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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

to be furious with this woman...

80 replies

SkinnyMarinkADink · 25/09/2012 08:58

This is probably going to be rather lengthy.

i am a childminder and for the last year have been looking after one mindee for very long hours each week. The last 6 months have been awful and i have really been there for the mother when she has needed help, for example taking her to work when her partner refused to. the child has become more and more challenging over the last few months, i have successfully weaned him off of baby jars, however his behaviour has got really bad and it got to the stage i can no longer tar him to any groups or activity as he screamed the whole time and picked on other children.

we moved to a different area recently and i agreed that i would meet her in the mornings at her work to pick him up, this was up until i go on maternity leave am 23 weeks now. this turned in to her demanding i drop him in evenings also, i did it as losing her money was not an option we could do. she has subsequently taken the piss more and more examples...

  • she constantly gives him to me when he is ill. he had the start of chicken pox virus gave it to me and i got shingles (11 weeks pregnant) the week before last he arrived obviously full of cold and very unhappy i ended up with the cold and have spent the last week in bed feeling totally awful. when asked to pick him up she would arrive 3 hours later. i have taken him to the Dr on many occasion.

-she never pays me on time. pay day is Friday it usually arrives Sunday.

  • i was running a couple minutes behind schedule and she was waiting for me for 3 minutes maximum she stood and shouted at me. had rang me several times.

I am getting to the point now Grin the parent is always talking about twitter, saying how fun it is to stalk celebs etc, from what she said her life is played out on it.

A couple of weekends back i was waiting on her paying me. I had said on the Friday i really needed it on time as we were going out for the day she said to text her in the morning and she would pay straight away, i did this and got no response and no money. in the end we couldn't go out for the day this started the total breakdown of me wanting to deal with her anymore. Eventually she messaged me on the Sunday evening to say she had been ill and not had her phone with her, dh didn't believe her and decided to look her up on twitter...

I discovered she had not been ill in bed.. she had been out for the day there were photos and 'tweets' from the whole day... Hmm

I have been having a awful pregnancy, was going to go on mat leave at 26 weeks, however have another water infections, a cold still and feel pretty awful and tearfull at the thought of a tantruming child 10 hours per day for the next 3 weeks, the driving twice a day 7.30am i have to hurl dd in the car. also the fact i work 2 days free a week for her with all the expense she doesn't cover

so i called her last night, explained that i don't feel i can be her child minder any more due to my health and that i would not be returning to working. I've not left her in any predicament as her mum is here helping her the last week I've been off. she was very nice about it and i said i would refund what i owe her if she sent bank details to me, excellent i thought. until dh said that he finds it odd that she was so nice when she was always having digs at me so we had a little sneak on twitter....

There are really awful things that she is saying about me, one says "childminder can't be arsed anymore so it going to be a jobless bum, may as well pay her wages through taxes now!!"
after looking through a bit further there are regular tweets about me rather nasty.

My aibu is...would ibu if i either...

A) delayed her money like she has done to me several times.
B) make my own twittter and follow her and hope it makes her feel a little bit ashamed for what she has said.
C) when sending her an email with how much i owe her add in there a line like "can't wait for my maternity pay to start in a few weeks guess i will just be a jobless bum till then LOL."

OP posts:
quoteunquote · 25/09/2012 11:14

what an utterly ungrateful nasty piece of work,

as for exposing you to pox unforgivable, (my mum ended up with singles, it nearly killed her, suppressed immune system)

get the vile woman out of your life permanently, and don't look back,

we had a similar type user individual, who thought she could get away with nasty bulling of childminders, and nursery staff, I spotted her on MN last year moaning that she couldn't get child care,her specific moans identified her,, she still hasn't worked out that there is a mass boycott on her and children, she keeps having to fork out for nannies/au pairs, they last the max of a week, last time I spotted her on here,she was moaning about having to put up with her MiL as child care, you lot all told her to get a childminder, she didn't confess none will have her.

pigletmania · 25/09/2012 11:20

What a nasty piece of work, good on you op, please don't take any of her crap to heart, you have done a hell of a lot more than others would have done

OHforDUCKScake · 25/09/2012 11:21

Give her the money and get well rid.
Move on from it and forget about her, dont waste any more energy on her. Concentrate on you and your DD.

