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mom2ll
member
Am I being unreasonable? WWYD?
mom2ll
member
Today I picked Luca up from school (he went a different day because I had a Dr. appt) and the teacher gave me a bag with his clothes in it and said "we played with jello today". I did not send my child jello. They teacher brought jello so they could "learn about different textures". Fine... It was red... My child is stained from head to toe red.. On his face, hands, legs, and feet. His clothes are ruined. I just put them in a big tub of Oxyclean and it's not even touching it... I'm a little angry.. I don't send him in high dollar clothes, but I dress him nice. He was wearing a yellow polo shirt and shorts. Did she have to pick red? He had a bib in his back pack... they have smocks for painting... Last week his red polo shirt was ruined when they "painted with blue"... I understand that kids get messy, but at 1 shirt a week he won't have any clothes left. Would you be pissy to? Would you say anything?
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Re: Am I being unreasonable? WWYD?
I think I would be pissy if it was all the time, but is this the first time it happened? If so, I probably wouldn't say anything. But if it kept on happening, I would mention that you prefer for him to put on a smock or something to cover his clothes while doing messy activities. Or at least informing the parents a week prior so they can put them in older clothes.
I've just learned to accept that DD clothes will get messy and stained just from her eating alone. And there have been a handful of really nice shirts that she's only worn once and after washing, is completely destroyed from the stain.
wow....Jello??? why would any teacher wants kids to play with jello, seems it would get sticky.
I don't get why she didn't put smocks on them i would be pissed AND i would say something.
way back in the day when i worke dat a preschool we would let kids play with the cheapo colgate shaving cream..... they used it to clean the goopy stuff off the table that was left when you pulled the contact paper off to change their nametage. anyway it worked great, dissolved and never stained!
Joe's school let's them paint with crushed up blueberries, sweet potatoes, whipped cream.....and a ton of other edible things!! They have a blast and if they accidentally put their fingers in their mouths, it's ok
While it's great that they are experimenting with different things, it is frustrating that they didn't warn you in advance of an especially messy activity.
Also, I know it was just a one time thing, but I'm not big on artificial food dyes - especially red. I actually remember my pediatrician telling my mom not to give my brother red jello, as it made him more hyper.
https://articles.latimes.com/2008/oct/13/health/he-foodcolor13
does it help or hinder the "no playing with your food" rule???
He has never come home sticky. He does come home with sand in his shoes everyday, however ;-)
I don't think it encourages him to play with his foods during mealtime....he is really too young to correlate crushed up (pureed) blueberries in front of an easel and paper than from dinner sitting on his high chair. I think as soon as they figure out it is actual food is probably when they move them to real paint. It is a way to "safely" encourage artwork at a very young age. His first picture that he "painted" for me was whipped cream at 7 months old
I loved it and still have it on my fridge!! 
Yes, I'd be ticked. And yes, I'd say something.
At school, DD has played with cool whip, jello, and tons of finger paint.
I can honestly say that she has come home with messy clothes ONCE. And that was a tiny splatter of paint on her sleeve. (Um, this does not include stains from her lunch, nothing can prevent DD from getting food on her clothes, she takes after her mama!)
They either strip the kids to their diapers or they put smocks on them (usually for shorter activities like painting). For the cool whip I know they stripped them to their diapers - and then they bathed each kid in the sink! (and then sent us pictures of them)
You say they have smocks, but apparently they aren't using them??? How hard can it be to put smocks on them?
ETA: I think jello counts as a "protein stain" - like blood or poop... because of the gelatin. Which means that you're supposed to use cold water to get it out and hot water will set the stain.
I think it is standard in most daycare parent guideline books to not send kids to daycare in clothes that cannot be replaced or stained. I understand you being upset, but it is just part of babies and play. They get messy.
When I worked in the toddler room at a church school the babies would get filthy just from eating alone. Even with smocks, old shirts, etc babies and little kids get really messy during art.
I would let it go this time. Maybe leave a junky set of clothes with him and make it clear to the director and teacher that if they do something messy, put him in the junky clothes.
i would be slightly annoyed and would probably say something but it would be along the lines of: would it be possible to have notice so that i can dress him appropriately.
truitt wears a smock at school but that doesn't always stop the paint/food from getting all over his clothes thanks to his own hands
ditto this. but i can see being upset especially if this isn't the 1st time.
for future ref hot water sets almost all stains. (my parents owned a cleaners for over 20 years, i can get almost anything out if you soak in cold-DH has ruined 3 new shirts this month putting them in hot)
I would be irritated, especially since there are smocks there for them to wear. If it keeps happening, I would say something.
Using shaving cream would bother me more; it is composed of chemicals that I wouldn?t want F exposed to. There are plenty of other things for them to play with.
So Tasty, So Yummy