Squeaky Wheel Gets the Grease!

Yesterday was my very first Parent/ Teacher conference.  Sure, it was only preschool, but talk about feeling old!

Earlier this year, I felt really uncomfortable with some things I noticed going on at Titan's school.  The main doors to the building NEVER locked and a few times I entered the building to pick him up and NO ONE WAS AT THE FRONT DESK.  NO ONE EVEN KNEW I ENTERED THE BUILDING.  Ask me how well that went over :)

So after an email exchange with Titan's teacher and also with the director of the school, they vowed to have someone at the front desk at all times.  (uummm, shouldn't that policy have already been in place??!!)

Later on, maybe it was a few days, maybe it was a few weeks, I don't even remember at this point, all the kids were playing in the "playground" during pick up time.  (And by playground, I mean a black top with woods chips.  Children are similar to hamsters, I guess?) I was greeted in the main lobby, walked through the school, and went to the playground.  BUT NO ONE EVEN ACKNOWLEDGED that I was picking Titan up and taking him home.  Not safe.  Not cool.  ANGRY mom, once again.

Emails, emails, emails.  Sometimes its so hard to be polite when all you want to do is scream.  Your child is your world, don't they know that?  Safety first!  "Why don't the front doors lock?"  "Someone must have been in the bathroom yesterday because NO ONE was at the front desk."

Results?  Well, in late September I was told that a security system would be installed.  October came and went.  As did November and as did December.  And we all know what happened in mid-December.  Connecticut.  The shootings.  Horrible.

Emails, emails, emails.  I told the director the actions of the school were no longer acceptable.  They dragged their feet far too long.  Either lock the doors and man the front desk or Titan will NOT be returning.  We will not pay his tuition.  (Which, by the way, is a FORTUNE considering his school is next to a LIQUOR store.  Yes, seriously).

Results?  The director waived our tuition for the time I pulled Titan out of school.  The security system was installed and working in time for the children to return after New Years.  Each family has a code they type in that unlocks the main entrance door and it automatically locks as soon as its shut.  Front desk is always manned.

Squeaky wheel gets the grease.

So, the moral of the story is this:

In our lives, every day, we settle.  We settle for things we know aren't right.  We settle on things because we don't think we can make a difference.  We settle because we're too tired, we're too lazy, we're too this, we're too that.  Whatever the reason is, it doesn't matter.

How far would you go to protect your child?

Squeaky wheel gets the grease.