To think it was a little unprofessional of the nursery manager to refer to another child as a "Right little whatsit" in front of me?!

[theSuburbanDryad]

Just dropped ds off at nursery, all the other children are sitting round the table eating their breakfast. A little boy goes up to one of the little girls eating her breakfast and starts trying to nick her weetabix. The little girl starts crying (she was about 2, at a guess) and the manager goes, "Oh xxxx, don't be so silly - there's no need for it!" and then to me, "Oooh, she's a right little whatsit!"

Now, apart from the fact that the little girl was having her breakfast nicked - a perfectly good reason to kick off IMO - the nursery staff shouldn't be referring to the children in their care so negatively, and certainly not in front of the parents! Makes me wonder what they say about me and ds when i'm not in earshot!

how nasty, did the girl hear? did you say anything?

I reckon once all the parents have gone they say 'right, throw em all in the cellar and get the gin out'

well so do I lazarou - and I can't say I blame them! But they shouldn't say it in front of the parents, should they?

Fishie - the little girl was quite upset but whether that was down to the attempted larceny of her Weetabix, the impatient tones of the nursery manager, or the fact that she may well just be a bit of a whinger, i don't know!

Out of order.

The girl is just 2 - it is not fair to label and pigeonhole her, particularly since she has a perfectly good reason to protest and she did it in the only way she knew how.

How did the manager say it, in a joking or exasperated way? If she ever did it again, I will ask her whether she thinks it is appropriate to put down a child so young in front of others. And if there are issues, she should raise it with the girls' parents.

It was a sort of exasperated, Monday morning type thing.

And - now I think about it - I'm not sure the manager actually saw the little boy trying to make away with the breakfast, so maybe she thought the little girl was just whingeing for no reason?

The manager should give the girl the benefit of the doubt. If she dismisses any child in your presence, she can easily dismiss your child in another parent's presence.

As you said, it is unprofessional. It might be natural (in a Monday morning way, although I am actually refreshed for a Monday morning so don't have her same issues), but it is not an excuse to act in this way. I would say something.

It sounds like the poor wee thing has been labelled at the age of 2. Really not on imo.