more i think about it the angrier i get. Ds would have got next winter out of this coat and his t-shirts would easily have done him a min of 6 months.
Money is not growing on trees in our house right now and it will cost £50 to replace these items.

would ibu to back track on what i initially told the supervisor and complain about said items now i have seen the full extent of the damage. I am not looking compensation for the items but would at least like and explanation as to why they had to decorate with small children running around

Sorry it's so long I did'nt want to drip feed

OP posts:

oldraver · 11/04/2012 17:29

While I think the decorators should really be there when the nursery is closed I think you are being OTT over the clothes. It wont cost anyway near £50 to replace and paint on nursery clothes is neither here nor there.

I would be bringing it up with the nursery with regard to the coat

LoopyLoeufdePaques · 11/04/2012 17:30

same as oldraver.

youbethemummylion · 12/04/2012 08:50

If money is not growing on trees then perhaps you need to change where you shop for your childrens clothes. £50 for a winter coat and 2 t-shirts is excessive.

I would be annoyed about the coat as these are normally quite safe at nursery as they are worn outside not when playing with all the messy things inside but I would never send a child to nursery in t-shirts that I didn't mind getting stained with paint etc.

ThreadWatcher · 12/04/2012 08:55

YANBU to be cross.
YANBU to backtrack on what you previously said.

YABU to spend £50 on a coat, and a couple of tshirts.

kids paint on clothes washes off - emulsion/gloss is a different thing.....

GavisconJunkie · 12/04/2012 08:59

Get thee to Sainsbury! £50/60?! Where ARE you shopping with your non tree grown money?

In saying that, why on earth were they decorating with kids there!?

fedupofnamechanging · 12/04/2012 10:26

I would expect the nursery to replace what was damaged. They shouldn't be painting rooms that the children need to access, until the children have gone home.

dribbleface · 12/04/2012 10:34

Bad practice to paint rooms during nursery hours. ours has just been done over the long weekend. Not good that coat and clothes are ruined. to be honest i would have offered to replace before you complain.

Original poster

chocolateandcoffee · 12/04/2012 20:55

thanks for all your replies, tbh I didn't think this amount was excessive for clothes, £30 for a winter coat, £10 for a long sleeve hooded t and £10 for a lego star wars t.

Dh said i spent to much on kids clothes, judging by your responses he may be right.

DS is back at nursery on Monday. I will bring it up with them then.

OP posts:

accountantsrule · 12/04/2012 21:09

I think it is inappropriate to decorate during nursery hours, surely they are not open on a Saturday so it could be done then.

Its a difficult one re claiming for the clothes, I would definitely spend similar amounts on clothes but would definitely NOT send them to nursery wearing it.

Regardless I would be extremely unhappy about having decorators in whilst my children were in nursery especially if they had to walk passed newly painted areas to get to places they need to use during their nursery day. I would be complaining about that more than the clothes (as you say you are not necessarily seeking compensation). Not sure Ofsted or the other professionla bodies would agree it is suitable especially as the children needed to walk through the painted areas - the smell must have been bad too!

How do other parents feel?

LeeCoakley · 12/04/2012 21:12

Hopefully the nursery would have done a risk assessment re decorators on the premises? I wouldn't be happy. I know when we decorate at home paint pots spill and we are always dropping stuff from ladders!

Icelollycraving · 12/04/2012 21:14

Spending £50 is pretty easily spent I think. It's irrelevant frankly,you aren't asking for money to replace baby Gucci.
I would complain,say having seen the damage you aren't pleased at all.
However,my main complaint would be the children being around fumes from gloss paint. That seems irresponsible IMO.

fluffypillow · 12/04/2012 21:18

I don't think it's acceptable to be painting areas that the children have access to. I would be annoyed about the clothes too.

It's a bit difficult to complain now, though, seeing as you already told them it was fine. If it was me, I would let it go tbh.

I think YANBU to be angry though.

GavisconJunkie · 14/04/2012 08:13

I think that you need to adopt the concept of 'nursery' clothes. £20'worth o tops is way too much to send to a place filled with, sand, glue & paint.

