This morning, at about 7:00am, the phone rang. The owner of [name removed] in Dieppe, NB, was calling to notify us that they were kicking our son out of daycare, effective immediately.

Whoa.

OK. I’m going to back up to the beginning of this story and try to explain it as fairly as I can.

Full disclosure: there’s no hiding the fact that I’m upset with being left to scramble at the last minute to find someone to care for Leo on a Friday. We were not entirely without fault in this matter, but I feel it’s necessary to let other parents in the Dieppe and Moncton area know about our experience so they can draw their own conclusions about this establishment.

We’re still living in Sackville, where there’s no French-language day care centre. The nearest ones are in Dieppe, so I saw getting the job in Dieppe as my opportunity to get Leo started in a French day care. I phoned around as my interviewing process for the job progressed, and found that few French-language day care centres had any space. [name removed], however, did.

I visited their facility, and I admit it wasn’t perfect. The kids seemed to spend a bit too much time in front of the TV. The place was far from Claire’s work, so I’d be the one doing both pickups and dropoffs. But it was the only Francophone option available and it seemed an acceptable compromise.

As soon as I had the job offer in writing, I phoned and found that [name removed] had filled their last open position. “Let me see what I can do,” the owner said.

The next day, I received a call from her with good news: she had “done some calculations” and worked out a way to have Leo attend with her existing kid:teacher ratio. Since all other places were still full, I didn’t bother to review her methodology and dropped off a deposit cheque.

Leo started at [name removed] this past Monday. Being in a new job, it’s hard to get out at 5:00pm sharp. Despite my extralegal rate of speed on my way to the [name removed], I arrived 5 minutes past their 5:30 PM “closing” time. I was profusely apologetic. [name removed], the one friendly young educator who was working, said it wasn’t a big deal. I asked if I owed any money for my tardiness, and she said not to worry. Leo seemed to really like it there, and he was fitting in.

Tuesday, I managed to get there before 5:30 PM. However, sometime between the Monday evening pickup and Tuesday morning, they had managed to lose one of Leo’s shoes. So we spent some time looking for it as I chatted with [name removed], the other friendly young educator who happened to be staffing the day care centre at that time. Leo and I were out of there by 5:40 or so. I did not sense any resentment for the late hour, and nothing was said in reproachment.

Wednesday was a tough day at work, and I had to get an important email sent to all staff before leaving the office. I rushed to [name removed]  and arrived at 5:35pm or so. This time the owner was there, and she gave me a thorough dressing down for being late “three days in a row”. Again, I apologized and explained the circumstances to her. She hammered me on the importance of picking up Leo at 5:20 or earlier so that she and her staff could get out of her residence’s basement by 5:30 PM. She made no warnings, veiled or otherwise, about Leo being kicked out, though.

On Thursday, I had a company function after work and had made arrangements with Claire to pick up Leo. Claire left her work early, came to my office’s parking lot so she could swap vehicles with me to have Leo’s safety seat. She had a bit of trouble finding the place and got there at 5:30 PM sharp.  No one said anything to her about this being a problem.

So this morning, I was quite surprised to receive the call from [name removed], owner of [name removed]. She said that since we had been “late every evening this week” that she was kicking Leo out. She also made it clear that I had no claim to a refund for the last day of the week I’d already paid for.

I responded as politely as I could, given the shock I was experiencing. I couldn’t fathom how this woman could justify giving me 5 minute’s notice that I no longer had a child care provider, on a work day, and that I had no claim to the money I had paid for this day. She wasn’t budging, and began to lecture me on taking responsibility for my child. I thought it best to end the conversation and hung up.

I am still in disbelief over the treatment we’ve received. Leo really liked it there, and I’m having a hard time explaining to him why he can’t attend anymore.

If any good can come of this, I hope that other parents who are considering [name removed] as a daycare solution in Dieppe will think carefully about their options before placing their child in their care.