childcare provider spanking

[blessed]

Today I went to the gym and dd played in the daycare while I worked out. It's just down the hall and I pop in and out all the time to make sure she's getting along with the other kids, etc.

There was a brother/sister pair, about 1 and 3 years of age I'd guess, and the DCP said they were her kids. Probably not unexpectedly, they were the troublesome pair in the room and she kept getting onto the little girl. At one point the boy picked up a toy the girl had been playing with. She started crying and tried to take it back. The DCP starts going "Take it away from him! Take it back!" The girl got hold of the toy and jerked it out of his hands, and the baby was sent spinning into a large castle toy that was next to him . Naturally he started crying and the DCP laughed and said "Oh come here, honey". (I had the feeling she was just saying it for my benefit and that if I wasn't there she would've said something like 'stop crying, you baby', ya know?) She walked over to the baby and he just melted down, screaming and pushing her away.

Well, dd's off playing quietly with the toys on the other side of the room. I offered to take her with me but she was having fun and wanted to stay. So, I check back after only about five minutes and the little girl is in the corner crying. The DCP kind of happily announces "I had to spank my daughter. Your dd said 'mama spanked me for getting on the computer, but she did it soft!'" I said "Noooo, dd's actually never been spanked in her entire life. We don't spank. And she plays on my computer all the time, I don't mind." I think she was thinking I was a fellow spanker and that the two of us could have a nice conversation about how we spank our kids, and what the kids did to deserve it, and how they acted when they were spanked, so forth : .

Ick. Anyway, it was just a weird experience. I've never seen this girl there before and we don't usually go to the gym this time of day (I took today off work), so we'll probably never see her again anyway.

[Aliviasmom]

I don't think she should spank as a DCP, even if they ARE her kids. That is not right for any child to *see* let alone *experience*! I would say something to management, if it was me.

[Smalls181]

Oh yuck! I would be ticked if that happened in front of my child. So ticked. I had to leave my c ousins house when they were yelling at and calling their 17 month old "bad baby!" I do not want my child exposed to such negativity.

[blessed]

I thought the same thing. When we got home I started wondering and I asked dd if she'd ever seen anyone spanked before. I honestly don't think she had.

If I call and talk to 'the manager', it's going to be some 20 year old college kid, who isn't going to give a hoot about anything I say. But maybe I should anyway.

[Aliviasmom]

Originally Posted by blessed

If I call and talk to 'the manager', it's going to be some 20 year old college kid, who isn't going to give a hoot about anything I say. But maybe I should anyway.

There should be a director, or SOMETHING, someone who is older, out of college, etc. This whole thing just makes me :

[gibsonsmom]

you have to call

you have to call the manager, if its a 20 year old kid so what thats their job and its your responsibility. If the manager is of no help then call the regional manager, I am assuming the gym is a chain becasue they all seem to be now. You should call. You shouldn't rant if you aren't going to act.

good luck.

[Fuamami]

Originally Posted by blessed

If I call and talk to 'the manager', it's going to be some 20 year old college kid, who isn't going to give a hoot about anything I say. But maybe I should anyway.

Yeah, I think gym daycares are pretty lame places. A friend of mine used to work in one and the employees of the gym left their kids there all day (for free). But it was about 200 square feet with no windows and no kitchen. I can't imagine.

Then, when I took my kids there, they fed my nine month old ds chili cheese fries and let my dd watch a Disney movie that scared the bejeezus out of her. So I stopped taking them.

[blessed]

Yep. I'd never leave her there if I wasn't able to constantly check on her. I worked out for an hour today and checked in on her at least five times. Usually the DCP gets kind of defensive and paranoid about me coming back so often, but I could really care less.

[mamaduck]

What happened is not okay. You need to report the incident to the gym manager.

[Genesis]

That's sad.

[Hera]

Something very similar happened with the CP in a gym we used to go to. My dd saw her spank her kids, and told us about it. We talked to the manager, and wouldn't leave dd in there if the woman was working. We never saw her again... and let our membership expire.

[Lexi_029]

I agree, you need to talk to the director of the center. I have worked with other teachers who do spank their children at work but they always excuse themselves from the classroom and take their kids into the bathroom so the other children don't see what's happening. I don't necessarily agree that it's okay to do that but spanking in front of the kids seems completely over the line.

[ThreeBeans]

Yuck. I agree, report it :

[rmzbm]

Not cool. I agree, report it to the manager.

[oliversmum2000]

Originally Posted by mamaduck

What happened is not okay. You need to report the incident to the gym manager.

: i would not take my child back until i had a guarantee that my child was not exposed to physical violence again

[Evergreen]

Yeah, I don't know where you live, but here liscensed day care providers are not allowed to spank- the public shools are, though :

DCPs are not allowed to even threaten to spank nor are parents on the property of the daycare.