It Happened in TWO Seconds!

[nanglgrl]

Unfortunately a liability waiver isn't worth the paper it's printed on.
I had a state pay child bump his head on my wall and need stitches, he also had state medical insurance. It was though no fault of my own. The child's mom was late for pick up so I had him in his coat and shoes and told him to sit down to watch cartoons (the only time we watch tv is during pick up). He kept getting up and I kept telling him to sit back down. It was only probably less than 5 minutes but the 4 year old had severe ADHD and it was apparently a life sentence to him. Anyway he went to sit down and the only way I can explain it is that he did crisscross appleasauce in mid air and plopped down on his butt and on the way down hit his head on my wall. It wasnt hard and I didn't even notice anything odd until I glanced his direction and saw something drip on his shouder and discovered it was blood. His mom walked in a second later and he was off to get 6 sitches in his scalp. Apparently he had hit my wall hard enough to cut his head. My wall is 100% a normal, flat wall and there were no other objects in the area that he could fall/hit his head on.
Anyway, a few weekes later I got a form from the state asking all sorts of questions about the accident for their insurance, I guess they were trying to determine if I shoud be hheld liable. They ended up paying and I never heard back but I think it could have turned out differently if there was something I could have changed about the situation to prevent the injury.
Mom pulled soon after. I doubt she thought I had anything to do with the injury since the child was old enough to talk and had an older sibling right there as witness but who knows. I didn't worry about it because I was reducing my hours and wanted to term the family anyway.

[hope]

Aunt Tami, did this guy ever pay you for the week? I remember you want to go over policy with him in another thread.

[AuntTami]

Aunt Tami, did this guy ever pay you for the week? I remember you want to go over policy with him in another thread.

He is *supposed* to pay tomorrow. He told me again tonight that he would be by tomorrow to drop it off, but we'll see... Lesson learned right? If he doesn't, she won't be accepted back unless he pays up front and if he doesn't bring her back, guess I'm eating the cost. happyface me!

As far as the insurance goes...well that's just AWESOME! I guess I'll wait and see what happens. I suppose I could have gotten a different baby gate, but how the heck was I supposed to know this would happen!? And even if I had been facing her, I wouldn't have been able to grab her in time to prevent her from hitting her face.
Lets add one more thing to Tami's pile of poop that's gone wrong. Oh gosh, sorry. I've had a VERY stressful day. This trip to the ER was the first of two, I just got home(its 4am--I woke up YESTERDAY at 6am) from an ER visit with my sister, so I'm BEYOND frazzled right now. But, since DCG isn't coming tomorrow(today I guess) and DCB won't be here since its not his day, I have an unexpected day off, so I can SLEEEPPPP and boy will I ever!

[Josiegirl]

Do you have daycare insurance? Wouldn't that cover something like what happened?
I'm afraid to say it but this dcf sounds like a handful of difficult to begin with; who knows what this will bring out in them???
PLEASE do NOT hold onto any guilt, it was a complete accident. They happen to children. A LOT. Most of the time we can be thankful and know there'll be no bruises but once in awhile something like this happens and it's scary. Like you always hear, ya can't keep 'em in a bubble!
As for the dcd not replying to you?? That is inexcusable! OMG did he ever tell you why?
Two is an accident prone age. I have a 2 1/2 yo dcg who came in the other a.m. with 2 black and blues on her cheek. When dcm asked her about it dcg told her a cow bit her. Lol Then when dcd asked her she said mommy hit me. Well, of course she didn't. They asked me, I was clueless, I mean stuff like that happens all the time. Even to my own self! So yesterday at breakfast I was reading them a book, dcg has her head propped up on her arm, it slips right off into the corner of the table. So I told dcm about it. She had a good laugh. (maybe ya had to be there) But it was pretty funny.
My point being(other than trying to inject a little humor here) is that kids get hurt all the time and bounce right back up. I hope dcps don't make a huge issue out of it because it could just as easily happen on their watch.

[hope]

He is *supposed* to pay tomorrow. He told me again tonight that he would be by tomorrow to drop it off, but we'll see... Lesson learned right? If he doesn't, she won't be accepted back unless he pays up front and if he doesn't bring her back, guess I'm eating the cost. happyface me!

