And you think you have managed it all: childcare for your children, a place in the creche,
expensive and not very flexible, ok, but with a bit of organisation you can get by.
You've also got a place for your child in the after school club for when he starts school
in November (on time !)
But hey, now the creche doesn't want to do their part any longer. KDV "Plons"
from Amsterdam-South decides they don't want to take your child any more because
the nursery teachers don't feel like it, not even for a few weeks between August
and November. They decide this within a week, and you get a nice phone call
on Friday afternoon saying that your son won't be welcome any more next week.
How can this be ?! Can they do this ? The "general rules" of Stichting
Humanitas (who run the creche) say yes, they can. It can happen from one day
to the next, if they think your child has a medical or behavioural problem.
(It's not trained medical staff, but the creche workers who decide...) Parents
have a 2 month notice period: if you want to change anything in the contract,
you have to wait out this time or pay up for nothing.
What the heck can you do now ? What will your boss say, when you say that you cannot
turn up for the next couple of months because some the ladies don't feel up to it any
more, or so they say. A place in another creche, forget it, not in Amsterdam, No chance,
everywhere are waiting lists.
Is that boy so terrible ? We agreed to have him observed in the group, and they couldn't
see a problem in his behaviour. But, of course, exactly when the observation was taking
place, our son was exceptionally quiet for a two-year old child. This is very clever.
Strangely enough, he seems to be much more reasonable at home. And his behaviour continues
to improve: yes, soon he'll be out of the "terrrible two's and three's".
What is proof ? The creche doesn't need any. Some of the carers at KDV "Plons"
think that they are psychologists and don't need the help of professionals.
Alexei now has to leave, in exchange for an"easier" ("quieter")
child. They don't care about what the child thinks when he suddenly can't play
any more with his little friends.
Of course, you hear a lot of predictions that your son will never succeed at a normal
school, but that's what they also said about your other son who's doing perfectly well
at a "normal" school even though some the nursery teachers (with "psychiological
knowledge") thought that he must be autistic.
Well, there are lots of desperate parents on their doorstep who are trying
to get a place for their child and, of course, the one who pays the most money
gets Alexei's place. And if that child misbehaves, well, they can also throw
it out - at any time...
Alexei
is now staying at home. Strangely enough, he seems that he is much happier here. It's
like a burden has dropped of his shoulders. And of ours. No more winging from some of
the ladies in the mornings when you bring him. Also, he speaks much better and clearer,
His Dutch never was up to his English, and now it clearly is his best language. I wonder
how much Dutch he has heard in the creche in the last 3 1/2 years.
I
have written an official complaint to the proprietors of KDV "Plons", Stichting
Kinderopvang Humanitas, and they have told me that they have sent it to the appropriate
person. It took 4 weeks before we got an answer, by which time Alexei could not go any
more anyway, and when we received the answer (you guess it, they still think that they
are right), I noticed that the creche just has supplied the papers they thought might
show their side of the coin. When I phoned the lady who sent me the letter and asked her
what she thought of certain events that happened she said that she does not know anything
of them. Isn't that convenient ?!
From
what I can say from all of this: don't trust that it is going to go well when
it does not feel right. Don't agree to have any psychological reports etc. done
to your young child. Apart from all the effort and time you waste doing this,
possibly they turn out to be utter nonsense and will be used against you. Positive
reports will be ridiculed and not be mentioned any more. Maybe not every creche
will work like this, but some of the ladies from "Plons" certainly
have a hard grip. It is not the first time they made parent's life a hell and
I guess we won't be the last....
29.07.2002
By the way, | have complained about the strange behaviour of the creche
at their head quarters, "Stichting Humanitas" at Heerlen. Even though the
staff has tried to help me very pleasantly, the manager of the department "creches"
has responded in a very uninterested manner. She denies anything under the excuse
of "it's your child who has a problem and it can't ever be us". One cannot
trust people like this. They cannot deal with any kind of critisism.
because
the nursery teachers don't feel like it, not even for a few weeks between August
and November. They decide this within a week, and you get a nice phone call
on Friday afternoon saying that your son won't be welcome any more next week.
