Am I Overreacting (Re: Preschool)?

[princessmom29]

Did they actually use the word "snot"? If they did, that would have ticked me off. How unprofessional.

I don't get this at all. Snot happens.Around here, you would get looked at funny for uisng any other word for it unless you are a medical professional. I would rather know about it than not. Would you rather them not say anything, or is it the choice of words? Mabye it is a semantics issue, aka "it's not slime, its MUCUS!"

 

[Mama Mouse]

FWIW, I work at a University Lab school with children ages 6 months to 30 months. (And college kids but that's a different story-they can wipe their own snot!)

We use several principles in our daily care of the children and I find this to be really disrespectful of the child. She's two. She is not capable of cleaning the snot off of her own face but she certainly deserves not to walk around with it caked on her head. The teacher should have wiped it off. I'm sorry but if it's caked on that big of an area, it wasn't that they tried to keep up with it and couldn't. They just let it go.

Believe me, I know how hard it can be to wipe all those noses so many times and wash hands every. single. time. But it can and should be done. I can see a little bit of crusties right under the nose but what you described? I've been doing this for over a decade and would never find that acceptable.

I suppose it is possible that it happened very shortly before you got in there.

I don't think I'd make a giant stink about it. It's just annoying and just a bit disrespectful to the child, IMO.

Now, I would be more upset that no one had come to inform me what was going on with my kiddo.

 

[princessmom29]

FWIW, I work at a University Lab school with children ages 6 months to 30 months. (And college kids but that's a different story-they can wipe their own snot!)

We use several principles in our daily care of the children and I find this to be really disrespectful of the child. She's two. She is not capable of cleaning the snot off of her own face but she certainly deserves not to walk around with it caked on her head. The teacher should have wiped it off. I'm sorry but if it's caked on that big of an area, it wasn't that they tried to keep up with it and couldn't. They just let it go.

Believe me, I know how hard it can be to wipe all those noses so many times and wash hands every. single. time. But it can and should be done. I can see a little bit of crusties right under the nose but what you described? I've been doing this for over a decade and would never find that acceptable.

I suppose it is possible that it happened very shortly before you got in there.

I don't think I'd make a giant stink about it. It's just annoying and just a bit disrespectful to the child, IMO.

Now, I would be more upset that no one had come to inform me what was going on with my kiddo.

I have seen a child cover thier face is snot in less that 10 seconds. All it takes is one sneeze and swipe of a little hand to get it everywhere, and it dries a lot faster than you would think becuase of the low moisture content. I don't think one snotty face is cause for serious alarm, and I don't really think that anyone purposely left it there if this is a first time incident, and the center has a good track record in other areas. She said that she got there at change time. It likely happened within 5-10 min or so of her getting there, and they were going to get it when cycling through the change routine. That is how I would have handled it, and I don't see how it is disrespectful to the child any more than leaving the child whose diaper I was changing to deal with it.

 

[Mama Mouse]

I have seen a child cover thier face is snot in less that 10 seconds. All it takes is one sneeze and swipe of a little hand to get it everywhere, and it dries a lot faster than you would think becuase of the low moisture content. I don't think one snotty face is cause for serious alarm, and I don't really think that anyone purposely left it there if this is a first time incident, and the center has a good track record in other areas. She said that she got there at change time. It likely happened within 5-10 min or so of her getting there, and they were going to get it when cycling through the change routine. That is how I would have handled it, and I don't see how it is disrespectful to the child any more than leaving the child whose diaper I was changing to deal with it.

Honestly, the fact that it dries quickly doesn't surprise me at all. I've done this for well over a decade. Believe me, I know all too well how quickly snot can get smeared all over the place. I did point out that it's possible that it happened shortly before Mom got there. The problem, IMO, is that it wasn't addressed. I would be terribly embarassed if a parent arrived to find their child in that state and I'd be saying something along the lines of "So sorry about her little face. She had a huge sneeze and I wasn't able to leave this diaper change. I was going to clean her right after I finish this." The fact that they left it unaddressed sort of implies it's no big deal.

Jmho, of course.

 

[lillygator]

your child wasn't feeling well and had been sick, and you took her to daycare - and now you are worried about her nose wiped?? I'd be worried about the other children being infected.

 

[tinkerbellandeyor]

not to get in the middle but earlier in the thread she stated that it appeared that she was 100% fine

 

[luvsJack]

OK, 4 years of working in daycare taught me a couple of things
1. It actually only takes a couple of minutes for snot to dry on a kid's face. At that point it is like trying to scrub off super glue. Believe me, we tried to get to it before that point, but it didn't always happen.
2. When ther are 7 kids and 1-2 of you, sometimes things just have to wait. I cannot leave the child whose diaper I am changing to tend to the child that just sneezed. I will get it ASAP, but need to finish what i am doing first. They just cannot do it "like you would" becuase they have 7 little ones, and you have 1-2 that small at a time

Actually we had 9-12 2 year olds in a room and as director, I would have said something to my caregiver if a child went home like that. It can happen, not saying it can't but, if the caregiver couldn't get to her child's nose before she picked her up, she should have said, "wait, let me wash her face really quick. She just sneezed and I was busy with Jane and couldn't get it right away". At least the OP would then know that the caregiver was aware of the problem.