As far as the insurance goes...well that's just AWESOME! I guess I'll wait and see what happens. I suppose I could have gotten a different baby gate, but how the heck was I supposed to know this would happen!? And even if I had been facing her, I wouldn't have been able to grab her in time to prevent her from hitting her face.
Lets add one more thing to Tami's pile of poop that's gone wrong. Oh gosh, sorry. I've had a VERY stressful day. This trip to the ER was the first of two, I just got home(its 4am--I woke up YESTERDAY at 6am) from an ER visit with my sister, so I'm BEYOND frazzled right now. But, since DCG isn't coming tomorrow(today I guess) and DCB won't be here since its not his day, I have an unexpected day off, so I can SLEEEPPPP and boy will I ever!

You should call, text and email the dad that payment is due today. If you don't get any response send it to him in the mail. Make sure to add that there will be late fees if you do not receive today. If you do take this dcg back please get payment upfront. You just went through this whole ordeal and I'm afraid you did it all for free. Also tell him you need to sit down and go over every line in the handbook with him.

[EntropyControlSpecialist]

You should call, text and email the dad that payment is due today. If you don't get any response send it to him in the mail. Make sure to add that there will be late fees if you do not receive today. If you do take this dcg back please get payment upfront. You just went through this whole ordeal and I'm afraid you did it all for free. Also tell him you need to sit down and go over every line in the handbook with him.

Please do this. What a freaking headache. They would be doing you a FAVOR if they never came back again.

[melilley]

Awwww :hug:.
Accidents happen! I had a dcb run and fall into my tv stand and cut his head open. Blood was gushing everywhere. I called mom and she took him in and he had to get stitches. I felt horrible, but even mom said that I'm human, accidents happen.

I would be furious with dcd! I think I would be mad enough to term!

[ColorfulSunburst]

The youngest one (20m.o) tripped over his own feet, fell down and hit his forehead on the edge of the table(((
Now he has "a horn" on his forehead

[AuntTami]

You should call, text and email the dad that payment is due today. If you don't get any response send it to him in the mail. Make sure to add that there will be late fees if you do not receive today. If you do take this dcg back please get payment upfront. You just went through this whole ordeal and I'm afraid you did it all for free. Also tell him you need to sit down and go over every line in the handbook with him.

Thanks so much for the words of encouragement ladies. I really appreciate it. I have a migraine today from all the stress and tension from yesterday. Accidents DO happen and they are children, which I keep telling myself to try and ease the guilt.

Dad did just stop over and paid me so I'm all paid up, so that's good. Still unsure if she will be returning.

As far as his reasoning, it's because no one could get ahold of him. I called all day, grandma called all day, heck the HOSPITAL tried calling him, and he couldn't be reached, so he didn't even KNOW his child was in the ER until he got done with work at 3:45, which in my opinion is unacceptable. It made me fuming mad that it took SO long for someone to get there, and it made me even more mad that dad didn't come until after work because no one could get ahold of him. Grandpa works at the same place that DCD works and even grandpa couldn't get ahold of DCD, so I don't know. That's unacceptable. If you have children, you should be reachable at all times. Even if DCD couldn't come get her himself, someone should have at least been able to reach him on a phone, even just to give the hospital consent to treat her so we didn't have to sit there for FOUR HOURS!

Since I'm still very new to daycare, I know a lot of my policies need to be tweaked and reworked, but man, I wasn't expecting ONE kid to point out every hole in my handbook! But, now I know and now I can fix the holes.

[Cradle2crayons]

Thanks so much for the words of encouragement ladies. I really appreciate it. I have a migraine today from all the stress and tension from yesterday. Accidents DO happen and they are children, which I keep telling myself to try and ease the guilt.

Dad did just stop over and paid me so I'm all paid up, so that's good. Still unsure if she will be returning.

As far as his reasoning, it's because no one could get ahold of him. I called all day, grandma called all day, heck the HOSPITAL tried calling him, and he couldn't be reached, so he didn't even KNOW his child was in the ER until he got done with work at 3:45, which in my opinion is unacceptable. It made me fuming mad that it took SO long for someone to get there, and it made me even more mad that dad didn't come until after work because no one could get ahold of him. Grandpa works at the same place that DCD works and even grandpa couldn't get ahold of DCD, so I don't know. That's unacceptable. If you have children, you should be reachable at all times. Even if DCD couldn't come get her himself, someone should have at least been able to reach him on a phone, even just to give the hospital consent to treat her so we didn't have to sit there for FOUR HOURS!

