A woman claiming to work in the daycare industry and who is also a mum posted 10 rules in the Perth Mums Group on Facebook that have stirred up massive division among parents.
The post that was shared on Wednesday has more than 1300 reactions and 185 comments and not everyone was happy with the ‘rules’.
“Dear parents of Perth!” the anonymous post began.
“No clue if this post will get approved or not, but I’m going to give some insight/advice from someone who works in the daycare industry – AND is a parent. Buckle up – it’s a lengthy read.
1. We honestly truly do not CARE what your child is wearing. Brand clothes, op shop clothes, oversized cousins clothes. We don’t care, at all. However, we do care if you dress them in brand name clothes and expect us to keep them clean ALL DAY.
2. Your kid is learning how to be a human, on their own and around other little people. It’s hard work. They might get hurt. They might hurt others. We try to reduce it because we know they are your world. Are you aware your educators need to risk assess basic sh*t, like toddlers using pencils. We don’t need you making us feel worse for something unintended, and most likely unavoidable.
3. We clean – so much. Your kid will get sick. Stop blaming the centre.
4. That kid that is constantly hitting yours, and seems unruly and out of control, has underlying issues. It might be a neurodiverse (sic) condition pending investigation, it might be that they have been through massive trauma and placed in state care. Both are WAY more common than you think.
5. If your kid is acting up and the staff tell you. Stop being defensive, stop making excuses, stop blaming the staff for your child’s behaviour, or other children.
6. Stop over analysing managerial staff. They aren’t giving you weird looks. They probably haven’t woken up, or are thinking about one of the million things they have to do.
7. If your child is kindy age or older – stop holding the staff accountable for their missing belongings. Start teaching your child to put things in their bag. Staff are there to help children embed these skills, NOT to find 30 pairs of shoes and 60 individual socks.
8. When you collect your child, spend 5 minutes speaking to your child’s educator and ask if they have any feedback about how your child’s going.
9. If any developmental concerns are raised – STOP ACTING LIKE THIS IS A PERSONAL ATTACK ON YOU OR YOUR CHILD. Start asking where you can go from here…
10. Before you criticise or look down your nose at educators, volunteer a day. Spend a half day seeing what they do and how thinly spread they are. Build a rapport with them.”
Plenty of the Perth mums loved the post and added supportive comments.
“I love this! Thank you for highlighting what should be common sense,” one woman wrote.
However others weren’t so happy including some women who worked in the industry themselves.
“As someone who used to work in daycare & in after school care, people who make lists like this should NOT be working with kids,” one woman wrote.
“There is so much judgement & anger in this that honestly isn’t acceptable, stop playing the blame game, from my experience in daycare centres I refused to allow my child to attend daycare & there’s very good reasons why & I know many who have also worked in that industry that also wouldn’t put their children in daycare for the same reasons.”
“I love this except ‘daycare industry’. We are apart (sic) of Early Childhood Education and Care sector/industry. I don’t have a “diploma in daycare” I have a Diploma in Early Childhood Education and Care,” another said.
What do you think? Will these rules come in handy?