[caridad]

the following actually happened to my dd's class and the otehr 265preschoolers that attended "park day". consider this a precursor to a disaster!

The following issues came up on park day:
• Breakfast arrived 45 minutes late!
o There was an error at the base of operations. We were not on their docket.
o There was not enough food or fresh milk
# Not every class received fruit.
# There was only one fruit choice
• banana
o not everyone received fresh milk
#; some received shelf milk
• the kids could not drink their shelf milk
• Also, the ones with shelf milk in their cereal could not eat.
o Not everyone received the same food items
# Ex. Some received cocoa puffs, others received corn flakes.
• Injuries at the jungle gym.
o Too many children trying to slide down the poles. Not head start size.
• Children would fall straight down to the ground
• NEED SUPERVISION
• Lunch arrived at 11:10 A.M. the employee was courteous.
o Parents want the lunches bagged and grouped by classes again!!!
• Restrooms were EXTREMELY FILTHY: feces on seats at 9A.M.
• Professional and courteous staff
• Every class should be prepared to be self sufficient
o Wipes, gallon of water, mini cups, hand sanitizer, etc…

 

[oktx]

Sounds like some "You get what you get and you don't throw a fit" is needed.

The restrooms and unsafe playground are a completely separate issue, however.

 

[Brimasmom]

I wouldn't say that this event qualified as a disaster. Extremely inconvenient and not nearly as pleasant as it might potentially have been, but in no way a disaster. Your title had me thinking that something terrible had happened to one or more of the children that day.

I do agree with oktx that the restrooms and the playground are a separate issue, but shelf-stable milk isn't the end of the world, and it is in no way undrinkable. I would say that anyone who turns their nose up at it in their cereal is more than a bit on the spoiled side, but that is only my opinion. Those kids and their parents would make for terrible survivalists.

Is there any reason why the food had to be delivered? Why wasn't the food brought on the busses with the children in the first place? I've been a field trip chaperone for decades, and this is always the way we did it. Also, why were pre-schoolers slated for a field trip that was so long that it required not only breakfast but also lunch? Anyone who has experience with pre-schoolers knows that you don't schedule anything for them that is longer than their attention spans.

Also, anyone who takes 265 pre-schoolers ANYWHERE without proper/sufficient supervision and chaperones deserves the headaches that they get for not using their brains. Sorry if this sounds harsh, but I just don't see how this qualifies as a disaster unless you were talking about the planning for this event that just didn't happen. Now THAT would qualify as a disaster.

 

[squidy]

What they said.

Plus:
It only takes one kid to smear poo all over a restroom. That's just the risk you take when you go to a public area.

And it can be good for kids to play in places that aren't completely safetyfied. Otherwise they'll never learn to keep themselves safe.

Relax a bit.
Just IMO.

 

[Not Me]

I may be wrong, but I think the intent of the OP was to say if people cannot organize a park day for pre-k, how the heck can we feel like we are prepared for SHTF?!!

 

[RosesInWinter]

They didn't like their cereal? It was late?

In what way is this a disaster?

 

[hawkbern]

I may be wrong, but I think the intent of the OP was to say if people cannot organize a park day for pre-k, how the heck can we feel like we are prepared for SHTF?!!

That's the way I took it. Either other people missed the point or we did.

 

[Pearl]

Where was the Pre-Op thinking

Breakfast was late, lunch was early, and they didn't like shelf-milk, what were the mother's thinking??? Where were the backpacks,or the butt packs => the little tiny BOBs for kids who should have had the home training to deal with: "re: oktx: "you get what you get, and you don't make a fuss".

By that I don't mean just the shelf milk, I mean where was the Pre-Op thinking? You don't send your kid out without water, eats, change of undies, trash bag raincoat, TP, phone money, Identification, directions home/ alt. phone numbers... on a laminated 3x5 card, basic kid needs for when tshtf .

I say that if this was a disaster it was one of a classic failure to remain Situationally Aware. The kid is going Away from homebase:
Did these folks actually look at a map and SEE where their kids would be?
Did they talk to the kids about what Public Places can be like? What the problems were that they could encounter (toilets, lines, waiting,......) I figure they've gotten the boogieman looks like Uncle Fred talk - I hope.

I could go on but I won't. You just don't send that many littles into the world without enough parents per class, without thinking about the "What ifs"
It was a cluster [email protected]#% before they ever got out of bed that morning.

 

[caridad]

thank you ladies for your input. now i will clarify for you the issues where you are muddied.
my dd goes to head start. it is a federally funded state run preschool. once a month they have park day for all the classrooms in the district.st this time they offer lectures to parents such as parenting classes. the disaster preparedness class will be in january!

every park day food distribution IS SUPPOSED to bring the meals for all 13 classes to the park. well this day they left close to 300 kids off the docket. they did not have us on the list for either the classroom or the park!!! for 45 minutes children were saying they were hungry. finally food distributuion went to the parks building and used the food for MEALS ON WHEELS to feed the children.

now i have had powdered milk before. i'm sure many of the parents there have also had powdered milk as head start is for families subsisting on low incomes!!! HOWEVER!!! THE MILK OFFERED WAS NOT SUITABLE. IT TASTED AWFUL. IT WAS SPOILED!!!

the restrooms were filthy BEFORE we arrived at the park. fecal matter had been on the toilet seats there overnight!!! only one stall was usable!!!

one t.a. pushed a child. the teacher of the same t.a. was not prepared in anyway for the park, even though this was not the first time we were at the park. this class was next to my dd's class. the child pushed was one from my dd's class.

