Last night I attended the meeting of the parents of Gan Yarok, for the year 2011-2012. It felt good to not be the "newbie" (or in Rocky Horror Picture Show, the "virgin").
1. One of the new moms clearly had an issue with ADHD. I say that not as a snarky parent but as a doctor. She had no impulse control, was interrupting others when they spoke, and could not sit still for more than several minutes. I don't judge her, in fact I can't imagine how she lives that way. What does, however, concern me that ADHD, a chemical imbalance, most likely has been passed on to some degree to her daughter, and I wouldn't want the staff to be so busy keeping this one child in line that they neglect the other children in the group.
2. Two of the nursery teachers from last year returned, and two of them are new. One of the new teachers rubbed many of the parents the wrong way. She sat through the entire meeting with her arms crossed, barely smiling, like she did not want to be there, and the one time she did address the group she sounded unintelligent and shallow; more like a woman who would sit and gossip with her friends, than a woman I am trusting to take care of Raphaela. I hope that the head nursery teacher made a wise choice with this particular person, and I am certainly willing to give her a chance, but will have no hesitation speaking up if I feel Raphaela is suffering because of a lousy personell choice.
3. There was massive birthday panic among the group, because at least three of the children have birthdays right when Gan starts, this Wednesday-Thursday- Friday. Raphaela's English birthday falls out this year between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, and I am hoping to arrange her party before the big Succot vacation.
4. At one point, the head nursery teacher restated her objection to gift-giving as a form of bribery. She then went on to praise various parents who last year organized group gifts on Purim and at the end of the year, and on the occasion of the marriage of one of the nursery teachers. Several other women got credit for the projects I organized, and then one of those women was asked to become head of the parents committee, based upon her dedication and hard work. I am not one generally who wants the public pat on the head, but my contribution was completely ignored, and it pissed me off.
And to wrap up, we have a new vocabulary word in our house: ELMO. Oh sad sad day.
3 comments:
you should trust the head nursery teacher's judgment with the new staff. Perhaps the new gan teacher had some personal issues going on (perhaps a family member is ill and she is distracted).
Sounds like the problems you need to invest emotional currency into are #2 (keep an eye on the situation without jumping to conclusions) and #4 (say something to the head teacher and then forget about it).
Number 1 is conjecture about something that may or may not be true, and even if it is true, may or may not affect Raphaela in any appreciable way.
Number 3 is not your problem.
Birthday panic? Really? Seriously, your kid really doesn't care when his/her party is and generally, 2 year olds cry through their whole gan party anyway. Before the chagim, after the chagim- they really won't notice.
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