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Alabama Babies
WWYD? A church nursery situation
Our church nursery has two classrooms...one for babies, one for toddlers...before they start age appropriate classrooms at age 3. Aubrey has been in the baby one since she was 8 weeks old. I didn't really know when to move her up to the toddler one, because most of the toddlers in there are two years old.
Well today we take her to the baby one like normal. We don't usually have any trouble with her as she loves playing with the other kids. Well 5 minutes into singing our number pops up on the electronic sign. I go back there and the lady who was in the baby room (she is a regular in there, knows Aubrey, etc) thrusts Aubrey at me, and then her bag, and then shut the door on me! I try to calm Aubrey down, and I am standing there thinking what the heck do I do? I felt completely like she kicked her out of the baby room. It was very awkward and I was a bit upset about it.
So I go signal Wes to come back there, and we were like should we take her to the toddler room. My concerns were that a lot of these kids are a whole year older than her, and I believe there is a vast difference between an 18 month old and an almost three year old. I was worried she'd get pushed around, run over, etc. Well I find the director, and talk to her and I go into the toddler room with her and stay while Wes goes back to the service.
Aubrey loved it in there, and had a lot of fun. The age range kind of is crazy...I think they could use to split the two rooms for like maybe a one year old room, then a two year old room, but I realize space is limited.
Okay now to the point of my post. Would you talk to the director about how the nursery worker treated Aubrey and me? Or should I just leave it be. We have been members at our church for over 4 years, and are very active in the childrens ministry and I know the director very well. This is the first time I have ever felt like I was treated rudely and awkwardly. I feel like the nursery worker should have explained to me that maybe it was time for Aubrey to move up, or something...not just rudely shoved my crying child and her bag at me, and shut the door on me, effectively shutting me out of the room. So should I talk to her, or let it go, since the initial problem solved itself?
Sorry this turned out to be so lengthy!
This discussion has been closed.
Re: WWYD? A church nursery situation
Funny you say this, because that is exactly what Wes said. I am going to talk to the director because of that exact point. It could easily happen to a visitor, or could have already and it's not something that I want to see happen to any other parent.
Thanks for all the thoughts ladies!
Definitely you should say something, but I would strongly encourage you to first go to the nursery worker directly before you talk to the director. To me, this is resolving conflict the way we're called to do in scripture {Matthew 18:15-20}.
First go to the nursery worker since she's the one who offended you, and if you can't resolve the issue between the two of you, then go to the Director and bring her into the situation.
The Baby Blog.
That's a good point as well. I think I'll try that on Sunday, and if I don't really get anywhere then I'll contact the director. Thanks
We are looking for a church now and that being treated like you were would be an instant veto. The nursery/children's program is such an important part in choosing a church for us.
Good luck when you're talking to them next Sunday! Let us know how it goes.
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We do have an excellent program...I don't have any problems with that...I think this was an isolated incident. We have been very active with the children's program at our church since we joined, so that was before A was even a thought, much less born, and we've always had the best experiences. I think this is why this situation upset me as bad as it did. I just want to make sure that this one person doesn't treat any others this way...I hate for one person to tarnish the experience for anyone. I will say that I am super glad it was me,and not a visitor or someone that is new to the childrens program, because had it been one of the latter it would give a really bad impression of not just the childrens program but also our church.
Is there any chance she was dealing with a crisis at the same moment with another kid? (The other day I had to run away midsentence with someone because I thought LO was choking...that kind of situation.)
Ditto B.
The one time we had to pick up Payton from the nursery, was very similar to you. The worker just sort of thrust her at us and said sorry and ran off. It was obvious they needed every pair of eyes they had available to watch the other kiddos. She did catch up with me later and tell me they were just very short-staffed b/c volunteers hadn't shown up for a shift. Maybe our church is just stinky though -- we never get a conversation when we drop off or pick up. They always have us write down when/how much she needs to eat and such, they never have time to chat with us on Sunday a.m.'s especially at the late service we go to.
I've volunteered and it is super hectic, especially in the baby rooms. I would feel so bad if a parent complained about me or thought I was being rude, when it was just about being able to keep my eye on all the other babies. I felt like I couldn't take my eyes off of my assigned babies for a second and if I had, one of the other workers/volunteers would've had to watch them.
I hope Miss A enjoys the toddler room -- Payton was so excited each time she got moved up and the walkers class is anyone who is walking steadily up to age 3! (We are divided into newborns, sitters, crawlers, and then walkers and they stay there until they are moved into one of the pre-k classes at age 3.)
Bethany and Sarah I wish that were the case. They only had two other babies in there and two other volunteers...one baby was sleeping, the other was being fed by one of the other ladies.
I think A is going to be much happier in the toddler room with the other kids that she can play with. I guess I should have moved her up sooner, but I honestly thought they had to be closer to 2. Normal promotion time is August, but I found out this morning they move up the babies on discretion to their walking statuses. Since A was a late walker, I guess I didn't realize it. She'll be in this room until August of 2012 right before she turns 3 in October,and then she'll go to the 3 year old classroom.
We don't get lengthy conversations from the workers when we pick up, but usually we do get a she did good, or if there was a minor problem we get notified. But when we dropped A off yesterday morning she was fine...and literally 10 minutes later was when our number popped up and when I went back there the worker didn't say a word to me, just thrust A at me followed by her bag and shut the door....no I'm sorry, no explanation, not even a she just started crying and we couldn't calm her down..I have no idea what happened, and I just feel like she didn't handle that in a good way.
Poor A! I bet she'll just love the older class better anyway. Probably a good change.
GL with your conversation!
Girl, it would hurt my feelings too! Hopefully everything goes well on Sunday and maybe your talk will make her more conscious so it doesn't happen to anyone else again {especially not visitors!}.
The Baby Blog.
Ditto what everyone else said. I would just talk to the nursery worker and ask her if A was very upset or why you had to come get her. Then ask the nursery worker if she thinks A is ready to move up to the toddler room.
I'm surprised they have such a wide age range in one class. At our church, there is the infant nursery, the crawlers, 1 year, 2 year, 3 year, etc.
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Lack of classroom space is why it's like that. They get their own age appropriate rooms starting at 3 years old. It is a pretty broad age range, I agree, but until we can get into a larger space that's what they have to do.
Surely this did not happen in a church nursery ...
Star21gazer, I too agree you should definitely speak with that nursery worker who shoved your child through the door with her bag without any explanation as to why; then slammed the door in your face. This is totally uncalled for and RUDE! They do not need her in that position IMO. I would also strongly suggest you have a conversation with this woman; having her explain why this happened ? then if not satisfied talk to the nursery director/coordinator etc.
If as you said she had help and only two other infants - she should have at least had the courtesy to give you some reason as to the why she was returning your child instead of being so rude to you.
This is not something to be over-looked since it could happen to a new member or God forbid a visitors? child!
You take the necessary steps/action on this without fail ? GL
You should most definitely talk to the director about the nursery worker's behavior. That is NOT acceptable for a church, or anywhere else.
I'd also suggest to the director to have a more structured format for moving kids from one room to the next. Kicking kids out when they get too big blows my mind -- every church I've ever attended had/has "infants", "crawlers", "walkers", etc, and would roll up when they reached certain milestones.