Well, we are on the lookout for a new daycare. We had been going through an at-home daycare of a lady who only watched her own two kids and one other. She wasn’t SPOTLESS clean, but she was better than the cheap daycares near my house and she was considerably cheaper.
My wife and I went to lunch at Arby’s. It’s a quick and delicious meal near my office. After finishing my fifth Arby’s Melt sandwich (5 for 5 is amazing), I received a call from my daycare lady. Her demeanor was calm with a small hint that something was amiss. I immediately started to worry. She told me that she needed my daughter (9 months old) to be picked up and that there had been an accident with her own daughter (6 months old).
Since my wife's job is easier to get off of during these kinds of situations, she volunteered to go pick our daughter up. Knowing that my daughter was safe, I went on with a few other errands during my lunch hour. I drove to a local theater and picked up two tickets for the new Harry Potter movie for me and a friend. I then proceeded to drive back to the office and get back to the daily grind.
Curious about what had taken place, I called my wife’s cell. She answered crying. Now, I was worried again. She said that it was “really serious” and that a child died. My heart sank. I knew that my baby was safe, but still that she was there when it happened and that it could have been her. My wife told me that our daycare lady had put both babies onto her bed and left them there alone for 45 minutes. I don’t know about her daughter, but mine does not sit still for 10 seconds, let alone 45 minutes. Supposedly, her daughter had wedged her head between the headboard of the bed and the mattress, causing her to suffocate herself. When the daycare lady came back into the room, she found her baby stuck with her head a deep shade of blue. Panicking, she took her baby out and realized it wasn’t breathing. She called 911, who arrived within minutes.
The police realized that the lady had neglected the kids and immediately shut down the daycare business. An ambulance that had arrived shortly after the police, took the baby to the hospital. My wife picked up our daughter and is now in the process of finding a new daycare provider. We have no intention on going for the cheapest this time around. Our daughter’s life is more important that saving a hundred dollars a week.
I am extremely thankful that my daughter is safe and that she is too young to be permanently traumatized by something as horrid as this.
There are probably tons of grammatical errors and mispellings in this post, but understand that I am still pretty stressed as it happened less than an hour ago.
I wouldn't doubt if there was national news coverage on this within the next few days. I will do my best to keep this page updated whenever I learn anything new.
UPDATE: 2:44PM CST
My wife just received a phone call from the police informing her that the daycare lady's child DID INDEED pass away. The police have also taken their other child away from them. I imagine that they will have to go to court to see if they can get him back.
UPDATE: 3:15PM CST
An investigator is coming over Saturday morning to ask us a few questions.
UPDATE: 4:06PM CST
My wife just read the article and called me to tell me that it wasn't the daycare lady's kid that died. It was one of the client's kids.
UPDATE: 13 Jul 07 - 8:41AM CST
We ended up finding a much nicer daycare a few extra miles from my office. It's a 'professional' establishment that is VERY clean and well organized. Plus, they are not that much more expensive than what we have been paying before.
Last night was pretty odd. I just kept thinking about the other family and what they must be going through. Last night was probably the worst night of their lives. My wife asked if we should find out their full name and address to send flowers, but I don't know how appropriate that is. If it had been my daughter that passed away, I sure as hell wouldn't want any damn flowers.
I keep checking the local newspapers for stories related to the incident, but has broke yet. Perhaps, they don't want to write a story until they know that it's not a SIDS occurrence. I will post the links to the articles as soon as they come out.
UPDATE 14 Jul 07 - 0815AM CST
The obituary has been released on this poor little angel .
UPDATE 16 Jul 07 - 0849AM CST
Well, the investigator came over Saturday morning. I was envisioning a police detective complete with a long black coat. But, I was wrong. He was an investigator from Child Protective Services. He was dressed casually in jeans and a flowery polo shirt. Anyway, we were asked questions on Izzie's history with the daycare and our feelings about the daycare. My wife told him that we had complained once a few months back, on how dirty it was. He said they did find a container of weed killer sitting on the floor in the kitchen.
He then asked if we had any questions. We asked him for the truth. He told us that our daughter had not been in the same bed as the little girl. Our daughter was actually in a crib in the same room. The little girl was on the bed and had gotten caught just like I had written about earlier. He said they will not know exactly what happened until the autopsy results come in and that we will be hearing back from him in about two months.
This will be the last update on this article until then. My wife and I did decide to send the family money instead of flowers (it requests it on the obituary).
Thank you everyone for your kind words and your sympathy. My family is just fine. It was just a bit of a shock on that day. Our thoughts are with the family of that poor little girl.
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