A Very Bad Day

[Carole's Daycare]

So, today, my 21 month old dcb, (who is a little behind developmentally) managed to trip on his own two feet while holding a little people bus, fell and bonked himself on the nose. Of course, the nose began to bleed, his sister and the other kids began to freak. To make it even better, since litttle buddy bled on his shirt etc, I called mom & let her know of his mishap (mind you this kid falls constantly- one of those you think should wear a helmet) to let her know she might want to bring his spare sweatshirt if they're stopping anywhere after daycare. (Mom makes stops at Walmart, grocery store etc). She was at my house in less than 10 mn to take him to the ER in case his nose was broken or he had a concussion. She has NEVER gotten to my house to pick up her kids that fast in 2 years, including when her daughter puked on my lunch table) I told her it was pretty unlikely he had a concussion, since he basically sat down , so at most impacted the toy bus from a drop distance of around 1 foot, not running etc. She just wanted to "make sure" and brought him back in an hour & went back to work- the Dr. assured her he was fine, it might show some bruising tomorrow but otherwise he's fine. Since she works for the county in child protection, she went back to work making a big deal about her poor baby who was all busted up- when, I took pictures- he fell at 10:15, was back in daycare by 11:30, and still at 4:00 I couldn't see any bruising or swelling. Now I get to pay his ER visit, turn in a report to county licensing and deal with them for surprise/follow up visits etc, probably because she wanted to get out of a meeting. Afterwards, she said she didnt realize it would be such a big deal, she just was really worried about him. She let her daughter fall 3 feet off a porch onto cement last winter while loading her baby into car, with bloodied lip etc, and brought her to daycare & dumped her off on me to clean up and never took her in. She dumps sick kids here all the time, stays home alone for mental health days- watches her kids while on vicadin for pain because of all her messed up hypochondriac health problems (she loves the attention/drama)
I'm wishing I fired her before. I finally got her picking up in a more timely manner etc and now I'm screwed because she overreacted. I'm so mad its not funny. I really, really can't stand her, and am tired of pretending I don't- especially since her kids pretty slow- she spent the entire preganancy chain smoking, on various medications, and dieting because the former 300 lb beauty didnt want to gain while pregant and undue her weight loss after her gastric bypass. I am really, really stressed out and mad at her for being such a moron.

[originalkat]

Oh, Carole's Daycare...I know this is a mess right now, but this too shall pass. I remember previous posts about this Child Protective Services mom you have and what a pain she is! BIG HUGS!!!

[jen]

Oh my goodness! That does ****! But WHY are you paying his ER visit????

[originalkat]

Oh my goodness! That does ****! But WHY are you paying his ER visit????

Good Point!!

[Chickenhauler]

Why would you be responsible for her childs medical bills?

It's not as if you did something negligent or malicious to cause the child to fall down, the kids a klutz...heck, all 2-ish year old kids are klutzy.

If she works for the county (if that isn't an oxymoron) in child protection, she knew full well exactly what would happen. Either that, or she's too dumb to hold the position she has.

I'd terminate, and terminate NOW. From the description, she is a lawsuit looking for a place to happen. It's not "IF", but "WHEN".

[Daycare Mommy]

You do NOT have to (nor should you) pay for her ER visit! If she expects this of you that's insane! This isn't your fault. There was no negligence on your part. Like Chickenhauler said, I'd lose this one. Someone who blows a bump in the nose this much out of proportion and then expects you to pay for an unnecessary ER visit is trouble waiting to happen.

[melskids]

i had a mom once who worked in child protection services who FREAKED on me cause her son got dirt in his eye. she too, would drop hime off sick and dirty all the time, and youre gonna freak over a little dirt...OMG! she was a lawsuit waiting to happen. i finally terminated her......

[nannyde]

I wouldn't pay for this. She surely has health insurance. She choose to access the most expensive possible health care for a VERY minor injury. She had the choice to make a Dr's appointment and have him be seen in a regular office. She choose to take him to a specialist in emergency medicine. That's her choice as a parent but it's not on you.

If you get contacted by her health insurance then you need to fight the claim. You didn't have any control over what health care the Mom accessed. You have the outcome to prove that it was a very minor injury that didn't need any kind of medical care.

If providers have to pay for complete accidents children have while in the course of their normal day while they were under supervision we will end up not being able to even be insured. Medical care is very expensive.

I have had four little boys at one time in my care under the age of 18 months. All four of them fell down the stairs at their home under their parents care. Not a single one of them went to the Doctor or even CALLED the Doctor because they were all afraid of being deemed neglectful. If that would have happened on my watch they would have taken them to the ER and had full CAT scans done on my dime.

One of the kids was at Mayo clinic the evening after this had happened. They were visiting a grandma who was dying. Both parents had the opportunity to take him down to the ER and have him examined but they choose not to. This kid was a baby (under a year) and fell the entire flight of stairs. They did NOTHING.

When it's something that happens with anyone else the parents will access the most expensive health care option. If they are under the gun at all they will do the "wait and see" approach.

