Niggly
Posts 220

champagneblonde
Posts 176

Glengarioch
Posts 143

Niggly
Posts 220

[quote]

That's as maybe but it doesn't excuse lying about a child's injuries...

I'm with DR - can't believe you saw the first accident, your husband suspected a serious injury and you didn't take your child to hospital until the next day ???? How much pain do you suppose he was in all night with a broken collarbone??? and then you let this girl continue to look after him and he sustains however many more injuries...what are you waiting for ? put her on the next plane home so she can't do the same to anyone else !!!

I got to watch the cameras at around midnight by which time he was tucked up in bed not showing any signs of pain - only thing that seemed obviously wrong that evening was a red mark on his shoulder. Did you want me to wake him and drag him off to the hospital and let him sit in A&E for hours on end in the middle of the night?

Sure I can book her on the next flight out, but who do you suggest then looks after him whilst DH and I have to go out to work and I have another LO due in 2 weeks.

Sadly none of the maids I had lined up for interview over the last few days turned up for interview, so it is back to the drawing board.

PennyLane
Posts 706

ZAH
Posts 34

I'm not saying get rid of her or keep her. Just asking......have you provided her with a first aid course? They do teach them in different languages in Dubai and have 2 day courses designed specifically for maids/nannies.

We all grow up with standard knowledge... If we bleed we clean it and put a band aid on it, does she know what a band aid is? Remember some of these woman come from nothing?

Mrs Potato Head
Posts 359

book, ban, boot

(I think)

Glengarioch
Posts 143

Yeah, I have to say, I think her sister isn't trying to be difficult - she is trying to tell you straight out, "get rid of her."

ETA: My four children are all quite clumsy too, but my maid would never let them fall hard to enough to break something - she looks after them.
edited by Glengarioch on 20/06/2012

DesertRose1958
Posts 1918

DesertRose1958
Posts 1918

This lady had to go but if I understand correctly - you watched the nannycam first time round and saw your sons accident. Your husband then said he thought your son had a broken collar bone, and he was correct - but you didnt go to the hospital till the next morning. The maid didnt get him timely medical attention and neither did you if I've understood your post properly. Pot, kettle, black, I think.
edited by DesertRose1958 on 20/06/2012

mushypeas
Posts 2358

CAPTAIN AMERICA !!
Posts 1664

BBB

champagneblonde
Posts 176

Oh how horrible for you, and worst for your LO!!!

You've got to get rid of her!!!!
How can you possibly be at ease when you're not home when these two incidents have already happened... I would have booted her that night!

I wouldn't even let her watch my casserole, let alone my beloved child!

There are lots of really lovely, hard working, child loving, english speaking & HONEST maids out there... Just keep looking...

mushypeas
Posts 2358

Hi Niggly ..

I Wouldnt involve her sister and expect her to intervene and sort out your employee. I would get rid asap. she sounds inexperienced hiding behind her sister who has been here and knows the drill.. the release her madam advice is so she is free to go to another home. end off. If i was in your position with the injuries my child has sustained under this womans care I would be spitting feathers and wouldnt hesitate sticking her on the next plane back to where she came from.

mum2girls
Posts 929

OMG, she is totally and utterly negligent, there is no way you can keep her !

Releasing her is the easy option and what ........she heads off on her merry way and finds another family. She needs to know there are repercussions to her negligence, having responsibility for a child needs to be taken seriously. Accidents happen with kids, but lying about it when there could (and was) a serious injury that needs treating is just unacceptable.

Good luck finding someone good next time.

derien
Posts 1920

Niggly
Posts 220

Thanks ladies for your replies. Sometimes you know what you have to do ... you just need someone to reconfirm it to you!

Yes, the injuries are from falling. He can be really clumsy. First time he fell against the coffee table and yesterday he fell off the sofa. Thankfully I have a camera and have been able to check exactly what happened. I have converted a small room off the lounge in to a play area, yet she does not take him in there and instead plays around the sofa. I have stressed so many times on my way out to work to take him in there to play with his toys, read books etc. There is no shortage of things in there to keep him entertained. He does not sustain such injuries when my and DH are with him as we know to sit next to him if he is on the sofa or if he is running wild, to take him to his playroom, but she does not seem to understand this.

