Incident Report
I’m typically on pick-up duty for daycare, which is sometimes difficult since Spicy Girl really enjoys her time there. She loves her teachers and calls all of her classmates her “friends.” But more than anything she loves that she gets to sing and dance in her daily music class, create masterpieces with play-doh, and run around on the playground for hours—a much more exciting time than coming home and being forced to watch mommy heat up a flat-bread pizza.
On a good day it takes me 10 minutes to get her packed up and out the door. But on a day where we have an “incident report,” it can be a bit longer. Incident reports are the daycare’s way of letting parents know when their child is either the perpetrator or the victim in a “less than civil” interaction. So this week, when I was late for pick up (isn’t that always the way?) I was greeted by Spicy Girl with a band-aid under her left eye.
Awesome.
According to the Incident Report, Spicy Girl was so jacked up about going to the playground that being anything but first in line was absolutely unacceptable. Unfortunately, she was not the only 2 year old who felt this way, and after a short squabble, she was on the receiving end of a left upper cut.
OK, OK, she was scratched.
I don’t know who else was involved in the scuffle, because my daycare’s policy is to not reveal the name of others involved (in order to avoid retaliation between parents in the parking lot.) But that doesn’t mean I don’t start pumping Spicy Girl for information as soon as we are backing out of our spot.
“So, did you get a boo boo today?”
“Yeah”
“Did it hurt?”
“Yup!”
“Do you know who scratched you, Spicy Girl?”
And then she spills it. The name of the slasher.
So, of course, when my hubby comes home, I let him know the name of the specific child responsible for our daughter’s injury.
“You know, she’s 2!” He shouts, “It is possible she doesn’t even understand the question that you are asking her. In fact, I would bet that in a line up, she would just as likely pick out Elmo as the kid who actually scratched her.”
The hubby thinks he is so smart, but, I know better.
She knows who did it. And now I do too.