The note didn't fade even after the mother tried scrubbing it off his body several times with wipes.
Editor's Note: This story was originally published on September 8, 2021, and has since been updated.
When you're a working parent, one of the biggest concerns you would have is the quality of daycare facilities available in the area you live in. Especially, if your children are very young. When you have toddlers who can't care for themselves, you rely on your nanny or daycare facility heavily. Since you are leaving your precious kids at the hands of strangers, you are already likely to be on high alert. After all, it's not easy to trust your little ones with others. So, when the institution you have finally picked for your kids messes up, the level of mistrust just soars.
A single mom, Heather Chisum, of two in Florida had the shock of her life recently when she received a note from her kids' Sanibel Island daycare. She drops her two kids at the daycare every day and meets multiple teachers during drop-off and pick-up times. Instead of talking to her about sending more diapers with her youngest kid, one of the daycare workers wrote with a marker on her child's body, according to Fox News.
Sanibel mother says day care wrote on son’s tummy to remind her to bring diapers // https://t.co/LAJE66cwOM (Heather Chisum) pic.twitter.com/VivuqPwWc6
— WINK News (@winknews) January 28, 2020
Heather has two kids - Fin, 1, and Milo, 3 - and a full-time job, which is why she sends her kids to the daycare. One day, she found the message, "Mom, I’m out of diapers" on her toddler's belly. Usually, the daycare sends "a daily report paper in Milos lunch box. It says what mood he was in for the day, what times they changed his diapers, and if he needs diapers or wipes."
"Am I right to be furious about this? Or am I overreacting?" Heather wrote in a lengthy Facebook post. "I really need your opinions guys, because I’m about to barge in this daycare tomorrow morning and have some words."
Mom Heather Chisum says, "A simple, 'Hey Heather, your son needs diapers. Maybe you missed the report' would have done the trick.'"https://t.co/UuHET22ZHn#KHOU11 #HTownRush
— BrandiKHOU (@BrandiKHOU) January 29, 2020
The mom said that she missed the report one day and instead of alerting her through email, phone, or any other method they chose to write on her child's body. "I’m a single mom with a full-time job and two very young children. SUE ME FOR NOT READING THE REPORT EVERY SINGLE DAY," said the furious mom in a Facebook post.
She had also received messages criticizing her for not being prepared or for not being able to afford enough diapers. However, she said that she just missed the report and she had extra packs of diapers in her closet.
"I guess yesterday they wrote on his report that he needs diapers, and I failed to see that. Now keep in mind, I see several teachers at drop off and several at pick up, if I failed to see that he needs diapers a simple, 'Hey Heather, your son needs diapers maybe you missed the report' would have done the trick. From any of the many teachers there I see daily. But instead, I change his diaper this afternoon AND SEE THIS WRITTEN ON MY SON WITH MARKER [sic]," she said.
The mom tried to scrub the message from his body using wipes several times but it did not fade. The mom suggested some alternatives and said that if it was so important they would have written on his diaper or just told her. "The best part???? THIS ISNT THE FIRST TIME. They’ve done this several months ago too [sic]," she added.
A note was written in black ink on Heather Chisum's 18-month-old son, Milo. https://t.co/96FTCvxdqT
— The Morning Show (@morningshowca) January 29, 2020
Since she posted the message online, her post went viral and the school took action. The Florida daycare worker has been fired since and the school apologized. "We are aware of the incident at the school, and we are terribly sorry for the distress it has caused the family involved, as well as all of our families. It was a breach of our professional ethics on the part of the teacher," the day care’s executive director, Cindy Carter DeCosta, said, according to the News-Press. "The school has taken immediate action to remove the teacher from the school. We are reviewing protocols already in place to ensure that nothing like this occurs again," it added.
The mother said she would still not send her children to that daycare and would take time off work to find the right replacement.
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Cover Image Source: Facebook | Heather Chisum
