fts

I filled in for a chair class at a retirement village about a year or so ago.

I showed up on the day with Daniel in tow, and explained very clearly that he was with me because I'd been called the NIGHT before, and had no time to arrange care for him because it was now only 9am the next morning.

No! they all said, he's delightful! We LOVE having him here!

and on their approval, I continued to bring him along and at EACH and EVERY class I taught for the next six week ie on TWELVE separate occasions, they oohed and aahed at Daniel and told me how NICE it was to have him there, that he was a breath of fresh air, he reminded them of their own grand or great grandchildren, bla bla BLA.

I wouldn't know a chair class from my elbow, so having him with me kind of sucked because I couldn't focus on PRETENDING to know what I was doing, and the entire time I felt like a big, giant chair class failure.

So it wasn't enjoyable but I did it for the greater good because they= old, and Daniel and those like him are GREAT therapy for lonely old people whose families seldom visit.

Then Linda called again today and asked I fill the same class for April 16 this year. Now they must be scraping the barrel to call on me because I'm not qualified to teach the elderly, and I KNOW I suck at it because I have NO idea what to do and just wing it, badly.

Point being, they must be at the point of "just get SOMEONE".

So I took it and mentally arranged childcare for the day, and ignored that the cost of said is more than they pay me.

THEN she said "don't bring Daniel", which I wasn't planning on doing ANYWAY, "because the oldies got stressed by him being there last time".

The fuck?

Tht was the feedback Dangeen (the original idiot who fucked off for six weeks without a] telling anyone or b] arranging a suitable replacement) wanted me to know. That they were so stressed by him being there.

Essentially the message was they feared for Daniel's safety, so essentially the message is that they don't feel I was paying enough attention to his welfare by bringing him along because of the tea and coffee making facilities in the hall, which were just ONE of the many things I didn't like about teaching that class, so it's not like I wasn't aware if it, and it's not like I was THRILLED to have my kid in the same room as something that is, in actual and real fact, a panic attack trigger. Scalds, burns, and hot things freak my shit out.

So to get that feedback an entire YEAR later after they ALL went on and on and on about how much they LOVED him being there, which is WHY I continued to take him along when I'd have preferred to leave him in care, sucks.

I HATE being judged for something by someone who assured me it's AWESOME to be doing that something in the first place.

I also don't know why this has upset me so much, but it has, and thus explainuth this whineyass entry.

I declined the class in the end because, fuck 'em, I guess.