I was a director for 12 years and you are right, it is very different than having your own kids at home, but imho a certain level of professionalism and a high level of care should be expected. Caregivers are not having to vacuum and wash dishes either, so their entire focus should be on the children. If there are 2 caregivers in the room, one may be changing a diaper but the other should then be completely focused on the entire group. (I do know that cleaning has to be done in the room too but that should not be done while the children are present).

 

[mjkacmom]

I'm a mom of many, and when they were little, and all seemed to have colds at the same time, and there were many times I'd see one of them, and be like "oh, gross, when did this happen?!" Snot happens, and it just keeps on coming. I nicknamed my oldest ds Booger Boy when he was little - seemed to be covered in it, no matter how many times I chased him down with a warm, wet, paper towel.

 

[Mrs. Darcy]

Did they actually use the word "snot"? If they did, that would have ticked me off. How unprofessional.

I don't get this at all. Snot happens.Around here, you would get looked at funny for uisng any other word for it unless you are a medical professional. I would rather know about it than not. Would you rather them not say anything, or is it the choice of words? Mabye it is a semantics issue, aka "it's not slime, its MUCUS!"

I'm not a medical professional, I'm a teacher to small children and I'd never call it "snot" when talking to a parent. I would say mucus. But that's just me.

your child wasn't feeling well and had been sick, and you took her to daycare - and now you are worried about her nose wiped?? I'd be worried about the other children being infected.

lol I don't think she's "worried" about the nose being wiped.

 

[luvsJack]

I'm not a medical professional, I'm a teacher to small children and I'd never call it "snot" when talking to a parent. I would say mucus. But that's just me.




lol I don't think she's "worried" about the nose being wiped.

I agree. Actually, I would have just said "she has a green runny nose". I am pretty sure mom can figure out WHAT its running WITH.

"snot" just sounds unprofessional and gross and a bit immature.

 

[princessmom29]

Actually we had 9-12 2 year olds in a room and as director, I would have said something to my caregiver if a child went home like that. It can happen, not saying it can't but, if the caregiver couldn't get to her child's nose before she picked her up, she should have said, "wait, let me wash her face really quick. She just sneezed and I was busy with Jane and couldn't get it right away". At least the OP would then know that the caregiver was aware of the problem.

I was a director for 12 years and you are right, it is very different than having your own kids at home, but imho a certain level of professionalism and a high level of care should be expected. Caregivers are not having to vacuum and wash dishes either, so their entire focus should be on the children. If there are 2 caregivers in the room, one may be changing a diaper but the other should then be completely focused on the entire group. (I do know that cleaning has to be done in the room too but that should not be done while the children are present).

In every center I have ever worked, and everwhere my sister has been as well, this is NOT the case. We were responsible for all housekeeping in our rooms. We vacumed, cleaned all dishes the children used, washed the sheets and blankets for the cots, ect and were expceted to get it done during working ours. That is standard practice here. One person would be on the playground with the kids, reading a story or some other activity, and another doing dishes or laundry ect. If we didn't do it during working hours we would have been there untill 8 at nigh gettingi t done as the center was open 6:30-6:30.

 

[luvsJack]

In every center I have ever worked, and everwhere my sister has been as well, this is NOT the case. We were responsible for all housekeeping in our rooms. We vacumed, cleaned all dishes the children used, washed the sheets and blankets for the cots, ect and were expceted to get it done during working ours. That is standard practice here. One person would be on the playground with the kids, reading a story or some other activity, and another doing dishes or laundry ect. If we didn't do it during working hours we would have been there untill 8 at nigh gettingi t done as the center was open 6:30-6:30.

I was open 5:30am-6pm, so I get exactly what you are saying about the all day but in this state, they would not be following state regulations. And it is not done the way you describe by any center in this area (or wasn't when I was still in the business)

#1. Cleaning cannot be done by a person that is counted in the child:staff ratio. So unless a center had lots of extra personnel, they have to wait until the number of children was down to the right number. #2 Vacuuming, sweeping, mopping etc could not be done while the children were present due to possible allergies.

Each head caregiver/teacher was responsible for cleaning her room. But, she did it before she left for the day. It really only took about 30 minutes total--pick up all toys, sweep and mop, wipe all surfaces and nap mats with a bleach solution, clean bathroom with bleach. Only the infant room had sheets, as our state requires that all over the age of 1 have bedding supplied by parents that is sent home to be washed by parents. Toys were cleaned with a bleach solution during naptime and dishes were washed by the cook after lunch and we used disposable cups and plates for snack time (no cook to wash dishes).

Like I said, in my post: I know that cleaning has to be done in the center, but it shouldn't be done with the kids present. The reason a center is in business is the children and the focus of everyone's work should be on the children. Nothing should take away from their care--not even cleaning.

