Selfish Parents!!!

I am still VERY angry and VERY sad as I write this post...

I took Sydney to the gym yesterday and put her in the daycare. They love her there and all know her very well. They often times hold her when I leave until she is comfortable and ready to play on her own. Yesterday was no exception. I dropped her off, got my spin bike all set, started class and the front desk lady came into the room to get me telling me that Sydney was hurt. I was thinking on my way down that she must have fallen and hit her head so I was completely overwhelmed and unprepared for what I walked in to. Before I even saw Sydney, I could hear her crying and and all of a sudden there is this huge dad standing in front of me with what looked like a 3 year old boy. The dad is apologizing saying his son bit Sydney and that they have been having problems with him biting and the rest just went fuzzy as I looked over to find my baby with a HUGE fat lit that was already turning purple - and it just happened! Once we connected eyes my gut tensed up and I was filled with emotion. She was so scared. I quickly grabbed her and took her away from everyone to calm her down and to reassure her that it was okay. The dad and staff watched from afar, all very concerned. I held the ice pack to her mouth as much as I could but I knew she was so scared and didn't want to cause anymore discomfort for her. Eventually, I asked one of the staff over and told her to tell me exactly what happened. I was trying not to be mad at her because I didn't know the whole story and I was trying not to be mad at the dad who was still apologizing. The staff said that she put Sydney down and turned her back for a moment and then all of a sudden heard Sydney scream out and the little boy run away. She said the little girls in the room saw what happened and told her that the boy had bit her. I was so full of emotion but knew I had to keep it together for Sydney's sake. So, after I got Sydney called down, we wrote up an incident report and I informed them to tell the owner that I expected a call today. I brought Sydney home, cleaned everything out and got a good look at the injuries. She had a scratch on her left chest and left shoulder. She had a huge fat black and blue lip with a ring around her mouth and nose (obviously, where the boys teeth were) and the inside of her lip was broken open. I cried.

I then gave her a Popsicle to help ice it all down. She also had some popcorn. She seemed to be able to eat without any discomfort which I was very thankful for. I also took pictures of her face to bring to the gym to show the owner and the parents of the other child. I then put her to bed for a nap. I called the doctor just to see if I should bring her in to have it looked at since it was a bite that broke the skin in her mouth! The doctor said no need to unless it became infected.

After Sydney's nap, we went back to the gym. The owner was there and we had a very long discussion. He was so apologetic and very understanding. He also has his daughter in daycare there 5 days a week and realized it could have been his daughter who got bit. He went up to watch the video to see exactly what happened - I needed to know if it was really a bite and if there was any negligence of the staff. While he was doing this, Sydney and I went back into the daycare (it was closed and we had the place to ourselves) and we played. Thankfully, she wasn't afraid to be in there and was mad when we had to leave. The owner came down and asked if I wanted to see the video and warned me that it might be hard to watch. Of course I didn't actually want to see my baby get hurt but I needed to know what happened. We went into his office and I saw the clip. It was the most difficult thing I have ever watched!! There was no negligence of the staff. They were holding Sydney and put her down to play with the toys. They turned there back and literally took 3-4 steps away and this boy beelined over to Sydney grabbed her from behind (thus the scratches) and went for her face. I won't write the rest because I don't want you all to have the vision that is now implanted in my head and plays over and over. Let's just say that this boy definitely has some aggressive behavioral issues and had no right being in that daycare! Both myself and the owner were sick with disgust and anger towards this boys parents. These parents knew of their sons aggressive behavior and still chose to bring him to this daycare with younger children and put my baby at risk. I am so pissed. How selfish can one be - working out is not that important!

Needless to say, the owner called the parents and kicked the boy out of daycare with no possibility of ever coming back. He also said that anything we need, he will take care of. I am sure he is afraid of some kind of lawsuit.

Last night, Sydney started running a fever. I couldn't hold my emotions in anymore when I went to bed. I cried...hard...for so many reasons. Mainly, I feel guilty for not being there to protect my baby. The video clip of what happened just kept playing over and over in my head. I also cried because I am so damn angry at the boys parents. Why...why did they bring there son to daycare knowing he has problems. Why did they think it was okay for them to bring a aggressively biting child to a daycare with young, helpless children. So many whys and so much anger.

Today, Sydney woke up with a fever. I am not really sure what is going on with that because there are no signs of infection where the bite is and she seems to be herself. In fact, her lip is basically back to normal expect for a little purple. We are keeping a close eye on her and monitoring her temperature today. We may be taking a drive to the doctor tomorrow. I will keep you posted and please, pray for Sydney that nothing is wrong and that this incident doesn't have any long term psychological affect on her. My poor baby.