To find this lady kicking off at nursery staff a bit much?

[ColonelHaiti]

My child goes to a good nursery. It's a chain. They have had issues, as we all have, with sickness and covid but kept going really well. Today I was waiting to be let in and one of the staff said they didn't have enough staff for the kids outside to come in and it would be 5 minutes. My little one was happy playing outside for 5 mins. Another mother royally kicked off though asking staff to close the blinds as its not fair her child sees other children playing while she's outside (said child didn't seem arsed), why is she paying ? Where are the staff etc?

I get she was pissed off but to kick off on the nursery staff who are there I thought was a bit steep. The nursery has kept open all through the pandemic with very little disruption.

Nurseries are no different from schools. If there aren’t enough staff, the children can’t come into the premises. You can’t easily get cover if someone if off work.

She was being unreasonable - the alternative is the nursery says - sorry we can’t have your child today as we don’t have enough staff to cover the ratios.

I can understand why she was annoyed if she was in a hurry and is paying for the service. Also how flexible are the nirsery on pick ups when parents face exceptional problems?

But “kicking off” ( or having a tantrum) is rarely a productive course of action. She should have written to the owners rather than directing her annoyance at the staff who were there and doing their best.

The child sounds more mature than the mother. Her instruction to ask them to close the blind is just silly.

She may have been in a rush, she could have just explained that like a rational adult.

A Mother asked me to warm her baby's bottle up when I was at work once. I walked away carrying the bottle to the kitchen. Another mother said to me 'can you hide that bottle or my child will kick off' the child wasn't even looking. Idiot.

I'd be a bit hacked off at having to stand outside but certainly wouldn't be rude about it.

Depending on how often it happens she may have been justified in sending an email to complain to the nursery manager. Under no circumstances was she reasonable to shout at a random member of staff.

I find this odd anyway as we often have to queue for a few mins at drop-off as handover is outside due to Covid, and if you coincide with several other people arriving at the same time, it takes a few mins for the ones in front to be handed over, taken inside, etc.

It’s 5 minutes. Who actually cares? It’s a one off and shit happens.

I had a text from Nursery this morning 15 minutes before they were due to open informing us they had to close due to covid related staff absence. Given the current state of things I don't think a 5 minute delay is the end of the world and certainly doesn't justify anyone 'kicking off' at staff.

@Opihr - as long as the care and safety of the children isn't at stake. I also believe it's only for Covid related absences, so if it was a member of staff running late due to traffic then I don't think that rule stands

I would imagine next time they have a staff shortage and are awaiting cover they won't bother arranging cover and will just cancel that class or group.

You can't manage things outside of your control.
If we don't have staff we close that class.

Some people are absolute arses, what can I say?

What is the point of getting so angry with someone who is just trying to do their best? It is not the nursery's fault we have such high covid rates.

As an early years practitioner I’ve been shouted at for less!

Some parents have no compassion, no patience and think we only look after their child when in fact we have a room full of 32 children!

That parent would have loved my work last week, we had to close a room as we had no staff due to covid! Some parents complained. Most parents were understanding. Some were more worried about the staff.

We already work 1:8 with 3 and 4 year olds, and at times that’s pushing , never mind working over ratio, the same parent complaining about having to wait would be the same parent complaining if their child was hurt or injured if we had to work over ratio.

Sometimes I wonder if £9 an hour is really worth it. However I do love working with the children.

@2pinkginsplease

As an early years practitioner I’ve been shouted at for less!

Some parents have no compassion, no patience and think we only look after their child when in fact we have a room full of 32 children!

That parent would have loved my work last week, we had to close a room as we had no staff due to covid! Some parents complained. Most parents were understanding. Some were more worried about the staff.

We already work 1:8 with 3 and 4 year olds, and at times that’s pushing , never mind working over ratio, the same parent complaining about having to wait would be the same parent complaining if their child was hurt or injured if we had to work over ratio.

Sometimes I wonder if £9 an hour is really worth it. However I do love working with the children.

Abso flipping lutely!

It's certainly not a job you do for money

Kicking off at nursery staff is unreasonable, will not achieve anything even though she is right to feel put out as she is paying for a service. Nursery staff are only human though, so if it were me I would excuse the delay as a one-off, unless it is a regular occurrence, in which case I would bring it up with management rather than shouting down at the staff. I don't think there is any need to get shouty and rude.

For Gods sake, she sounds like a dick

And you folks with a “3 minute turnaround” who the fuck do you think you are ? The world does not revolve around your commute. Shit happens. We’ve all had to adjust our expectations slightly because of covid related staffing issues.

Did she actually kick off or just speak sharply/coldly to the staff saying it wasn’t good enough?

It used to make me really cross when I dropped my son at nursery (£60 a day and £40 per 10mins late fees collecting) and staff took 5-10 mins to open the door and let him in! The session started at 8am, I had to get a train to work at 8:15am, so opening the door at 8:10am meant I was late to work by an hour.

This was before covid too. The excuse was always staff were busy, but the managers used to sit in an office when one could have been on door duty!

Wouldnt bother me at all to have to wait on an odd occasion for 5 mins. Nursery staff have such a hard job for not enough money. I also prefer to be nice to people.

People like this are bullies, they kick off at people that they know can't answer back ie nursery/school staff, NHS staff, retail staff etc. I'd like to see them speak to someone like that who can freely answer back.

She's the answer to "What happened to the local bully when we were growing up?"

I have just flown away on holiday. There was a woman like this at the airport gate.

Yes, it was a bit chaotic. Yes, it could have been better organised. She was loudly berating the check in staff who looked tired and overworked.

Did I care it was a bit of a shambles ? No, I was just so fucking pleased to finally have my holiday 3rd time lucky.

@neverknowinglyunreasonable

She was completely within her rights to be angry and let them know. I find that over-worked, underpaid nursery staff who have worked through a pandemic and risked getting covid respond really well to being shouted at for being short-staffed.

Well done to her. I didn't vote for brexit only to be told I can't yell at the people I trust to take care of my kids.

😂😂

5 mins is nothing. If you've not planned some fuck up time into your day then you're not really on top of planning, shit happens. Getting arsey with staff over a situation out of their control isn't necessary.

No one should be shouted at in their place of work.
The lady was truly vile to shout at the people trying to do their best in this situation to care for her child.

Yes, she can be annoyed and frustrated if it makes her late for work, but conduct yourself properly and report it properly.

@AnyFucker

For Gods sake, she sounds like a dick

And you folks with a “3 minute turnaround” who the fuck do you think you are ? The world does not revolve around your commute. Shit happens. We’ve all had to adjust our expectations slightly because of covid related staffing issues.

I’m glad someone’s said it

@FateHasRedesignedMost

Maybe she was in a hurry.

Nursery fees are expensive, I’d be irritated too if there weren’t enough staff to let me collect my child, and I had to wait outside in the cold until they sorted it out. People pay for staffing ratios, I’d expect them to use agency staff if some are off.

That presumes there are agency staff available!