Letter to Day Care

Dear Day Care -

I pay you a lot of money to take care of my children. In fact, I pay you more than I pay my mortgage company. That's OK, because they like you, and they seem to be learning everything the average three year-old should know. Every once in a while they learn something I don't think they should know. That's probably to be expected, since they spend more time with you in a day than they do with me.

When you call and tell me my child is misbehaving, I appreciate that you seem to want to work together to discipline him in a way that is both helpful and in keeping with what our family feels is appropriate. I do not appreciate it when the conversation ends up like this:

You: Can you talk to him about this at home tonight so it won't happen again?
Me: Absolutely
You: If he was my kid, he wouldn't be able to sit down for a few days, but that's up to you

Yes, it is up to me, and I don't like what you are suggesting. If we are going to give each other advice, then the next time you call me, expect the conversation to go more like this:

You: He sat there and pulled up a whole section of the carpet
Me: Wasn't someone watching him?
You: We asked him to stop, but he just got a hold of it and had it all pulled up before we could stop him
Me: If he pulled up a section of carpet that easy with someone watching him, then maybe you should have sprung for better carpet

It's probably a good idea if we just stick with our current business arrangement, and refrain from giving each other unwanted advice.

Signed,
The customer who pays the salaries of two people