StateofConfusion · 25/09/2012 11:22

Join twitter under the name 'confessionsofachildminder' and tweet every shitty thing she's ever done.

I'd keep the money means you were out of pocket for all the extras she forced upon you!

fanjoforthemammaries7850 · 25/09/2012 11:23

you cannot catch shingles from chickenpox, it does not "start off the dormant virus"...otherwise YANBU, she sounds like a nightmare

KenLeeeeeee · 25/09/2012 11:24

I think MimiSunshine 's adapted email is much better. Friendly, but firm and absolutely uncompromising on the Twitter issue.

fanjoforthemammaries7850 · 25/09/2012 11:24

from NHS website:

"It is possible to catch chickenpox from someone with shingles, but not the other way around"

so don't blame her for that one but otherwise, well rid

wordfactory · 25/09/2012 11:27

I would send mimi email with a slight ammendment. Do't say rather libelous whioch makes me think of 'a bit'.

Just tell her that is is libel.

Thingiebob · 25/09/2012 11:38

Send Mimi's version. You cannot let her get away with this behaviour. Please!

helenthemadex · 25/09/2012 12:38

agree send Mimi's version of the email, then put your feet up and enjoy the rest of your pregnancy

Pinkforever · 25/09/2012 12:47

Wow op you sound professionalHmm

SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius · 25/09/2012 13:11

I think she does sound professional, Pink - given all she has put up with from this mother, I think she has behaved above and beyond what most people would do.

OP - I too would send Mimi's version of your email - and save screen shots of the nasty comments on Twitter too.

SkinnyMarinkADink · 25/09/2012 13:14

I would never put anything on a social site about her, my thinking was if i followed her on twitter she would know that i have seen her posts and strike up her conscience (sp?) a little bit.

pinkforever can you tell me where i have been un professional? I do feel i have let her take the micky for to long, is this what you mean?

OP posts:
notanaxemurderer · 25/09/2012 13:46

I'm pretty sure it's not libel unless you can prove you have had a loss of earnings from the statements that have been made. It's very difficult to prove.

But what a horrible woman. Can you please publish her twitter name?! Maybe we could dole out some good old fashioned, MN-style justice!

EldritchCleavage · 25/09/2012 13:53

No, you do not need to prove any loss of earnings to sue for libel. Damage is presumed to follow. It is actually pretty easy to prove, which does not mean libel actions are easy to win.

OP, if you think people will work out who you are from the tweets, you could contact Twitter and see if they will take them down.

notanaxemurderer · 25/09/2012 13:56

Oh ok. I stand corrected!

SkinnyMarinkADink · 25/09/2012 14:06

Well, it has taken all day but i have just sent the email.

Hi ---,

I have transferred £XXX as owed to you.

It has been lovely watching X grow and being a huge part of his life and I will miss him greatly.

I hope that you find someone quickly to look after X, Unfortunately, as you know, my health has deteriorated now to a point where I am unable to give him the care and attention he requires.

In this modern world I know it is very easy to publish your thoughts and feelings for everyone to see, but I would greatly appreciate if you did not discuss my health or current situation on twitter. I haven't felt the need to let the world know any of your own personal issues, I would be grateful if you could extend me the same courtesy.

Kind regards

Skinny

OP posts:
SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius · 25/09/2012 14:27

That looks very good, Skinny - and very professional too.

waltermittymissus · 25/09/2012 15:15

Yes that seems a good email to me Skinny, I think you've handled it well.

Thingiebob · 25/09/2012 15:26

pinkforever how has she been unprofessional?

teenagersmother · 25/09/2012 16:45

Well done Skinny. You handled that well. Liked the professionalism of your email.

Now you can enjoy your maternity leave and new addition when baby arrives.

Galena · 25/09/2012 17:39

Nicely phrased.

Any response?

SkinnyMarinkADink · 25/09/2012 18:23

No response, however the tweet had been removed so i can live with that. hopefully she is feeling suitably ashamed of herself.

OP posts:
TheGoldenKnid · 25/09/2012 18:24

Well done! :)

thegreylady · 25/09/2012 18:52

I have always believed that if an adult who had never had chickenpox became infected with the virus it could manifest as shingles.