Jenerally Speaking

Well, I had to give my two weeks notice at work last week. Not only that, but I am reporting the place to the PA Department of Public Welfare for endangering the lives of children. There are so many problems that I wouldn’t even know where to begin.

I suppose it all started when our boss at the day care decided to move the entire day care upstairs a few weeks ago. The reason for this was that they were doing construction downstairs and ended up upsetting a nest of snakes (which included a copperhead) in the walls. The parents were not told about the snakes, but the employees found out and promised that there were no safety issues. I don’t know how you can promise something like that, but that is what they did. We received notice that one of the children had head lice. Joy (our boss) wanted to do nothing about it – no spraying, no informing the parents, etc. It wasn’t until she was confronted by some of the staff that she finally gave in and decided to take the appropriate actions in this situation.

Upstairs, we had all the children cramped in a small room to sleep, eating in an even smaller room and Miss Joy (our boss) thought everything was just peachy. There were play pens blocking the doors and there were days when the heat was unbearable. Joy took our fans home to dry out her basement after it flooded, which left us and the children with no way to stay cool when it was warm up there.
When I approached her with my concerns, she was very defensive about everything I had to say. Within days, one more employee gave her two weeks notice and two parents pulled their children from the day care.

This situation is difficult to understand because Joy comes across as very very nice. She was my daughter’s piano teacher and I have known her for over a year. But, just because people are kind and sweet, it does not mean that they are competent at running a day care center. She didn’t think the rooms were too small for the kids, she wasn’t too bothered by the fact that there were poisonous snakes downstairs and it doesn’t concern her that the water last week smelled like sulfur and the kids were given that water to drink.

Ick.

I come from a good, solid, upperclass family and this place disgusts me. The director of the day care baffles me and I cannot fathom how anyone can send their child to a place that is run in this manner.

So, this will be my last week at Little Acorns and I am sick with everything that has happened. I will be glad to no longer deal with my boss – she has been disrespectful to me since the day I confronted her about the day care problems…I have no desire to foster any further contact with this lady.
I have received two offers to work with kids at other child care centers in the area – they heard about what happened here and offered me an immediate job. I just pray that the kids stay safe and that my co-workers find new places to work. It’s time to move on and let Little Acorns Day Care of Dingman’s Ferry PA close its doors.