I even think £30'on a coat is unnecessary if money is in any way tight, but if you thought you'd get 2 winters out of it that's not totally unreasonable.

ragged · 14/04/2012 08:48

Sheesh, very much yanbu.
Don't understand this thread at all (the yabus).
There is no way he should have got anywhere near wet adult-wall paint, that's what it was if they were doing walls & so on? That's not the same as ordinary kid painting for fun. I would be very cross. Of course it will ruin anything it touches (will stink washing machine out if you even try to wash it). Decorators will come on a Saturday or in evenings. You pay a premium for out of office hours decorator time, but so be it. Or better groundsheets & shepherding.

crazygracieuk · 14/04/2012 09:00

At nursery most children will be wearing plain T-shirts that are a few quid from the supermarket/h&m. Many kids do have a character t-shirt but they will be for weekends/best rather than nursery.
Same goes for coats- they will have a cheaper one for school/nursery because it will get trashed.

dribbleface · 14/04/2012 10:29

if the OP was moaning about clothes getting ruined by normal nursery activities then fair enough her own fault, but it's not unreasonable to not expect you child not to come home covered in decorating paint!

dribbleface · 14/04/2012 10:31

that last sentence made no sense!

OhTinky · 14/04/2012 10:38

How old is your son that you can get two winters out of one coat? Was it really oversized this year?

You may be able to buy a winter coat for next winter now quite cheaply in the sales (out of season stock). Agree with others that you can buy £3 or £4 t-shirts for nursery from supermarkets or h&m.

Would definitely speak to the nursery about the paint/damaged clothes too though.

Birdsgottafly · 14/04/2012 10:50

The reason that the paint will not be shifting may be because it is low odour, which they are required to use.

It is bad practice to paint whilst the children are there because usually you air the building out as much as possible, before the rooms are used again.

In the Children's Centre we do not chance painting whilst children have access to/through the room, just in case there is an undiagnosed allergy.

The cost of the items are unimportant, a child shouldn't be unsupervised around decorating materials.

PenguinFeet1 · 14/04/2012 10:51

I agree with the yanbu's here and would be upset about clothes but mostly I would be upset about the decorators being in during nursery hours. Were they CRB checked????

Red2011 · 14/04/2012 11:07

Inappropriate for the nursery to be having decorating done during business hours - health and safety etc.

but £50 on clothes? really?
I find perfectly suitable clothing for DD in any of the local charity shops at around £5 tops for a special item. Failing that, ASDA, Tesco and Sainsburys are very reasonably priced. I am sure that if you were to shop around a little you could reduce your budget.

Annpan88 · 14/04/2012 11:08

If that's what the clothes cost, that's what they cost. its not for posters to judge how much OP chooses to spend on her DC. If they were damaged through normal wear and tear fair enough, but they weren't, they were damaged due to a poor decorating time table.

But these things happen and while I would be annoyed, I wouldn't make a fuss.

PestoPenguin · 14/04/2012 11:15

YANBU

A child at nursery should not be capable of getting wet wall paint on their clothes. I would ask to see the relevant risk assessments and why my child had access to this type of paint.

The cost of the clothes is irrelevant. You expect nursery clothes to come home dirty of course, but not ruined by paint for walls.

thunksheadontable · 14/04/2012 11:16

I would be livid, given that I am asthmatic and always respond badly to paint fumes and ds is pretty chesty/snotty and I just don't think it's okay to be careless in this manner.

I don't care if OP said it was okay or not, it's not. I work in a community clinic and there's NO WAY we would be tracking child patients through freshly painted areas and allowing their clothes to be damaged.

Snowboarder · 14/04/2012 11:18

I can't understand the OP getting vilified for how much she has spent on her DS's clothes. I know there is competitive spendthriftery rife on MN but she's hardly kitting the lad out in head to toe Gucci. £50 really doesn't seem unreasonable to me, especially if the coat is to last two winters and is of good quality.

YADNBU to be annoyed. Yes, you expect things to get ruined at nursery - kids aren't careful, but I'd be surprised to have 3 items completely trashed through a normal activity such as painting or sticking, especially the coat.

I'd defo say something but be polite about it given that you're backtracking. It sounds like they handled the whole thing badly and i'm sure that other parents will also be complaining too.

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