Great Day All,
Many years ago while my husband was stationed in Germany and we were living on base, our three children were all young and daycare expenses were more than I could make working, but we felt we needed extra income, so I became a certified home daycare provider.
My job was to play. Everyday I was being paid for my friends to come over and all day long we played, did crafts, went for walks and all sorts of fun stuff. I almost never had availability and even a few times went over my maximum amount of kids allowed … what am I supposed to do when a scared parent has no where to take their child and they HAVE to go to work?
One day, I got a call from a woman. Her son had just been kicked out of another providers home. He had gone through so many, he was getting a “reputation”. You see Jonathan was a biter. When Jonathan would get over excited, he bit. When he was upset, he bit. When he was scared, he bit. His first reflex in most instances was to bite.
The first day – I was very vigilant – no bite. The second day – no biting. By the end of the week – I thought we had succeeded – and then it happened. I’d only turned my back a moment when I heard a blood curdling pained scream.
There were all my kids – looking back and forth between the bitten child and Jonathan.
It all happened so fast – it didn’t even occur to me what I had done until Johnny’s tears slid slowly down his cheeks as he looked at my teeth marks on his forearm sitting in the time-out chair.
Oh my goodness, I had just bit one of my kids. What kind of monster was I? I looked around at my kids, they looked up at me with something like admiration in their eyes, and I think that kinda scared me even more than the fact I had one these precious beings …
It was several hours before parents started arriving at the end of the day to pick up their children. By the time Jonathan’s Mom came – the bite marks had faded from sight – but they were still very fresh in my heart.
I told Jonathan’s Mom – he bit one of the other children. The color drained from her face, and she asked me if I would continue to watch Jonathan until she could find another provider.
I told her nothing doing.
Jonathan was one of the Conner Clan and he wasn’t going anywhere – unless Mom wanted to move him … because I bit him. I pointed out where my teeth marks on his arm had been.
Jonathan left that day after giving me a hug and kiss, saying I love you Miss Evie. We had many more months with Jonathan before his Mom and Dad rotated back to the States – but Jonathan never bit again. He learned on that day that being bitten hurts.
I learned on that day that to harm another, even for their own good hurts too. So much better if we get to the end result by learning from others experiences than to have to keep re-inventing the wheel.
Biting Hurts – do not hurt others.
Biting hurts - do not bite