BTW, THESE CHILDREN ARE NOT SPOILED!!!
the parents know exactly where the kids are going because tehy have to drop them off directly with the teacher at the assigned spot.

many parents complain about this park. it has been previously riddled with used needles on the bathroom floors. why is it used? because the h q is nearby!!! AND SO IS THE CAFETERIA!!!

I NEVER LEAVE THE HOUSE WITHOU ADEQUATE RESOURCES FOR MY DD. therefore i had to share one banana and 25 crackers between 18 kids.

 

[caridad]

BTW since class goes from 8:30 to 12N lunch arriving at 11:10 is a little late. because it needs to be distributed and set up by ALL 13 CLASSES. however, the gentleman was very kind and polite. he didn't know when the trucks usually come because he is new.

 

[bridgierapa]

Boy, you must've been spewing! Outrageous! Has there been any kind of followup? Any kind of guarantee this won't happen again? Who arranged it and what happened to them?

 

[JtCamp05]

Guess thats what you get when you sign your kid up for the Federal government run program...Obama milk.....

Outrageous.... my federal tax money spent so parents dont have to provide for thier children... then bitch about it when the Obama milk is spolied... Really, I raised my kids with out help from Uncle Sam....

 

[caridad]

Boy, you must've been spewing! Outrageous! Has there been any kind of followup? Any kind of guarantee this won't happen again? Who arranged it and what happened to them?

i sure was and i still am spewing. right now i'm spewing over bitchy comments made by some people here. then i was fuming about the district. i am the chairperson for the parent committee. i am also a teacher and know all the ins and outs of what is supposed to happen.

LEAVING 300 KIDS OFF THE DOCKET TO STARVE FOR THE DAY IS NEVER GOOD.
we had a meeting the next day. the district employee wanted to gloss over it, but since i had spent the day before writing up a memo on incidents that occured she had no way to get out of it. this week she is having a meeting with the district cafeteria supervisors because apparently they have made too many mistakes.

 

[caridad]

Guess thats what you get when you sign your kid up for the Federal government run program...Obama milk.....

Outrageous.... my federal tax money spent so parents dont have to provide for thier children... then bitch about it when the Obama milk is spolied... Really, I raised my kids with out help from Uncle Sam....

:taped:

 

[caridad]

They didn't like their cereal? It was late?

In what way is this a disaster?

the kids were not on the docket to get their meals for the day. they district had to scramble and get the senior citizen food from the park. MEALS ON WHEELS. either way SOMEONE WENT WITHOUT EATING THAT DAY.

 

[bridgierapa]

i sure was and i still am spewing. right now i'm spewing over bitchy comments made by some people here. then i was fuming about the district. i am the chairperson for the parent committee. i am also a teacher and know all the ins and outs of what is supposed to happen.

LEAVING 300 KIDS OFF THE DOCKET TO STARVE FOR THE DAY IS NEVER GOOD.
we had a meeting the next day. the district employee wanted to gloss over it, but since i had spent the day before writing up a memo on incidents that occured she had no way to get out of it. this week she is having a meeting with the district cafeteria supervisors because apparently they have made too many mistakes.

It's always really demoralizing to discover other people don't care on a basic level the way one does, and that kids who have no experience at being neglected in such a way suffer as a consequence. But I guess if it's not out of place to be philosophical, it's heartening to see that they do to some degree step up and survive. And it broadens their experience, makes the child wiser to some degree.

Maybe you'll think I'm tinny turning bad into good, I don't know. I was one of the mothers who always ensured things were provided somehow, although I did learn to tell kids to 'forage' for food to teach them how to cope should I fall off a ladder (I was always painting & stripping & bogging &c lol!) For the organisation to have gone so badly is remarkable but for the kids to have got through it and out the other side, I think, will give them a better frame of reference. It does a child no harm to discover that everyone is not as thoughtful as mummy...

: Sorry for being tinny.

 

[caridad]

the following park day saw a 180 in the parents. instead of not bringing food to the park they openly brought food for themselves. i'm sure that if the school food had not arrived the children would have eaten that!!!

 

[Sunnynj]

I would hate to see how you would act in a true emergency if you think your day at the park was a disaster.

 

[caridad]

I would hate to see how you would act in a true emergency if you think your day at the park was a disaster.

well, no i was saying that if people treated it as a practice for a disaster, they failed miserably!!! why? because non of the parents had anything for thier kids. the school failed totally in securing food for the kids. that's what i'm saying.

and i saw a few things i erred on myself. however, i was prepared for my dd and actually shared her food with her class.

 

[caridad]

i may be wrong, but i think the intent of the op was to say if people cannot organize a park day for pre-k, how the heck can we feel like we are prepared for shtf?!!

you are exactly right!!!