While driving the boys to their new daycare on Monday morning, I received a text message from a friend. It simply said, "Good thing you are starting your new Daycare, your old one closed."
"What?", I thought to myself as I read it, and then typed back, "ha ha, thanks!". I thought she was just trying to make me feel better. From my previous post, you know about the enormous amount of guilt I carried around with me all weekend for switching daycare centers.
But, the unbelievable had happened on Saturday. Our Daycare, that we purposely left on Friday as our last day, just shut their doors, and called all 95 remaining families and let them know that they wouldn't have a daycare center on Monday.
Holy Hell.
I was dumbfounded. I knew they were having financial issues - that was obvious, and why we left. But how this was handled, just infuriates me to NO END, and I'm having a VERY hard time getting over it.
I've cried more this week than I have in months. I've cried at home, in the car, and best of all, at work. It makes me SO MAD that this woman that ran this daycare for 9 years could be so entirely IRRESPONSIBLE with all of our money, and literally drove the place into the ground - and without telling ANYONE (including ANY of the staff!), just up and closed the doors.
What breaks my heart the most is knowing that the staff didn't get to say goodbye. Like I said in my previous post - they said goodbye to Tyler and Connor. Tyler got a card, and Connor got some cars. Those ladies had no idea that after that day, would they not only not see Tyler and Connor anymore -but they wouldn't see any of "their" kids.
It pissed me off that the owner would not call anyone and explain, and simply put an 8 1/2 x 11 piece of paper on the door apologizing for what happened. Then had all of the STAFF (that had no idea hours previous) call the parents, and from what I heard from most, the staff were in tears as they tried to explain the unexplainable to the parents. Some of those parents had entrusted the center to take care of their kids for years, some of them having been there for 11 years- before it was even owned by this owner, with all of their children.
It then got better when it was announced that parents could pick up their kids belongings from 7-10am on Monday, and then weren't let in the center - but were just met by volunteers (that no one knew - we assume they were her friends), and the volunteers sifted through the stuff inside that we also assume the caring staff had to pack up over the weekend.
It infuriated me to find the DHS report that was posted on the internet, that no one knew about. Numerous complaints were filed with DHS in July, and they made a surprise visit to the center in mid-August. My kids were napping there that day, as the DHS agent walked around and noted more than 10 violations. Nice. Everything from broken toilets, to carpets that hadn't been cleaned in 7-9 months. Yes, I said months. Imagine over 100 kids tromping around on a carpet for months without cleaning it. Because of the color - it didn't look dirty on the surface to us, but if you wiped a white cloth along the top, black stuff came off. Oh - and a toilet overflowed in May and soaked the carpet. It never got cleaned. That is disgusting. I have since viewed DHS's website and their 208 page document that outlines all of the daycare rules. I recommend anyone that uses a sitter/daycare to read it. Very interesting. I didn't even know some of those rules, WERE rules...
It infuriates me that we supported this center for over four and a half years, participating in their fundraisers, and attending their socials. Buying books from their bookfair, and giving them toys that were didn't use anymore. What made me totally burst into tears was during one of the newscasts on TV they showed a little red "Cozy Coupe" car sitting on the deserted playground. We gave them that car last summer because the boys never played with it at our house.
It infuriates me that we cared for that center so much. We loved those women more than family, and our kids knew them better than they knew us - and then this had to happen because of the stupid owner. Because of her inability to be honest with anyone, both of my kids lives were turned upside down by being put into a new center where they know no one. Because of her inability to be honest with anyone, 95 ADDITIONAL FAMILIES had their lives totally turned upside down. Because of her inability to be honest with anyone, approximately 25 staff members lives were turned upside down.
I know, this too, shall pass. People have referred to me as the "lucky one" by getting out when we did - just in time. We didn't have to be one of the parents that were crying in the lobby of our new daycare center because they had no place to go, and still couldn't even comprehend what happened.
The boys are settling into their new daycare now, but it hasn't been as easy as I thought. LOTS of tears during "drop-off" in the morning, and Connor's teachers have said his mornings have been "kind-of rough". Connor NEVER had rough mornings - ever. I thought Connor would be the resilient one - but I guess when you're 2, having a change like that and being left with strangers, must be scary. Tyler gets it - but Connor has no idea. Their teachers are awesome though, and Tyler has even started learning Spanish. (Hola Mommy!)
Someday this will be behind us, but it will never be the same. Any memory that I have from Lit'l Russellers going forward, will be jaded. Any good memory that I have, will have this haze of sorrow around it, because of how it all had to end.
(Here is the link to one of the newscasts...)
http://www.kcrg.com/news/local/54587587.html
1 comment:
Crap. I watched that newscast and thought how horrible that would be to be given NO WARNING at all that you had to find new daycare arrangements, and that the staff were out jobs. But I had no clue it was the same one you were leaving!!! I'm so sorry. I can imagine why you would feel betrayed and angry.
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