This is why I don't have ANY climbing equipment on my property. I don't have anything the kids have access to that's even off the ground. I don't even allow them to have access to kiddie chairs unless they are invited to get on them. Everything is floor level at my house. My pack n plays sit one inch off the ground so the top of them is only 27 inches off the ground. I will not allow kids to climb anything but the stairs and that's with a technique for safety and supervised at all times.

I train them to commado crawl the stairs both up and down from the time they are about 18 months. They are NEVER allowed near the stairs unless they have an adult spotting them until they are about 3.5. I train the older kids to take one step at a time and hold the rail. I also have a rule that there is only one kid on the stairs at a time.

There's a lot of pressure to not have ANYTHING happen to the kids when they are in our care. Sure you will have some parents who will be cool about things but there are just as many who will do what yours did... access the most expensive medical care on the planet for the tiniest little bruise. Right or wrong it puts you on the line for a possibility of paying for the expensive medical care when the child only needed first aid.

[Unregistered]

She asked you to pay the bill? Ouch. This does sound like a high maintenance family, an expensive one emotionally and financially. I had one break her leg here once at around 7 yrs old, she had stepped off a little ramp wrong and didn't even cry, but wouldn't put weight on it. At 9pm mom finally took her to er to discover it was broken I did offer to help pay her bill in this case because I felt really bad and she was like "Why? That's what I have insurance for!" She then re-broke it a few months later at home slipping on wet grass. Thank goodness her mom has that kind of attitude. I'd be working for free after paying all her bills if she didn't. This child is a magnet for strange accidents. Even at nearly 13 yrs old, I still have mini heart attacks just watching her run through the yard.

[Carole's Daycare]

This mom has insurance through the county, but actually has medical assistance/welfare medical for her kids secondary. Basically according to her, her insurance may refuse to pay, since the accident happened at daycare. We'll see. I don't think the Dr even took her seriously. I guess the clinic will probably bill it to ins, so unless they send her one of those cool letters asking if someone else was responsible to pay the accident- auto, work comp, or other , (if the diagnosis code is accident based they are automaticlly generated- I spent years as ins manager for a chiro clinic) I may not get stuck. I actually told her that if I do, I'll pay it and not renew my license next year- because I don't want to do daycare without insurance in case of something big, but I wont pay a rate increase over something this stupid. People assume daycare providers do it because we can't do anything else. I graduated college w/ a 4.0, worked for years as insurance/office manager, then 2 years as bookeeper for a law firm before I quit to stay home. Maybe its time to get my degree in social work- the college said I'd have my masters in 15 months w/ 2 nights a week classes. Considering how dumb she is it might be better for the community.

[Daycare Mommy]

I may not get stuck [paying]. I actually told her that if I do, I'll pay it and not renew my license next year- because I don't want to do daycare without insurance in case of something big, but I wont pay a rate increase over something this stupid.

Somehow I don't think this woman will lose any sleep if that happens.

I really hope this incident just blows over for you.

[Carole's Daycare]

I do too. And actually- I think she would be upset. She likes the drama and her ego needs to elevate herself/big deal about being a social worker, but as ignorant as she is in some respects... she in course of her work has shut down plenty of daycares. Places where the providers were drinking /drunk on the job, truly didnt provide adequate safety/supervision, had boyfriends looking up kiddie **** etc. She knows becuse my husband is a cop and we have background checks that she wont run into a family on her caseload. She worries/is paranoid that some family she took kids from will target her children, and since unlike most of the daycares here I have a somewhat more selected clientele she's not as worried someone she's dealt with will see her kids/target her or them. She also knows most places wont even take her because of her job, and sure wont put up w/ her crap. She also knows/sees that her daughter that just turned three will be reading within the year etc. She just needs her fix of drama and power & control. Since I cracked down on contract/pickup & payment issues she's maybe felt like she wasn't holding the reins anymore in this situation. Either way, this ****s. And I hope it blows over too. Once it does, then I'll search for new clients to pay the bills before giving notice- but I think if I fire now she'll be pissed and she may really try to stick it to me. I'm still waiting for them to show up this morning/stressing about the morning meet & greet. I hope he didn't bruise at all. My son always looked like he was in a brawl at that age, constantly bonking his head on something .

[Carole's Daycare]

They just showed up. Yeterday she said Dr thought he was going to be all bruised and have raccooon eyes today. LOL you cant even see anything. Yay. She came in to the door & said she was late. The kids ran to me for hugs and she said have a nice day & ran. Wow.

[emosks]

We have in our contract that we are not responsible for any medical bills for any injury or such that occurs at the daycare. I hope you don't get stuck with this. One of our moms is a DHS mom and she is wonderful...I guess we are blessed with after reading other responses!

[emosks]

They just showed up. Yeterday she said Dr thought he was going to be all bruised and have raccooon eyes today. LOL you cant even see anything. Yay. She came in to the door & said she was late. The kids ran to me for hugs and she said have a nice day & ran. Wow.

I'm sure she feels like an A** right now. We just had a 10 month old who is crawling miss a slight elevation into the toy room and he has a black eye. His mom laughed and said "It's not the first OR last time!" Again...we must be blessed with awesome families?