Alicia-N-2SafeBugs
Senior Community Member
I've mentioned this situation a couple time within other threads....but here's some a few details of background info..
On a field trip in October, I mentioned to ds' teacher that I was a CPST and would be willing to help out and do a little something during their upcoming "Safety Week." Another teacher spoke up and said "Oh, I'm a CPST too!" I didn't get all the info but it sounds to me like she's one of the ones who got certified b/c her job said so and it's been a couple years. I'm not sure she's kept up her certification. I borrowed a seat from her when my ds' Marathon was broken and I thought I was going to have to send it into Britax. The seat was a few months from expiration and I had to take apart the harness and re-thread it b/c the straps were so twisted. NOT the kind of thing I'd expect from another tech. I didn't end up using it.
I got into a conversation one day with the owner's sister (who subs sometimes) about carseats and tried to help her...but she wouldn't risk waking up her newborn to let me tighten the base of her infant seat (at least I got to buckle the chest clip and show her how to tighten the harness). She also wasn't willing to wake up the 3yo in a booster in the back who had a huge jacket on and the shoulder belt behind her back. I did the best I could and moved on.
My ds' preschool is small and it's held in a home that has been turned into a preschool (no one lives there, the whole house is the school). I always see a car parked out on the street that belongs to one of the teachers. In the back there is an old OHS and an old harnessed booster with no cover or padding and straps that are so twisted that they look about as narrow as a pencil. I left a note for her one day asking her to call me so that we could talk since I'd noticed some very unsafe things (I was very nice and tactful...). She never called, but the naked booster was replaced the next week with another old seat..sigh.
Here's my problem....I seem to be the local freak sideshow now. None of the teachers speak to me or say hello to me anymore. No one is friendly. They all just kind of stare at me like I'm the most bizarre person they've ever met. I'm so upset by this! I don't know what to say to them. I'm considering writing a letter, but I'm not sure what to say. I'm also thinking of pulling my ds out of the school b/c if they will treat me like this, I wonder how they are treating him. I feel like saying to them "I'm sorry that I care more about your children's safety than you do." Of course, I would never say that, but it's so frustrating!
Any advice?
On a field trip in October, I mentioned to ds' teacher that I was a CPST and would be willing to help out and do a little something during their upcoming "Safety Week." Another teacher spoke up and said "Oh, I'm a CPST too!" I didn't get all the info but it sounds to me like she's one of the ones who got certified b/c her job said so and it's been a couple years. I'm not sure she's kept up her certification. I borrowed a seat from her when my ds' Marathon was broken and I thought I was going to have to send it into Britax. The seat was a few months from expiration and I had to take apart the harness and re-thread it b/c the straps were so twisted. NOT the kind of thing I'd expect from another tech. I didn't end up using it.
I got into a conversation one day with the owner's sister (who subs sometimes) about carseats and tried to help her...but she wouldn't risk waking up her newborn to let me tighten the base of her infant seat (at least I got to buckle the chest clip and show her how to tighten the harness). She also wasn't willing to wake up the 3yo in a booster in the back who had a huge jacket on and the shoulder belt behind her back. I did the best I could and moved on.
My ds' preschool is small and it's held in a home that has been turned into a preschool (no one lives there, the whole house is the school). I always see a car parked out on the street that belongs to one of the teachers. In the back there is an old OHS and an old harnessed booster with no cover or padding and straps that are so twisted that they look about as narrow as a pencil. I left a note for her one day asking her to call me so that we could talk since I'd noticed some very unsafe things (I was very nice and tactful...). She never called, but the naked booster was replaced the next week with another old seat..sigh.
Here's my problem....I seem to be the local freak sideshow now. None of the teachers speak to me or say hello to me anymore. No one is friendly. They all just kind of stare at me like I'm the most bizarre person they've ever met. I'm so upset by this! I don't know what to say to them. I'm considering writing a letter, but I'm not sure what to say. I'm also thinking of pulling my ds out of the school b/c if they will treat me like this, I wonder how they are treating him. I feel like saying to them "I'm sorry that I care more about your children's safety than you do." Of course, I would never say that, but it's so frustrating!
Any advice?