Since I'm still very new to daycare, I know a lot of my policies need to be tweaked and reworked, but man, I wasn't expecting ONE kid to point out every hole in my handbook! But, now I know and now I can fix the holes.

Hey, think of it this way... That one kid and family taught you more than some providers have a chance to learn in years so, you are actually ahead

[AuntTami]

Hey, think of it this way... That one kid and family taught you more than some providers have a chance to learn in years so, you are actually ahead

Haha, touché!

[NightOwl]

This was NOT your fault! Don't beat yourself up over it! Dcd being unreachable is not acceptable. At all. EVER.

Turn the tables on him. You seem to be in a defensive state where you are wondering if HE will decide to bring dcg back, if state will contact you concerning insurance, you felt it was your fault, etc.

Go on the offensive instead. Tell dcd YOU won't accept dcg back without prepayment and several good numbers in order to contact him in an emergency. And you expect him to arrive for pick up within one hour after you've contacted him. You run this show and you make the rules. You are not his employee.

[Josiegirl]

I'm so glad you got paid!

[AuntTami]

This was NOT your fault! Don't beat yourself up over it! Dcd being unreachable is not acceptable. At all. EVER.

Turn the tables on him. You seem to be in a defensive state where you are wondering if HE will decide to bring dcg back, if state will contact you concerning insurance, you felt it was your fault, etc.

Go on the offensive instead. Tell dcd YOU won't accept dcg back without prepayment and several good numbers in order to contact him in an emergency. And you expect him to arrive for pick up within one hour after you've contacted him. You run this show and you make the rules. You are not his employee.

You're right... I need to think on this for a little bit, and let it sit in my mind because you're completely correct. It just needs to sink in..

But, in the mean time, what would YOU GUYS(meaning everyone that reads this) have done if no one came for her!?

Lets suppose this exact thing happened...What would you have done differently while at the hospital with this girl?

Now, lets suppose you DIDN'T take her in, and you were waiting for someone to come pick her up at your home.

What would YOU have done? You can't physically MAKE someone show up to pick DCG up, and aside from charging an astronomical fee, what would you have done with DCG? Call 911? Her emergency contacts were notified, and they obviously weren't too concerned about coming to get her either, because grandma waited until after work as well....Just curious!

[Cradle2crayons]

You're right... I need to think on this for a little bit, and let it sit in my mind because you're completely correct. It just needs to sink in..

But, in the mean time, what would YOU GUYS(meaning everyone that reads this) have done if no one came for her!?

Lets suppose this exact thing happened...What would you have done differently while at the hospital with this girl?

Now, lets suppose you DIDN'T take her in, and you were waiting for someone to come pick her up at your home.

What would YOU have done? You can't physically MAKE someone show up to pick DCG up, and aside from charging an astronomical fee, what would you have done with DCG? Call 911? Her emergency contacts were notified, and they obviously weren't too concerned about coming to get her either, because grandma waited until after work as well....Just curious!

My policies state that if the parents are called for pickup, they are given ONE HOUR (because all of my parents are at least 45 minutes from here). I talk about this at interview. I call them, tell them he child must be picked up by xxx time. I charge them a fee if they are late. Then if I don't hear back in 15 minutes, I go down the list. I explain they have to come RIGHT NOW.

If nobody shows up within 2 hours, I will call CPS and I explain at at interview.

In your case, I wouldn't have taken her in. However, what if she had become Ill and had a fever of 104.5 along with other dangerous symptoms. Or she needed to be seen ASAP.

I don't blame you for taking her in though. As a parent I would have been so grateful that you cared for her as you would have your own. You didn't do anything wrong. T what happened is that they assumed you were there taking care of her and there was no hurry for hem to show up.

I would have placed them on probation, given them a verbal and written form detailing our conference. And warned them sternly what will happen next time.

THEY were in the wrong. And YOU are the one suffering right now. :hug: