Am I overreacting? | ExpatWoman.com
 

Am I overreacting?

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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 05 October 2011 - 14:20

I was at the Polo Club this morning and happened to go into the ladies bathroom. I was somewhat concerned to see several children from a nursery school in various states of undress sitting on the floor of the toilets! The 2 filipina girls that were looking after them were obviously in the process of changing nappies, but I am not sure if I would like my kid to be sitting on the floor, then sticking her dirty bathroom hands in her mouth. I also had to walk through the kids to get to the sinks and could have easily stood on or kicked one of them. The girls looking after them didn't move them, just let me walk through and seemed more concerned with telling the children about how much trouble they would get into when they told their mummies how dirty their nappies were! Needless to say, I was not impressed! I didn't give it much thought at the time, but now that I am home, I am thinking that it was not acceptable. Am I being too sensitive?

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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 07 October 2011 - 15:33
No, not misleading - they said the annex was not ready and it was on the other side of the Polo Club grounds That in itself would be borderline alarm bells ringing... when would it be ready? What would they use it for? How would they remain in control of goings-on if it were across the way? How would the children stuck in the annex interact with the others? How would those children benefit from the rest of the facilities the nursery has to offer? How is communication set-up between the two sites? What happens in the case of an emergency - do all children go to the same spot or two separate locations, and if so, who is responsible overall?
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EW OLDHAND
Latest post on 07 October 2011 - 11:34
my first thought was that you wouldn't leave your child anywhere without checking all the facilities and speaking to the staff...would you ??? clearly plenty do or they wouldn't still be in business !! A nursery in a room without a sink is just ludicrous imo.. Many of my friend's children have gone to the Polo Club nursery and loved it. When we signed up, they mentioned an annex, but it didn't occur to me that they would be using a temporary room in the Polo Club! so what did they show you as the nursery/room ? Obviously deliberately misleading you then... No, not misleading - they said the annex was not ready and it was on the other side of the Polo Club grounds - I didn't ask to look. They have a lovely, albeit nursery building in the same area, which I knew well from my picking up my friends' kids.
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EW MASTER
Latest post on 07 October 2011 - 11:19
my first thought was that you wouldn't leave your child anywhere without checking all the facilities and speaking to the staff...would you ??? clearly plenty do or they wouldn't still be in business !! A nursery in a room without a sink is just ludicrous imo.. Many of my friend's children have gone to the Polo Club nursery and loved it. When we signed up, they mentioned an annex, but it didn't occur to me that they would be using a temporary room in the Polo Club! so what did they show you as the nursery/room ? Obviously deliberately misleading you then...
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EW OLDHAND
Latest post on 07 October 2011 - 11:13
my first thought was that you wouldn't leave your child anywhere without checking all the facilities and speaking to the staff...would you ??? clearly plenty do or they wouldn't still be in business !! A nursery in a room without a sink is just ludicrous imo.. Many of my friend's children have gone to the Polo Club nursery and loved it. When we signed up, they mentioned an annex, but it didn't occur to me that they would be using a temporary room in the Polo Club!
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EW MASTER
Latest post on 07 October 2011 - 10:47
my first thought was that you wouldn't leave your child anywhere without checking all the facilities and speaking to the staff...would you ??? clearly plenty do or they wouldn't still be in business !! A nursery in a room without a sink is just ludicrous imo..
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 07 October 2011 - 10:16
just to throw this one in here - do parents not check out nurseries before sending thier kiddies there? Thus avoiding the whole "surprising" lack of hygine? btw i completely agree with the OP and ive already mentioned that i have witnessed the same incident by the same nursery. Just a thought though?? I was just about to post in a similar way... I mean, before signing a lot of money away and entrusting your pride and joy to some strangers, do you not at least carry out some basic checks, like having a look at the room and watching how the staff interact, let alone maybe talking to staff and checking out their qualifications?! I'll save "checking emergency procedures" for the advanced lesson. --- As for this whole putting the apple back on the shelf, oh pleuleeese! I would imagine that it'd be marginally cleaner for having rolled on the floor - just how many people do you think handle each and every item of fruit and veg, even if it always remains on the shelf?! And the stuff in the shiny cling-film packaging with the polystyrene trays - that's just exactly the same fruit and veg, but that's been extra handled to pack it up!
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EW OLDHAND
Latest post on 07 October 2011 - 04:07
I didn't say I wouldn't eat it (5 second rule!) just that it struck me as a bit.... hmmm... odd to just put it back, I mean obviously some people don't care where it's been, but some people do. I certianly would want to know if it's been on the floor so I could decide what I wanted to do with it. As I have already pointed out, I didn't see it the other way about not wasting food, and someone pointed out that perspective, which I agree with, so you can stop lecturing me now.. lol... :P Yes of course I know how food is delivered to the supermarket. That's why I wash the food. But some people don't think about that kind of stuff and I guess some of them wouldn't expect that something that had fallen on the floor (which was admittedly filthy & wet) to be just put back without so much as a wipe... again, as I said, it is clearly just a different way of thinking in this area. I guess some of you might think I was being a princess, having been trained in food safety it's just not something I would do without cleaning it first, that's all! Different behaviours for different upbringings, I guess.
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 06 October 2011 - 19:43
Makes me wonder.... like has been mentioned a lot of people working here just have different ideas about what is 'clean'... for example, the other day I was in the supermarket, the happy fruit man was stacking shelves and an apple rolled off, it came to rest next to me so of course I picked it up & gave it to him, so he could throw it away... He happily place it on top of the pile and carried right on stacking!!! :O Needless to say I'm glad I wash the fruit & veg already but I definitely would be now if I hadn't been! SkyKitty, I just laughed so hard I cried when I read this, I could picture your face! I'm still chuckling. (maybe I'm just giddy because I only have to work one more hour before the weekend starts) You poor thing, now you are dissillusioned-- bless your heart! I know it shocked you, but they way you told it was really cute!
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 06 October 2011 - 19:29
You wouldn't eat food that had rolled on the supermarket floor? Do you know the chain of delivery of that fruit and where is has been before it got to the supermarket? Of course the supermarket employee is going to put it back in the pile. I always use a vegetable wash for the fruits and veg. I bring home. So many children are dying in the world because they don't have "any" food to eat, without the choice of clean or dirty.
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EW OLDHAND
Latest post on 06 October 2011 - 18:57
good point desert rose, well i thought at least he might wipe it or something before putting it back!! it was actually quite bruised, i wonder that the shops here don't have a section for stuff thats a bit 'scratch & dent' that people who want to can buy but know exactly that it might not be 'perfect' but edible... such as my local supermarket back home had, mum used to get some of the older fruit and use the ok bits for jam etc...
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EW OLDHAND
Latest post on 06 October 2011 - 18:54
Makes me wonder.... like has been mentioned a lot of people working here just have different ideas about what is 'clean'... for example, the other day I was in the supermarket, the happy fruit man was stacking shelves and an apple rolled off, it came to rest next to me so of course I picked it up & gave it to him, so he could throw it away... He happily place it on top of the pile and carried right on stacking!!! :O Needless to say I'm glad I wash the fruit & veg already but I definitely would be now if I hadn't been! I pick fruit and veg up off the floor of supermarkets all the time and put it back on the shelf. Today it was two string beans. I'd never have thought of throwing them away just because they'd been on the floor. In fact I'd consider that to be shameful given how people the world over are dying of hunger or just plain going to bed at night with a belly thats not really been full all day. Just give everything a wash before you eat it and the jobs a good un. I get quite angry when I see people sailing past foodstuffs that have fallen on the floor and stepping around them as if a big labrador or the likes left a calling card in the aisle. I usually say something like - thats right ignore it cos it really does looks like it would take a hand off.
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 06 October 2011 - 18:44
just to throw this one in here - do parents not check out nurseries before sending thier kiddies there? Thus avoiding the whole "surprising" lack of hygine? btw i completely agree with the OP and ive already mentioned that i have witnessed the same incident by the same nursery. Just a thought though??
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EW OLDHAND
Latest post on 06 October 2011 - 18:09
Makes me wonder.... like has been mentioned a lot of people working here just have different ideas about what is 'clean'... for example, the other day I was in the supermarket, the happy fruit man was stacking shelves and an apple rolled off, it came to rest next to me so of course I picked it up & gave it to him, so he could throw it away... He happily place it on top of the pile and carried right on stacking!!! :O Needless to say I'm glad I wash the fruit & veg already but I definitely would be now if I hadn't been!
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EW OLDHAND
Latest post on 06 October 2011 - 17:05
Good point, A Rancher! I believe if a venue cannot fully provide 'proper' facilities for a nursery then they should not have a nursery! IMO.
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 06 October 2011 - 16:47
Not to downplay how awful the situation is for the children involved, but members and patrons pay to use the facilities at the Polo Club and this should include being able to use the bathrooms without them being full of children having their nappies changed! It would be better for a change table to be set up in room being rented out. If there is no sink those changing nappies could clean their hands with anti-bacterial wipes, followed by the use of a hand sanitizer. Considering the fees at that nursery, they should be able to set up a proper station for this. So if there's no sink in the room, does that mean that the children don't wash their hands before they eat their snacks? How thoroughly do they clean toys and equipment at the end of the day? I'm sure there's a huge demand for nursery places but look at all the available space for rent in Motor City. It would be far better for the nursery to rent out a space there and fit it out properly for nursery use. The current set up siggests both the nursery and the Polo Club are trying to make some easy money.
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 06 October 2011 - 13:03
Thanks Annabelle! I had a hard time deliberating yesterday as to post about this or not and I am glad I did now. If it was my kid at that nursery, I would want to know! I have tried to contact the Polo Club again today, but getting nowhere. I will keep trying as I will not be there in person today, but hopefully will tomorrow. no worries:)) also wanted to tell you that contacting the manager of the polo club is a dead end since it is not his responsibility. that nursery hired the space from the polo club, so if you wanna take this further, you need to contact the manager of that nursery..Also, beside the rooms of the restaurant that this nursery hired, they also have a proper nursery at the polo club itself..when you get in, take a right and at the end of that street, you should find the nursery..if i were you, i would speak to the head of all the nurseries, since they have many branches in the city and hopefully you might get a proper answer...
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 06 October 2011 - 12:46
Thank you Dubai Chick for teh post ... I was just having a debate myslef on my kids' school this morning .... I was thinking that we are paying a big load of money trying to get them good educationa nd care ... but school managment / owners just think of profit .. my kids are not nursery age but they are older ,,, and in their school I see a lot of examples where the school neglects basics of safety / care standards because of finanaces ,,, and we are not paying a little mind you ... I know the nursery that you refer to and it is nota cheap one ... so you would expect at least that they invest those fees to install good basic Hygeine / sfaety related facilities and hire well trained care takers ... Thank you again of teh post ... just re-instated to me that there is an issue with schooling here ... and also that not every school that charges THIS mush actually invests it back into our children! I would have been sooooo bothered if my child goes there ...
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 06 October 2011 - 12:19
Thanks Annabelle! I had a hard time deliberating yesterday as to post about this or not and I am glad I did now. If it was my kid at that nursery, I would want to know! I have tried to contact the Polo Club again today, but getting nowhere. I will keep trying as I will not be there in person today, but hopefully will tomorrow.
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 06 October 2011 - 10:32
I always wonder how these things get onto this forum. Take yourself to the manager and have a quiet word and suggest bathrooms to be added on. Until that is done maybe they could put in a changing table, great for parents at the weekend. As for the comment about the children having dirty nappies, maybe the girrls were just babbling as they knew they were being watched. I have been known to say "wow what a stinky nappy" myself. It does not mean anything so let's not turn that into the girls were not being kind to the children. You do not need a degree to be kind, caring, and change a nappy, just facilities. Sorry lady but you have no idea what you are talking about unless you have been to the so called nursery yourself which i am sure u did not! since I have been, the nursery is a room without a bathroom and of course a sink, so if there is a changing table ( which will of course only be for children who are not potty trained), we will assume the nanny will change the children's diapers, but there is a problem with ur suggestion, there is no sink for her to wash her hands between diaper change!! The thing is that they actually do have a changing table in that room, and of course no sink for the nanny to wash hands, and oh when i asked about that, the "person in charge" of the famous nursery told me there is a sink in the room, and there IS NOT! so please, before you assume things, go check out the place for yourself before u come up with such suggestions! and oh about a story like this to be on a forum, well it is because the OP is a responsible person who cares about those children, and their safety and is warning their parents, so do not come and blame her for such a noble thing, alrighty lady!! To the OP, thank you and do not let such posters make you think you did the wrong thing!
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 05 October 2011 - 22:01
Realist, I have tried this afternoon to speak to the manager who wasn't available. My husband and I are members of the Polo Club, so I will be there again tomorrow and will be trying again. I don't think I said the girls were not being kind, but I stated what they were saying. I would also like to point out that one of the children was also sitting behind the door - which opens inwards. Very dangerous! The more I have thought about this, the more annoyed I have become. I have no idea what the fees for this nursery are, but I wouldn't pay any money to have my child sit on a bathroom floor whilst waiting to go onto the changing table. Surely there are enough staff to allow one member to take the children individually and change them?
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 05 October 2011 - 21:29
I always wonder how these things get onto this forum. Take yourself to the manager and have a quiet word and suggest bathrooms to be added on. Until that is done maybe they could put in a changing table, great for parents at the weekend. As for the comment about the children having dirty nappies, maybe the girrls were just babbling as they knew they were being watched. I have been known to say "wow what a stinky nappy" myself. It does not mean anything so let's not turn that into the girls were not being kind to the children. You do not need a degree to be kind, caring, and change a nappy, just facilities.
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EW OLDHAND
Latest post on 05 October 2011 - 16:37
I just work up the courage to send DD to a nursery and one of these threads come up and they terrify me. Is a small thing, but it just brings home the fact that we don't know what happens to our kids when they're out of our sight! Sigh! guess they'll be fine! This is what terrifies me about nurseries in Dubai. In my home country the staff have to be properly qualified to work with and care for children and babies, not always 100% safe regardless of country, i know, but at least there are high standards. In Dubai I have to wonder (read doubt) if the staff are qualified AT ALL?
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 05 October 2011 - 16:32
I am not a Mother and this shocked me so no i do not think you are overeacting...
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 05 October 2011 - 16:26
This reminds of the time a little girl, maybe 3 years or so, was in the bathroom with the babysitter (that's really what they are), or for a better word "child minder". When exiting the stall the babysitter pulled the child along and the child was holding out her hand with a rather pitched voice saying: "Wash hand! Wash hand!", and the babysitter kept pulling her along out the door without stopping to allow her to wash her hands. All I could think is how this person is sabotaging the mother who is obviously teaching the child to do the right thing.
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 05 October 2011 - 15:41
I just work up the courage to send DD to a nursery and one of these threads come up and they terrify me. Is a small thing, but it just brings home the fact that we don't know what happens to our kids when they're out of our sight! Sigh! guess they'll be fine! Akh I hear you! I also put my DD in nursery beg of Sep ( well I pulled her out 3 days after because of a similar disastrous situation, not this nursery though) and I cannot get the courage to put her in another nursery:(((
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 05 October 2011 - 15:37
I just work up the courage to send DD to a nursery and one of these threads come up and they terrify me. Is a small thing, but it just brings home the fact that we don't know what happens to our kids when they're out of our sight! Sigh! guess they'll be fine!
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 05 October 2011 - 15:35
Oh my word! I've just worked out which nursery chain that is and my kids went there for 6 months when we arrived in Dubai but in the Meadows branch. I am in shock. Standards must have dropped
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 05 October 2011 - 15:33
Yes you can complain to the ministry of social affairs, and to the head of the nurseries since they have branches everywhere in the city...
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 05 October 2011 - 15:30
I would like to back up the OP. The same story but a fortnight ago at the polo club. little boys and girls sitting on the floor of the bathroom waiting for whoever (there wasnt actually a minder in sight!). Obviously as i didnt see anyone with the kids i didnt overhear what anyone was saying.... but seriously - how can having a dirty nappy be bad??!
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 05 October 2011 - 15:20
Not over reacting at all. I would have said something to the maids myself then and there. If I had a child at that centre I'd be livid. Is there an accreditation body in Dubai it can be reported to? Surely these centres have to pass some kind of accreditation to be operative?
 
 

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