ift.tt/eA8V8J ... and I still wish I had. Mostly a rant, cause goddammit. Bit of background, I have a four year old whos a bit of a precious petal. Doesnt rush into anything and will often burst into tears in any situation shes not happy with. So she started swimming lessons last week. Knowing her likelihood of a meltdown because it was new, we visited the pool the day before and let her have a play around to familiarise her with the area. All happy. She still melts down during her first class, right near the end, because she didnt want to put her ears in the water. Fine, we get through that, and go home. This week, we turn up again and shes all excited. Weve had a bit of a talk about being brave when the teacher asks her to do something new, and again, were all happy. A new girl turns up this week who wasnt there during the first week. Her grandparents are with her, along with her younger brother. He wants to get in the water but its not his class and its too cold. But the girl doesnt want to get in the pool and starts crying. Grandma and Grandpa deposit her in the pool, announce that theyre a distraction and leave with the boy. Little girl is now in a strange place surrounded by strangers, crying her eyes out. The teacher now has to spend most of her time dealing with her than teaching the other kids. Half way through the class, the girl has finally calmed down. Her little brother wanders over, without Grandma or Grandpa. I start watching him because hes clearly unaccompanied around a goddamn pool area. Thankfully, hes just wandering aimlessly and not trying to fling himself into the pool anymore. Im looking around to see where the grandparents are, nowhere to be seen. I cant leave because I have a baby in a pram who is asleep and theres frikken stairs everywhere (a rant for another day). So Im just watching him. About five minutes later, an employee of the pool wanders over and asks if any of these kids is unaccompanied. I point to the boy, and they take the kid back to the grandparents, who have just showed up. Boy ran away - fine, it happens. Except the little girl in the pool has spotted her grandparents and starts wailing again, and they walk away without acknowledging her at all. Okay, at this point, Im mad. I completely understand that its difficult managing a kid who melts down at new experiences. But you dont just abandon her with the expectation that it will toughen her up. That kid spent most of a 30 minute lesson crying her eyes out because she was scared and alone, and I doubt she learned a damn thing. And it was incredibly disruptive for the rest of the kids and the teacher (who has the patience of a saint). I very nearly told them off once the class was over, but chose not to because Ive got another seven weeks of seeing these people on a weekly basis. But Im sorry, grandma and grandpa were assholes to that little girl. I was judging the hell out of them. Maybe next week will be better.
Posted on: Mon, 20 Oct 2014 11:11:36 +0000
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