Missing Out on All the Good Stuff

On Wednesday, Jean got an unusual phone call—from New York’s Office of Children and Family Services. No, this had nothing to do with our daily subjection of Sasha to an Elmo video. Actually, OFCS (I’m pretty sure it was them) was following up on the latest drama to hit Preschool of America, the daycare chain Sasha goes to in Chinatown.

I’m driving aimlessly around Ireland right now, so I’ve been hearing all the juicy details secondhand from Jean. First of all, this has nothing to do with the labor troubles that rocked/are rocking the Upper West Side branches of the school. This issue seems more localized: At the beginning of September, Sasha’s class got a new second teacher: Miss Daniela joined Miss Zhuo in the 1-to-2-year-old room. But apparently, Miss Daniela quit after just four days, and furthermore is alleging that Miss Zhuo has been abusing the kids—something about taking them into a dark bathroom and then, at naptime, holding them down with blankets until they fall asleep.

Weird, huh? On the one hand, Jean and I both like Miss Zhuo, who seems to love Sasha, who seems to love Miss Zhuo. Sasha’s a happy kid, naps easily at home, and displays no sign that she’s being mistreated at school. At the same time, how can we really know what’s going on there during the day? We picked PoA because it seemed like the right place, the right approach (bilingual), the right building (brand new!), and the right price, but after that it’s a crapshoot. You have to cross your fingers and hope for the best.

In the phone call from CPS, Jean defended Miss Zhuo because, as far as we know, she’s been nothing but loving to our kid. I hope the investigation comes to the same conclusion.

And I hope that next time a big drama erupts in my household, I’ll be around to enjoy it.