Anonymous wrote:I'm one of the PPs who also has a small child in a DC daycare and I think 1238 PP said it best. To the FCC parent(s) who are upset about DCUM's role in all this, get a grip. THere is no "mean girls" nonsense going on here. We all love our children and are horrified and outraged that any place entrusted with their care could be so negligent. I don't know why you would consider that sentiment mean.

We also love our children and are trying to keep our shit together in the midst of this crisis and keep some semblance of normalcy in our children's lives. You have no clue how hard the board and parents are working to deal with this and make institutional changes -- as quickly as possible. I don't consider your "horror and outrage" mean. What I consider mean is the quick judgement and readiness to bring down the whole place and demands for heads to roll. If your kid has not been at FCC for four years, day in and day out, happy, loved, and nurtured, please think for a moment before taking out your axe. And because my kid has been there for four years, loved, happy, and nurtured, this incident is unbelievably painful and horrifying. I've been walking around with a heavy heart since it happened. But I'm not going to burn the place down. That's not a solution I want to teach my children.

As parents who send their kids to daycare/preschool, we all have fears, some more horrible than others. It seems like everyone is projecting their insecurities. If your child is at a daycare/preschool -- or anywhere -- do not for one second think this would never happen to you or someone at your school. There is no institution so perfect.

There are parents who forget their kids in cars: do you think they don't love their kids? Do you think their head should roll? Do you think those parents don't think about their children? Do you think that after the incident the parent says, "Oh, I messed up! I'll just do better next time." No. It is gut wrenching. THIS is gut wrenching. And if anyone thinks the parents, staff, teaches, and board at FCC are thoughtlessly moving forward, you are misinformed.

I'm one of the PPs who also has a small child in a DC daycare and I think 1238 PP said it best. To the FCC parent(s) who are upset about DCUM's role in all this, get a grip. THere is no "mean girls" nonsense going on here. We all love our children and are horrified and outraged that any place entrusted with their care could be so negligent. I don't know why you would consider that sentiment mean.

what is really bad, that they only started looking for a kid after one hours or more. Kids are running away, but not to count for a child in the daycare for more then few min.....

Anonymous wrote:I am a teacher, who takes their students to a park, and I have witness an incident like this happen. All I can say it is scary for the teacher and it is not a malicious act. The park atmosphere should be more of a community therefore it is always better to be proactive than reactive, bashing the school will not solve anything. If you choose not to bring you child to this school it your personal decision however if you do it is better to help than to harm. Watching over a group of children is hard work and I sometimes see parents/nannies struggle with 1 or 2. Please be careful with your judgement. I commend the center for reporting it and staying on top of it. Hopefully this opens everyone's eyes in this community, when you are at the park and see signs that this situation might happen that you step in and help because I know I do when I see someone struggling at the park, whether it is a school, parent or nanny.

So, your answer to a parent if you left their toddler behind would be, "I'm sorry but it's really hard to watch them." ??? Seriously not good enough. I'm not trying to pick on you but this attitude is not what most parents want from someone entrusted with their children.

THF1901 wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a parent and a friend of the family who this posting is about, whose 2 yr old son was left at Livingston by FCC on Tuesday afternoon. We saw the news story and wanted to point out an inaccuracy. The FCC Director was quoted as saying that the boy who was left at the playground was in school the following day. This information is incorrect. The family kept their son out of school following the incident and has since made the decision to take him out of the school permanently. He's no longer enrolled at FCC.

I am an FCC parent and want to extend my thoughts to the family. I have said repeatedly through this that I cannot fathom what they must be going through. I will say that I can't speak for all but most of the FCC parents are terrified, upset and trying to figure out what to do. I have been kept up at night, distracted all day by this - because it hits way too close to home. The Center and it's Board are taking it very seriously and is not trying to lie or any of the other things people have accused them of. But they made a huge horrible awful mistake and for most of us parents we can't make sense of what you do next. Forgive? My daughter was there for 3 years and she flourished under their care but this is the worst of a situation. How can I forgive? Or trust them again? And to every other FCC parent, I am right there with you, how could a place I know every day to take wonderful care of my children done something so terribly wrong. It is hard to reconcile that and do I pull my child out from their friends, routine, a place he cheers to go too. A place we love... But can I trust them again. It is a true struggle.

Which is why I can say that the Mean Girls like threads are pretty annoying. Stop being so judgmental. If you think this can't happen to you - it can. That's why we are all so scared and upset - how do I make sense of it. I came here looking for more answers maybe even guidance. Sorry to ramble but this is really sad.

