Uncaring parents? How to de stress?

[Ness-C]

Hi all

I've been working in this job for a year now and have found that it is the parents and other staff who are more difficult to deal with than the kids. This afternoon one child hurt her toe quite badly and when her dad came to pick her up he was very uncaring and forced her to put her shoes on. This made me feel very uncomfortable as his tone and what he was sayings was very careless and made his daughter even more upset.

Is there anything that I can say to parents if at situation happens again to help the child feel better or stop the parent from speaking so rudely? Also how do others de stress after a situation like this where the parents are outright mean to their kids? I still feel sick that she was so upset and he did nothing to console her and I feel like I should have stepped in somehow.

[Lorina]

It is upsetting to see but there is nothing much you can do. If you do end up saying something to the parent it may make the situation worse. Maybe in this instance if the child was forced to put her shoes on you could make the parent aware that the child had hurt her toe and it would probably be less painful for her if she remained without shoes until she got home. If the parent still wants the child to put the shoes on you could help the child and just be reassuring saying something like "it may hurt now but you need to wear your shoes so you can go to the car". I wouldn't ever recommend to tell the parent that they are being rude to their child because you don't know exactly what's going on as in parent could of had a bad day at work etc. It doesn't mean that the child should get all the stress but unfortunately that's how it is in some familes. Just let the parent know what happened and be reassuring to the child that's all you can really do...

,
Lorina

[linsaa fdc]

Hi Ness-C,
I agree with Lorina. Did you have to call the parent to pick up early because of her toe? If not maybe you could have sent a text or email letting him know that she hurt herself, giving him the heads up. It is really hard and at the end of the day we will just be told it is none of our business. If you feel this is an ongoing thing talk to your Director about it and get her to observe the pick up and see what she thinks. We all have a duty of care to the children.
As far as de stress goes; I can't help you there. I don't drink, smoke, drink coffee or swear. I go where its quiet, put my feet up and play a really fast mind numbing game, so I have to focus on the game and not my day.....lol
Linsaa fdc

[Lorina]

Best way to de stress put on some music and DANCE and jump around! At least it will make you laugh and get yourself in a better mood! I also recommend PS4 (or Xbox) and a game of Black ops. A good hard core game of modern warfare will always get all the stress out oh and how could I forget Guitar Hero! HaHaHa!

,
Lorina

[linsaa fdc]

Black ops hey, that's funny

[Lorina]

I'm a bit of a video game freak! Although haven't had a chance to play in sooooooo long! Oh I miss those gaming days!

,
Lorina

My little bub just woke up and points to your avatar Linsaa "it's a buttlerfly, a little butterfly" she says.

[linsaa fdc]

How very cute, they are so adorable at that age.

I like games also but have never tried the games you play. I'm more of a mahgong, card and bingo player, always trying to beat my times and play more than one game at a time. It not as exciting as other games though.