i was chatting with one of the mums from school in the playground a couple of weeks ago. We are quite friendly and she was telling me she had a new full time job and didn’t know how she would manage childcare. I also work full time, but have recently made some changes so that I’m able to collect my daughter once a week at 3:15pm. She’s 7. I expressed as much and said in passing ‘if you ever need a hand I could collect both of the girls and look after them for a couple of hours until you finish work’. We parted ways and I continued with my day. Fast forward to the following week - a Wednesday - and I receive a message from her saying ‘just confirming you’re collecting E tomorrow’.
I was astounded, and almost fell off my chair. Whilst my offer was genuine, it was also a passing comment, and i would have expected to actually be asked with a specific date and a little more notice.
since was collecting my girl anyway, and the two of them get along, I knew it would be fun for them so I disregarded my annoyance in spite of the flippancy and presumption of the request and agreed to help her out as I knew she was working and would struggle to find alternative child care at such late notice.
Wednesday night was a late one for me, an order arrived so I put on my new dress and went to a party. I didn’t go to bed until 6am! WILD.
Then I went to work! Then I drove to school to collect the girls! I took them home, and they immediately asked for a sleepover. I asked the mum who said it was ok and that she was always happy to have a night off!!!
We are both single mums, so I get it. I planned to go to bed at 8pm straight after the girls anyway. I bought them a dominos (my daughter is vegetarian, the other child eats meat and insisted on pepperoni, so I allowed it as an exception). We watched drop dead fred; our favourite.
The girls topped and tailed in my daughter’s bed, and I promptly fell asleep.
No more than an hour later I was woken up by extreme and relentless coughing. I tried to block it out and go back to sleep. My daughter came into my room three times crying, telling me her friend was keeping her awake with the coughing. We didn’t sleep a wink.
In the morning I asked the child if she had been feeling unwell for some time, and she told me she had since the beginning of the week. At this point I texted the mum who asked how it went and said:
chid was coughing a lot throughout the night, seems like she’s a bit unwell??
to which I received this response:
Oh poor baby. Glad she was ok this morning
I am FUMING.
My child developed a nasty cough the next day, and had a boring weekend complaining of feeling unwell and requiring medicine, which I don’t like to give unless absolutely necessary. I like to do things naturally if I can, a bit of Zooki, eucalyptus on the chest and Manuka honey usually works and she just LOVES it, but I found myself running to get some buttercup on the school run and was late!!
I’m furious at the selfishness of my ‘friend’ for not telling me her child was Ill and letting her sleep over thus infecting my own child. Barely a word of thanks and no acknowledgment of my passive aggressively pointing this out.
AIBU?