That went wrong: ‘The substitute teacher was about to report child abuse’
Miranda (29), lives with Peter (31) and is mother of Mirella (4) and Jeremy (2):
“On a rainy Sunday, we had the children finger-paint in the bath. A nice safe place, little could happen there. We glued A3 sheets to the wall and put finger paint jars on the bath rim. The children were able to use their artistic talents and Peter colored a beautiful ‘dress’ for Mirella. Looked great – pictures are still on the fridge.
With a sponge and some bath foam, the wall, the bath and the children were clean again in no time. A week later, still bad weather, they wanted to repeat the party. The paint had run out, but I was able to score a set at Kruidvat.
Article continues after the ad
The children again filled each other’s bodies and were proud of their creative work. But this time the cleaning went a lot less smoothly. It was real finger paint, but from a different brand. That weekend I bathed Jeremy three more times. No matter how I scrubbed with washcloths, you kept seeing stains. Yellow, but also a bit greenish and purple in some places.
Read also
That went wrong: ‘The teacher looked dubious when my daughter came into the classroom’ >
bruises
I had already forgotten about it myself when I took Mirella to school on Monday morning and Jeremy to playgroup. But when I came to pick up Jeremy, it turned out that there had been quite a bit of consternation. The regular toddler teacher had an after-school meeting and so the substitute teacher had to take over. While changing the diaper, she was shocked to see that Jeremy was bruised.
She was about to call the police to report child abuse, but wanted to talk to her colleague first. He immediately called me on the mat when I came to get Jeremy: how could I explain the bruises? I was shocked for a moment, but then I burst out laughing. Luckily I had Mirella with me who could confirm that it was really paint and not a spanking based on the faded colored stars on her arm.”
This one that went wrong is in Kek Mama 16-2021.
Curious about more maternal blunders? Every Monday you can read a new ‘That went wrong’ story on Kekmama.nl.
