I do not work in a daycare

[draggonlaady]

I work in a veterinary clinic. So please explain to me why, on a regular basis, there are multiple children running and screaming in the lobby, with no parents in sight? At what point did it become acceptable to ditch your unruly, noisy, disruptive kids with the already busy reception staff while you disappear into the exam room to talk to the doctor? And why am I not allowed to put said children in a kennel as I would an unsupervised dog left in the lobby?

Along with the "We are not a bank; we do not back loans" sign I contemplate posting, we apparently need one that reads:

"Unsupervised children will be given an espresso and a free puppy or kitten."

Comments

[cheshirecatco.livejournal.com]

Right up until the last line, I was thinking of suggesting a sign that said you'd spay or neuter unattended children.

[tmercenary.livejournal.com]

a store near were I grew up had one that read "Stray children will be sold to gypsies."

For a sign in your line of work, I'd go with "Remember to control the human poulation, stray children will be spayed or neutered."

[evil-egg.livejournal.com]

If you assume that most of these children are present because of an ailing pet, just threaten to put them down. That'll shut 'em up.

[herdarkmistress.livejournal.com]

Hugs. I second the motion of dumping the kids in a kennel. Pets have to be leashed and supervised at all times why not with kids. (yes i used to do childcare)

[jacksontwobears.livejournal.com]

"Children left unattended will be remanded to the custody of the supervising veterinarian who will attempt to remove the left forebrain with a chainsaw, pliers, and blowtorch while blindfolded."

Or something.

[glittercat13.livejournal.com]

Actually, I like your original idea better than any of the others proferred. After all, the unsupervised kids, just like untrained puppies, are really only a problem because of their owners/parents. May I suggest you offer up a candy bar with the expresso (sugar + caffine = a whole *extra* layer of hellish). Also, you might mention that repeat offenders will be provided with BOTH a free puppy AND kitten.

After all, lots of homeless pets get adopted, kids are happy, parents are (hopefully) traumatized into *actually* parenting, and you get an even larger client base. :D

(Yeah. Yeah. I know. And, then, you wake up. Right? ;P )

(Oh, and, BTW, I *am* a parent and, when my daughter was younger, age 6 and up, used to take whole packs of smalls with me on various outings. We just discussed what was appropriate store/shop/etc. behavior and how to achieve it.

One trick I had for them was to hold hands - their own...behind their backs. If they concentrated on that, they could go into a shop full of breakables and look (with their eyes) to their heart's content. Since their hands were already busy, and behind their backs, they were *much* less likely to do the "look with the hands" thing that's just a scant step from expensive breakage.

Now, for todlers under 5 and such . . . well, I got an awful lot of use out of my child harness/leash. She got the illusion of freedom and I had the fact of control. It's a win/win in my book. :> )

[sphynx-again.livejournal.com]

I threw a tantrum at the grocery store with my mother once. I always hated grocery shopping, and did not want to be there. Ever. And was making sure everyone in a 3 block radius knew it. (I actually don't remember the tantrum part at all, just the results. I was young!) At any rate, my mother told me that if I didn't behave, we'd have to leave the store and then there wouldn't be any food for dinner. And wouldn't my dad be hungry and sad when he got home from working in the woods all day. All I got from that is Tantrum = Go Home, so we did. Mom pushed the cart to the front, apologized to the clerk, and we left. I thought I'd gotten my way, and wasn't it great. Well, dad came home, and at dinner time, there was nothing to eat. We had, oh, I don't remember. Dry bread or something. A can of peas. Whatever. And dad was so hungry and disappointed that I wouldn't go shopping to help get food for the family. I felt AWFUL! I have no doubt that after they sent me to bed, mom found SOMETHING in the house to feed dad. We weren't wealthy, but we certainly weren't starving either. Still, the lesson worked.

Of course, that won't really help you, because that still requires a certain degree of PARENTING. From the PARENTS.

As for signs, I want one with a line drawn at about 3' high that says "You must be at least THIS smart to enter."

[xthread.livejournal.com]

Ooh, good sign idea.
I wonder if I should put one of those up at our office... (we have a room with various games - a Wii, some pinball machines, etc. We occasionally have troubles with coworkers using the game room as a babysitter, which is hard on the games. The threat of espresso and a free small pet might slow them down a bit...)