::cringes at memory of first bad work experience::
[Apologies in advance for post length. Also, I have decided to use the people's real first names, but not their last names, to protect their privacy.]
I work at a daycare part-time. DCFS (that's Department of Child & Family Services, for you Brits who weren't aware) states that there must be 1 adult per 8 children. Well, my boss wanted to pick up a bit more income, so she decided to hire me and thus be able to have more clients.
So there was this family--we'll call them the Richardsons. The Richardsons had just welcomed home their new baby, Ava, who was baby number five (NOTE: they just had their sixth child, a boy named Becklin, on April 16th). [YES, I KNOW THEY HAVE A LOT OF KIDS.]
Anyway, so their oldest, a girl named Tatum, had her umbilical cord wrapped around her neck at birth and therefore experienced oxygen deprivation. As a result, she's always been a bit... oddly-behaved (not trying to be rude or anything; her parents would tell you the same thing). Well, because Ava had just been born, everyone--including Mr. and Mrs. Richardson--was paying lots of attention to Ava and not as much to Tatum.
So Tatum decided to get attention anyways (nevermind it was the negative kind). She was 10 years old and in the third grade, but I've seriously seen better-behaved two-year-olds. HONEST. If something didn't go Tatum's way--even if it was just something like, "Tatum, let's not hug your brother [Weston] that tight; he doesn't like that"--Tatum would proceed to choke/scratch/tease/slap/spit at one or more of her brothers (Weston, Karch, and Jaxon all go to my same daycare too, as does Ava and now Becklin). Since DCFS states that childcare providers can in no way physically punish a child, we had to only put her in time-out for red-tape reasons. We (my boss and I) tried EVERYTHING else--ignoring her (making sure her brothers were safe, though), taking away her outside-playtime priviliges, moving the brothers to a different room--until finally one day Tatum was going to attack my boss, who was 5 months pregnant at the time (she had a lovely baby girl named Taylor, who's now just turned 1 :D).
I did what came to mind first: I jumped in front of my boss, grabbed Tatum's ankles and wrists, and leaned on her, physically restraining her, until her parents came to pick the children up.
In the process, she scratched my arms and hands, tried to pinch my skin, and tried to spit in my face (I pinned her down before she could do anything).
Needless to say, Tatum didn't stay very long at the daycare, and that was pretty much the worst work experience ever.
(Mademoiselle Dustman picked a bouquet of oopsie daisies for you on, Thu 10 May 2007, 23:32, Reply)