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Okay, I'm not sure if it is just the day I've been having, if this parent is just a little clueless, or if she is being downright rude, but something is really rubbing me the wrong way. I want to get your opinion about it.
Here's the back story that you need to understand. My DH is a very wonderful man. He is very respectful, has a quiet demeanor, and is extremely involved with my daycare. He cooks all of the food in the morning (every thing is homemade, too) before he goes to work and either puts lunch in a crock pot or gets it ready so that I only have to reheat it, stick it in the oven, etc. Then, he serves breakfast before he goes to work. He is also my emergency back up, so he is willing to take off of work to watch the kids if I have to be gone for any reason. He loves the kids, and greets each one by name in the morning (the kids usually arrive before he leaves for work). He's also great with the parents. The kids and parents all look forward to seeing Mr. "DH" in the morning. Then DH goes to work and gets back right at the same time that I close each night. Since most of my kids leave right at closing time, he is often there to say goodbye to them in the evening as well. Also, my daycare is in my basement, and I rarely even go upstairs at all during the day, except to get the food from the kitchen at the top of the stairs, which only takes a second because DH gets it all prepared for me.
Okay, so here's the deal. I have one parent who leaves my front door open every time she comes in or out. Wide open. I live in the Midwest, so most of the year it's either cold enough for the furnace or hot enough for the a/c. Also, I never go upstairs during the day, so sometimes it is wide open for half a day or more before I even notice! Not only does it affect the heating/cooling, but it is just UNSAFE! It's bad enough that I usually leave my door unlocked during the day for the parents (I don't like to leave the kids at all...I have a lot of littles and prefer to be within sight of everyone at every moment if I can), but I don't really need to leave it wide open to invite anyone inside. So, not that anyone should have to tell an adult to close a door, but DH asked her if she would please remember to close the door for the comfort and the safety of the kids. I'm sure he asked nicely, I can't imagine he would ask any other way, but she totally scoffed at him. The next time she did it, he just went and closed it, but she was still in the driveway so she saw him. She said, "I guess I do leave that open, don't I?" So, he figured the problem was solved. Well, today, she came in and left it wide open again. He was leaving for work, so he came down to say goodbye to my kids. He looked right at her and said in a nice but direct tone, "Are you going to remember to close the door when you leave or should I teach DCG2 (her daughter) to remind you?" She looked right at him and said, "What's the difference, I'm leaving in like 2 minutes!!! Why shouldn't I leave it open while I'm here?!?" She was ticked! I was proud of DH.
Same parent, different day. Okay. all of my kids leave at 5:30, which is when I close. I'm not kidding, I have all of my kids except 1 until at least 5:27 every day. Since DH parks in the driveway, he could never get in his spot when he got home, so I just put a quick blurb in the newsletter to park on the opposite side for pickups after 5:15. Perfect, no one had a problem with it, except this parent. She parks there every day. I know she read the newsletter because she asked a question about something else in the same blurb, but she kept doing it. Finally, one day, I asked her to park on the other side. She asked why, and I told her DH needed to be able to get in the driveway, and she said she didn't understand why it was a big deal but said she would. A few days later, she was still doing it every day. DH came in, got a goofy silly look on his face, and said in a silly voice, "Why you parking in my spot?" The parent looked at him and said, "It's NOT YOUR spot!" He said, "Ahhh, you see, it is my spot because it's my house and I pay the mortgage." He wasn't rude, but he wasn't silly anymore either. She said, "Well, it's just a driveway, it's not YOUR spot." That started a battle I guess, because she still parks there EVERY day when she comes at 5:30 on the nose. She also lets her daughter run around our yard/driveway for about 15 minutes because "she doesn't want to get in her carseat," so she is there until at least 5:45-5:50 every single night. As far as DH, he just pretends it doesn't bother him at all and parks in the street every night.
I'm getting mad! Is it just me? This is ridiculous! She follows "the rules" in other regards (payment, illness policy, etc.) so I don't get it. I think she is just trying, for whatever reason, to disagree with everything DH says. What would you do? Should I let it go? Should I say something else? What? Has this happened to anyone else?
