Fired

I lost my job today. It was only 5 hours a week, so not a huge deal. I was babysitting a kid in the mornings before school. I was really only doing it because his mom needed some help, and I did it for next to nothing so it's not like I even counted on that money for anything. The situation pisses me off though.

See, this kid shows up around 6:30 every morning. His mom pulls in the drive, he jumps out, and she is gone before I can even get the door open. Well, this morning my cat's unplugged my alarm clock. I didn't wake up until 7. Mom pulls in the driveway at 6:30 dumps the kid and drives off even though the house is dark. The kid is in kindergarten. He's 5 freaking years old. He knocked on the door but the bedrooms are in the back of the house and you can't hear that little guy knock if you are back there and asleep. He got scared so he walked to the school. (They walk every morning anyway so he knew where he was going....just did it way too soon.)

Now don't get me wrong. I overslept. I should have been up and I know that, but the cats pulled the plug on my clock and facts are facts.....accidents (like oversleeping) happen from time to time. The mom called me and screamed at me for not being up. Umm, excuse me, but who drops their 5 year old kid off at a completely dark house at 6:30 in the morning and doesn't even wait to see if they make it inside?!? Like I said....I know that I screwed up, and I felt horrible, but so did she. Don't treat me like crap because you were too stupid to make sure the kid could get inside.

I actually think there was more to it than just this too. There was a situation at church on Sunday and a lot of people were on opposite sides of this argument. I was unhappy with a situation and was called out because I made a decision as a parent to remove my children from a situation that was out of control. Basically the woman who normally handles Children's Church was not there on Sunday morning and a few people decided to let the teens (oldest of who is 15) who assist with Children's church try to run it on their own. I slipped out to the bathroom at one point and when I came back into the sanctuary I told my husband that my kids would never go back if there wasn't adult supervision. The four teens were in the kitchen talking and a 12 year old was trying to lead children's church for the 3-11 year olds.

Within just a few minutes it went from kids getting a little too loud to kids getting WAY too loud. Matt and I looked at each other, I nodded and he went and pulled our two out and brought them back to the sanctuary with us. A few minutes later kids were running up and down the hall and slamming into the doors to the sanctuary completely distracting everyone. Apparently they were running relay races. Three or four adults all jumped up to go get things under control, but since the mother of 6 of the kids was headed out anyway, everyone just sat back down. After services I was cornered wanting to know why my kids hadn't been allowed to stay in the back and then told I was ridiculous to have removed them and how they get loud all the time and that day was no different. It was bad enough that even the minister was distracted, so yeah, it was different. Anyway....the lady who I babysit with is one of the 3 or 4 people who think that Children's church should be fun and game time for the kids....basically just free babysitting and had no problem with what was happening.

Somehow I am a bad person because I made my children behave in church. We knew Sunday night that the mom I babysit for, the mom that cornered me and one grandmother were all upset with me. They all three let their children run around in the sanctuary constantly (they are 2, 4, 5, and 7.....some of them much too old to be disrupting services like this) and feel that if someone else can't concentrate because of their children, that's their problem. Sunday night they spent about 20 minutes in the corner talking about something in whispers and shooting dirty looks at us. Monday morning when I stepped out on the porch and waved as she dropped her son off she turned her head and backed away without waving and she didn't call in the evening to check about how things went like she normally did. I knew something was up, so I really think she was just waiting for the right moment to do this. I was only supposed to babysit for another few weeks anyway. I told her I couldn't do it during the summer because my kids are away at their father's house.

Like I said... not a big deal financially, and trust me, I don't mind not having to deal with a child that is spoiled, has NEVER had to share, and throws 2 or 3 tantrums daily (and I only have him for an hour!) It just pisses me off that she acts like she didn't do ANYTHING wrong. I can't imagine dropping my 5 year old off anywhere and not waiting to make sure he got inside, but apparently she doesn't think it's a problem.

Oh well....I guess it's someone else's problem now.