 

[HLAuburn]

I really didn't mean for this to be a big debate. And I really thought I got the point across that she seemed 100% well and hadn't had any symptoms in days (and still doesn't!). Snot happens - kids cry, sneeze, whatever - I get that, but it annoyed me that they obviously knew about it and left it caked on her face.

I know places all work differently, but this is a small preschool with small classes and at this age, it's pretty much babysitting for 3 hours. There are 2 adults in there and yesterday there were 6 or 7 kids. They were doing the "clean up" song when I got there, so the kids "help" pick up toys and they wipe down the toys and vacuum after everyone's gone home. So aside from snack time and a round of diaper changes right before pick up, they're pretty much just playing the whole time and the teachers are watching them. I imagine the teacher could have planned to clean her up when it was time to change her diaper (they hadn't gotten to her yet, which always seems to be the case ) but the teacher should have said something if that was the case.

I don't remember for sure, but I think she said "green snot". I definitely remember the "green" and I don't think it was a more technical noun. I think "runny nose" might have been more appropriate. Either way, it doesn't seem much different to me to walk in and have someone say "Sally has diarrhea" and the kid has it running down her leg!

 

[luvsJack]

I really didn't mean for this to be a big debate. And I really thought I got the point across that she seemed 100% well and hadn't had any symptoms in days (and still doesn't!). Snot happens - kids cry, sneeze, whatever - I get that, but it annoyed me that they obviously knew about it and left it caked on her face.

I know places all work differently, but this is a small preschool with small classes and at this age, it's pretty much babysitting for 3 hours. There are 2 adults in there and yesterday there were 6 or 7 kids. They were doing the "clean up" song when I got there, so the kids "help" pick up toys and they wipe down the toys and vacuum after everyone's gone home. So aside from snack time and a round of diaper changes right before pick up, they're pretty much just playing the whole time and the teachers are watching them. I imagine the teacher could have planned to clean her up when it was time to change her diaper (they hadn't gotten to her yet, which always seems to be the case ) but the teacher should have said something if that was the case.

I don't remember for sure, but I think she said "green snot". I definitely remember the "green" and I don't think it was a more technical noun. I think "runny nose" might have been more appropriate. Either way, it doesn't seem much different to me to walk in and have someone say "Sally has diarrhea" and the kid has it running down her leg!

In the situation you describe, I see even LESS of a reason for your child's nose to be dirty much less it being all over the side of her face!! And you are right, the teacher should have at least said something. Also, that is not something that should have waited until they changed her diaper. 6 kids with 2 adults--thats only 3 kids per person: We would have been in heaven with that low number!! LOL.

I don't think you should go and raise cain with them or anything, it really doesn't warrant that. But I don't blame you for being a bit irritated about it.

 

[MichelleVW]

Green snot does not = sick kid, the woman is not a pediatrician.
I'd let it go.

green snot is a signal for bad things. If it's clear then you worry less, but green makes us nervous in the day care world.

Did they actually use the word "snot"? If they did, that would have ticked me off. How unprofessional.

Of all the things to be worried about, the word snot would be the lowest thing on my radar.

 

[DipsyDoodles]

Normally I would agree with you, but the way it was dried and caked on there made me think it had been there awhile. There are 2 adults in there with 6-7 kids, and they were in the process of changing diapers when I got there, but they hadn't gotten to DD yet. Maybe they would have cleaned face up when they changed her diaper.

But if I were babysitting and the parents came home to a kid with snot or food or something all over them or sitting in a poopy diaper, personally I would be embarrassed!

Thanks for all the replies!

This would bother me as well, how to handle it though...I'm not so sure. I guess I would just keep an eye on things there and see if there are any other signs of a possible problem. Good Luck!

 

[ols386]

Op, I probably wouldn't worry about it, but I understand what you're saying and why it would bother you, it would bother me too.

If this type of thing continues to happen on a regular basis, then I'd find a different day care center.

FWIW, I think it sounded unprofessional, on the part of the day care worker, using the word snot.

 

[marcyinPA]

You can wipe a 2 year olds nose and face and one good sniffle and a handwipe by the child and snot can be spread all over the face in about 10 seconds. Now multiple this by the 12 or so toddlers in the room during cold season and to keep them all fresh faced you would have to have them one on one with an adult and a box of wipes.

I wouldn't worry about it at all.

AMEN! I teach two year olds (preschool, not mother's morning out). Some of these kids have CONSTANT runny noses. We would never be able to keep some of them clean, unless we followed them around with a "boogie wipe" all morning. With 12 little ones in a class, it is impossible!

(BTW, I'm plugging Boogie Wipes...I bought them at the NAEYC convention and they are AWESOME. I believe they sell them at Target. They are saline wipes, and wipe all of that crusty dried snot off in one wipe! Fantastic little invention!!)

ETA: since we're on the subject, I wish that parents would wipe their kids noses before they send them into my classroom. I work in a pretty affluent Christian school, and I can't tell you how many "crusty critters" enter my room every day! I've already cleaned breakfast off of kids faces when they enter the room. I've also had parents shoo their kids in with a dirty diaper (which had to have occurred during the car ride over) and I guess expected me to change it. So, OP, it does go both ways...expectations that is!