The Opposite of Small Talk

[Naptime yet?]

Is it weird if, when a parent comes to pick up, they don't acknowledge you at all? Or if it's only on the way out the door?

One of my DCM, who I haven't seen all week, came to pick up & put on a grand show, telling her kids how much she missed them & loved them (maybe some personal issues I'm unaware of, this was somewhat strange for her).

Part of me wanted to say, boy maybe you should keep them home when you can, being you missed them so much after only 8 hours....meow!

But she never said one word to me, not hello, nothing, I initiated conversation & that was 2 sentences.

This is also my passive-aggressive mom, so as my dh said, why are you surprised? It was just strange. Oh well, maybe she had a bad day.

[dave4him]

Sounds like she was focused on something she wasnt wanting to talk to you about. Sometimes when you get to talking you tend to keep talking and then spill everything out at once. So i would chalk it up to a personal issue she was dealing with

[craftymissbeth]

Yeah I don't care how tough your life is right now, I just spent 8-12 hours with your child. You can at least give me a quick hi and a quick bye.

We all go through some crap. Every last one of us. But you have to fake a smile and treat the people around you with at least the bare minimum of respect.

It would have bothered me, too, if one of my dcp's didn't at least say hi or bye or just give me a little smile or SOMETHING to acknowledge my existence.

[Naptime yet?]

Aha, mystery solved, DCM was out-of-town for a few days. Ok, another question: should they have told me? I mean, I usually communicate with mom...not a big deal, but still no excuse not to say "hello" at pick up.

[originalkat]

That sounds pretty rude to me. If you are in MY house you had better acknowledge my existence seeing that I just cared for your child ALL day. But maybe since she was out of town she just had tunnel vision. I wouldn't take too much offense as long as it isn't the norm.

[spinnymarie]

That does sound rude, but hopefully it was unintentional.

[daycare]

I have a DCM who is just like this. We never know how she is going to be from day to day. All of my staff dislike her.

She has done that many of times where she will come in here and put on a huge show, make sure she makes the kids cry so she can feel bad about leaving and not say one word to any adults here. Then other mornings she comes in with smiles and morning wishes from the heavens.....

I used to just always smile and say Good morning, are you guys ready for a great day today? I say it to her and her kids. The kids would always respond, but not her so I would say, "what about Mommy, is she ready too?" The kids sometimes will say mom are you? One time she got mad, so I don't do it anymore.

I just don't feed into it. I love the children I only deal with mom a few times a month...

[Maria2013]

But she never said one word to me, not hello, nothing, I initiated conversation & that was 2 sentences.

sorry but if you come to my house, you need to say at least hello/goodbye if you want to keep coming back

[originalkat]

sorry but if you come to my house, you need to say at least hello/goodbye if you want to keep coming back

happyface Yep, me too!

[Kabob]

Yeah I don't care how tough your life is right now, I just spent 8-12 hours with your child. You can at least give me a quick hi and a quick bye.

We all go through some crap. Every last one of us. But you have to fake a smile and treat the people around you with at least the bare minimum of respect.

It would have bothered me, too, if one of my dcp's didn't at least say hi or bye or just give me a little smile or SOMETHING to acknowledge my existence.

Yeah. I am not good at small talk but I at least try to say "good morning" and "have a good night" to the parents. I had one dcd that wouldn't make eye contact or anything. Just seemed angry. I finally asked if he was happy with the services I was providing and suddenly he started remembering to say hello and thank you every day.