Pertty sure what was done was illegal. Not a mistake. You are not allowed to leave a child that age alone. Anywhere. I hope the police are invvestigating.

As a parent of preschoolers, this i terrifying to me. Sadly, as someone familiar with FCC, it doesn't surprise me that it happened at this school and that it's not the first time it's happened at FCC.

I realize this can happen anywhere to anyone, but I hope that the board at this school gets together and takes some real serious action to send a message that this will not be tolerated. "Oops, we messed up, we'll try harder," is not acceptable to me. They dodged a bullet. Imagine if this child had wandered into the street and been hit by a car, or tried to walk back and gotten lost somewhere in the neighborhood, what if he had died? Would FCC bounce back? Certainly that family would not.

To the parents who are trusting FCC with the precious irreplaceable lives of their children, I personally think that all of the teachers that were in charge of this child's class that day should be fired, apparently some of them already have, but not all? Why? Also, I don't think that's enough. I suspect that something goes on there that results in the kind of culture where people aren't following the policies. Every preschool has policies, but are they being internally monitored or reported for not following them? I believe in my heart that the right thing to do is fire the director and anyone else at that center who allowed this to happen from the top down. End it. I'd never send my kid to this school. I don't care how many people post here that they love the place and that their kid is so happy there. Your kid would be happy anywhere. Look at the fact that this kid wasn't even upset that his school left him there. I guess he must be used to being neglected by his teachers, hardly watched or interacted with. Clearly none of his teachers missed him for the entire hour or more he was missing. The FCC disgusts me. Maybe some new leadership would restore the faith.

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know if there is a database (for lack of a better word) of daycare/preschool violations? It would be a great tool for new parents shopping around for daycares.

In VA it is : http://www.dss.virginia.gov/facility/search/cc.cgi

Anonymous wrote:What was amazing was the way in which the executive director of the ffc responded to the interview. She had a grin on her face like if this was funny. Wth!!!!! I hope the parents are planning to do something. I understand shit happens but as a parent I would be outraged

She didn't appear happy to me -- more apologetic and trying to put the best light on the situation. Was it an awful thing? Yes. But it was her job to say, "this is where we go from here."

Maybe the teachers couldn't count?

I think one of the things that bothers me about this is that they take the kids away from the daycare center to a public park where there are lots of other kids (not from the daycare). Perhaps they should just stay on the daycare premises. I am guessing they don't have an outdoor area of their own? I guess I would put safety in front of playground in this case. Particularly for the youngest kids.

Does anyone know if there is a database (for lack of a better word) of daycare/preschool violations? It would be a great tool for new parents shopping around for daycares.

For those of us that work with children (and parents too), this is a cautionary tale. We can never be too careful or too vigilant. We must always be aware of the children we are watching over. As previous posters have mentioned, some times awful things happen. Let's have some compassion, even as we all vow to do better.

Anonymous wrote:Interesting. Google threads on here and it seems to be a recurring problem:

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/23233.page

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/57826.page

Wow. After reading these threads it is not surprising they lost a toddler.

There is no room for this kind of error in childcare. Period.

If it happens, as it has here, then heads must roll.

Anonymous wrote:I am a parent and a friend of the family who this posting is about, whose 2 yr old son was left at Livingston by FCC on Tuesday afternoon. We saw the news story and wanted to point out an inaccuracy. The FCC Director was quoted as saying that the boy who was left at the playground was in school the following day. This information is incorrect. The family kept their son out of school following the incident and has since made the decision to take him out of the school permanently. He's no longer enrolled at FCC.

I am an FCC parent and want to extend my thoughts to the family. I have said repeatedly through this that I cannot fathom what they must be going through. I will say that I can't speak for all but most of the FCC parents are terrified, upset and trying to figure out what to do. I have been kept up at night, distracted all day by this - because it hits way too close to home. The Center and it's Board are taking it very seriously and is not trying to lie or any of the other things people have accused them of. But they made a huge horrible awful mistake and for most of us parents we can't make sense of what you do next. Forgive? My daughter was there for 3 years and she flourished under their care but this is the worst of a situation. How can I forgive? Or trust them again? And to every other FCC parent, I am right there with you, how could a place I know every day to take wonderful care of my children done something so terribly wrong. It is hard to reconcile that and do I pull my child out from their friends, routine, a place he cheers to go too. A place we love... But can I trust them again. It is a true struggle.

Which is why I can say that the Mean Girls like threads are pretty annoying. Stop being so judgmental. If you think this can't happen to you - it can. That's why we are all so scared and upset - how do I make sense of it. I came here looking for more answers maybe even guidance. Sorry to ramble but this is really sad.