I’m not happy with Bub’s day care at the moment. Whenever I drop her off, I notice the snotty, coughing, sneezing kids everywhere and I think, if this were a good day care centre, those kids would be sent home as soon as they walk through the door. It’s not hard to tell that they’re highly contagious… On the other hand, when I’ve had Bub at home sick for 2 days, I have sent her to day care (still sick) on day 3 as I don’t want to spend another day cooped up at home, being nurse to grumpy child. So while I acknowledge that I’m a total hypocrite, I can’t help but feel annoyed almost every day when I drop her off.
The other reason I am annoyed is because when I went to pick her up today, the day care room was absolute chaos. There was a ratio of ten 2-3 year olds to ONE carer, and the kids were getting up to all sorts of mischief and putting themselves in danger. Bub was crying because she had been scratched on the face by another girl, and the carer hadn’t even noticed. Apparently they are having trouble getting staff, but that’s no excuse – there are legal specifications as to acceptable child-carer ratios for a reason.
I can see some people reading this and thinking, OMG - I’d pull my child out of there in a second. The problem is, this is a *good* centre, one of the best even. We sure pay the price, it’s $25 more expensive per day than the centre just around the corner. Until childcare improves across Australia, most families will not be able to have 2 working parents. That’s from the perspective of people who can afford care (1 child is a damn sight cheaper than 2+) and have got a place in care – meaning it’s even worse for those who cannot afford it or are on endless waiting lists. *end rant*
As you may have gathered, I am not at all happy to be back in Canberra and back to work. I had such a lovely weekend over West; it’s always hard to settle back in here. Sometimes I think it would be easier not to visit home…
The good news is, on my last day in Perth I went op shopping again and found some amazing kitchenware – so my final Perth Op Shopping post will be the best of them all. I also had a lovely flight back, with 3 seats to myself to stretch out and relax. The movie was ‘Something Borrowed’ starring Kate Hudson, and it was okay- typical chick flick with nothing special, I wouldn’t recommend that anyone go out of their way to watch it.
I think they have trouble getting staff because the pay is not very good. That being said they should not accept sick kids but they obviously don't care so long as they get the money.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to part 3 of your haul.
E :)
Hello, I've never read your blog before. I just came over from A Farmer's Wife/Life in the Country.
ReplyDeleteLet me say, get that little bundle of preciousness out of daycare and get yourself an au pair. You won't regret it (unless your au pair is a psycho, but we don't want to fret the small things just yet).
I have one (an au pair and a baby). The au pair's cheaper than day care and if there's a snotty nose in my house it'll probably be mine.
I've also had children go through day care, so I know what both sides of the fence are like.
Au pair. The end. If you want more, just email me.