Thursday

Departures...

Thursday, October 7, 2010
reader submission This isn't a nanny departure story but a day care departure story.

Before I became a nanny I jumped into the world of day cares. It was a hell of a ride and something I will never go back to, some people have the patience to deal with that and some don't. I no longer have that patience.

I had found what I thought was the perfect day care job. They wanted me to be the 4yr old teacher and I LOVED it. Soon after I started working they asked me to work the coveted morning shift. Of course I jumped at that and soon fell into the routine of waking up before the sun every morning. About 2 months into that they asked me to drive the bus and paid for me to take the classes and get my CDL. Again it was wonderful because as soon as I did the afternoon bus run I was off for the day. I loved the class, they were all wonderful kids and I enjoyed teaching them and I worked for an amazing lady. About a year into the job a former parent of mine called me and asked me to be a nanny for their youngest. The baby was 4 weeks old and she just didn't want to put him in daycare. He has some minor medical problems and she was just fearful of taking him to daycare. I was apprehensive and made that clear to her, she sweetened the deal by paying me more than I was making at the daycare and the commute was a lot shorter, plus I must admit her older son was one of my favorite kids when I taught him.

The starting date was very very flexible and at least 2 months away for the nanny job so I sat down with my boss and explained to her I was going to take the job but I would help her any way I could. I even offered to continue to drive the bus in the afternoons for her for as long as it took for her to find someone else as well as offering to stay as long as I could to help accommodate her. She seemed to take it well and said thanked me for offering to help with the bus runs and she thought that was a wonderful idea. 2 weeks later I had to take time off for an already scheduled surgery. My boss even called me the next day to check on me and asked when I thought I could come back. I told her I thought I wold be ok to come back in just a couple of days and yet again everything seemed fine. She reminded me that my check would be in so a couple of days later I went in to pick my check up and she handed me my check and told me she didn't need me anymore and asked for the keys back. I was stunned, she had never let on that she was upset with me. She had also taken out the cost of the CDL out of my last check.

Unfortunately I had no other choice but to file for unemployment because I had to have some sort of an income coming in until I could start my new job. The baby was only 6 weeks old and the mom wasn't planning on going back to her job until the baby was at least 3 months old. Of course this upset my now former boss tremendously and she then tried everything in her power to stop my unemployment checks. Right from the beginning she had other employees lie and say I was a drug addict and had told them so many things and that's why she had to fire me. Then she finally admitted it was because I told her I was leaving for another job, the guy at the unemployment office kindly explained to her that she didn't have a written letter of resignation from me so she had no valid reason to fire me and I was free to get my unemployment checks. Even after I got the checks she continued to call and report me to the fraud number associated with the unemployment office and I got calls daily from them.

She fought me over the CDL too, she was required to give me my money back but she had 6 months to do it and she waited until the last possible moment to send it.

Even after I stopped receiving unemployment checks she tried everything in her power to make my life miserable. Another employee lived across the street from my aunt so my former boss showed up at her doorstep one night and explained to my aunt that I was a drug addict and needed help, of course my aunt threatened to call the cops on her if she didn't leave. She called the cops out to my house as well as my aunts on a few occasions as well.

I'm not sure why she eventually stopped but thankfully she did, it was a hell of a year until she did.

4 comments:

Uma said...

Wow...you must have been a gem of an employee and she couldn't bear to see you go. She sounds crazy and I am glad you are rid of her OP.
Good Luck to you!!~

Phoenix said...

That is insane. The poor woman was obsessed with you. I think she was very fond of you and in her eyes you betrayed her. So in turn to show you how much you hurt her she acted crazy.

My husbands former boss is doing the same things. He had to quit because she was sending him very inappropriate text messages at all hours of the night. He finally decided to quit and now she keeps calling and calling. So far we have at least 5 phone numbers associated with her. Obsession is a strange thing!

I am glad you got away from her.

alex said...

wow! why on earth would she waste so much time being so mean? Did she not have anything better to do?!? I am glad she finally admitted that she fired you because you took another job but why did she continue to call the fraud line and why did they keep calling you? (I am obviously not expecting you to answer these questions, haha). It just seems ridiculous that they would keep calling you after it had been figured out she was lying. That lady should have her license taken away (although I know it isn't related but she has to have some mental issues or something :) Glad she finally stopped!

op said...

Alex I suspect the reason they kept calling me is because they had to. I wouldn't put it past her to have other employees call the fraud line so that it looked legit.