I think her sister feels she can do nothing, but regardless, I would expect a better response that just 'release her madam'.

derien
Posts 1920

A broken collar bone? Another injury two days later? Are you sure these injuries are from falling off the sofa? I would pack her up, send her home and BAN her!!! And the so called sister

mushypeas
Posts 2358

I would get rid of her .. this has happened twice now and its not acceptable.

My housemaid arrived and spoke no English, However, I took a month off work and spent a lot of time with her and plus she was keen as well. its almost a year now and her english is fantastic ! we still have times where Ive asked for something I havnt asked for before but apart from that its working well. This is mostly down to her though and not me. Its her willingness to learn that has got her to this stage. My son is older ( 7 years old ) and hes a clued up child and I leave him in her care for 3 hours a day and thats all. because he is older, she just needs to keep an eye on him and im on the phone every 30 mins asking him what hes doing ( TV, snacks, Homework )

I wouldnt leave a small child in the care of someone who cant speak English. God forbid if there was an emergency what is she going to do ? Pay the extra and get somone who can speak English and someone who has godo references ( not from a sister ) and has worked with young children before.

Mrs Potato Head
Posts 359

Get rid!

It's not a language thing - it's not hard to understand by pointing at a bruise and asking something which sounds like a question - she has blatantly lied by saying no/nothing.

wuffles
Posts 8087

Just wondered if you are quite sure the other maid is really her sister? Seems odd she should be so casual about your dismissing her if she was-not that that solves your problem.

Niggly
Posts 220

I have a maid that has been with me for about 2 months. When we took her on we really liked her demeanor etc., the only downside was that her English was quite poor. We were confident that this would improve over the months and her sister who speaks perfect English said she would teach her and she would also have lessons. None of this seems to have happened, however we manage to get by.

About a month ago my LO had an accident when I was at work and she failed to tell me about it. When I came home from work, he was red and bruised and I asked her what happened, she said nothing had happened. I asked if he had an accident, and she said no. I questioned it a few times, and again she said nothing had happened. DH was concerned, so we sat down and watched the videos from the nanny cam and it turned out that he did have a fall and from the video, DH suspected that he had broken his collarbone.

The next morning we took him to A&E, where they confirmed it was broken. I was livid that the maid never told us about the accident, we kept telling her that she was not in trouble, but we needed to know what happened. We still never got a direct answer about what happened, and even had her sister come round to translate so there was no confusion. We then made it very clear, that if such incidents happen in the future she is to call me or DH immediately so we can determine if we need to come home and if LO needs medical attention.

Last night DH gets home to find a red bruise on the other shoulder. She then tells him that LO fell in the afternoon when they were playing. It was clear that he was in a lot of pain. I was extremely annoyed that once again she did tell us that he had fallen. I called her sister and expressed my concerns and her response was ‘if you are not happy madam, just release her’! This just infuriated me and I told her not to turn things around and that we need the maid to understand the seriousness of falls and that she must contact us. Throughout the conversation about 3 times she said the same thing and said you can just release her madam. We watched the video last night and he fell off the sofa around 9.30am and had quite a bang on his head. I have tried to express to her sister that falls to the head can be very serious and hence why we need to be told when there is an accident.

Everything else works well with the maid. She is pleasant, great around the house and gets on and does things. I have another baby due in a few weeks time and I am seriously concerned that she does not understand about safety. I don’t like it when a maid (or sister) says, just release me the. They don’t seem to understand how much money the whole maid process costs us and the stress of having to find a replacement within a week or so.

We are due to finalise her papers this week – deadline is 26th June.

So my question is … what would you do? Get rid of her and start looking again? Or any hope of salvaging things or will she never understand safety issues?