Here's the back story that you need to understand. My DH is a very wonderful man. He is very respectful, has a quiet demeanor, and is extremely involved with my daycare. He cooks all of the food in the morning (every thing is homemade, too) before he goes to work and either puts lunch in a crock pot or gets it ready so that I only have to reheat it, stick it in the oven, etc. Then, he serves breakfast before he goes to work. He is also my emergency back up, so he is willing to take off of work to watch the kids if I have to be gone for any reason. He loves the kids, and greets each one by name in the morning (the kids usually arrive before he leaves for work). He's also great with the parents. The kids and parents all look forward to seeing Mr. "DH" in the morning. Then DH goes to work and gets back right at the same time that I close each night. Since most of my kids leave right at closing time, he is often there to say goodbye to them in the evening as well. Also, my daycare is in my basement, and I rarely even go upstairs at all during the day, except to get the food from the kitchen at the top of the stairs, which only takes a second because DH gets it all prepared for me.
Okay, so here's the deal. I have one parent who leaves my front door open every time she comes in or out. Wide open. I live in the Midwest, so most of the year it's either cold enough for the furnace or hot enough for the a/c. Also, I never go upstairs during the day, so sometimes it is wide open for half a day or more before I even notice! Not only does it affect the heating/cooling, but it is just UNSAFE! It's bad enough that I usually leave my door unlocked during the day for the parents (I don't like to leave the kids at all...I have a lot of littles and prefer to be within sight of everyone at every moment if I can), but I don't really need to leave it wide open to invite anyone inside. So, not that anyone should have to tell an adult to close a door, but DH asked her if she would please remember to close the door for the comfort and the safety of the kids. I'm sure he asked nicely, I can't imagine he would ask any other way, but she totally scoffed at him. The next time she did it, he just went and closed it, but she was still in the driveway so she saw him. She said, "I guess I do leave that open, don't I?" So, he figured the problem was solved. Well, today, she came in and left it wide open again. He was leaving for work, so he came down to say goodbye to my kids. He looked right at her and said in a nice but direct tone, "Are you going to remember to close the door when you leave or should I teach DCG2 (her daughter) to remind you?" She looked right at him and said, "What's the difference, I'm leaving in like 2 minutes!!! Why shouldn't I leave it open while I'm here?!?" She was ticked! I was proud of DH.
Same parent, different day. Okay. all of my kids leave at 5:30, which is when I close. I'm not kidding, I have all of my kids except 1 until at least 5:27 every day. Since DH parks in the driveway, he could never get in his spot when he got home, so I just put a quick blurb in the newsletter to park on the opposite side for pickups after 5:15. Perfect, no one had a problem with it, except this parent. She parks there every day. I know she read the newsletter because she asked a question about something else in the same blurb, but she kept doing it. Finally, one day, I asked her to park on the other side. She asked why, and I told her DH needed to be able to get in the driveway, and she said she didn't understand why it was a big deal but said she would. A few days later, she was still doing it every day. DH came in, got a goofy silly look on his face, and said in a silly voice, "Why you parking in my spot?" The parent looked at him and said, "It's NOT YOUR spot!" He said, "Ahhh, you see, it is my spot because it's my house and I pay the mortgage." He wasn't rude, but he wasn't silly anymore either. She said, "Well, it's just a driveway, it's not YOUR spot." That started a battle I guess, because she still parks there EVERY day when she comes at 5:30 on the nose. She also lets her daughter run around our yard/driveway for about 15 minutes because "she doesn't want to get in her carseat," so she is there until at least 5:45-5:50 every single night. As far as DH, he just pretends it doesn't bother him at all and parks in the street every night.
I'm getting mad! Is it just me? This is ridiculous! She follows "the rules" in other regards (payment, illness policy, etc.) so I don't get it. I think she is just trying, for whatever reason, to disagree with everything DH says. What would you do? Should I let it go? Should I say something else? What? Has this happened to anyone else?
: will wait
: I'm sure I'd opt for BlackCat's approach in the end.
I could not tolerate any rudeness to my husband by a day care parent. If anyone treated my husband like this in his own home, he/she would be gone, no second chances. There is no way I would allow this to go on. My daycare income in no way has ever come close to paying our mortgage so my husband's income truly does pay it and ALL the spots in HIS driveway belong to HIM (and to me cuz everything of his is mine
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