It is so sad. Mom wrote me an email on the weekend saying her new "strategy" to deal with inappropriate behavior from this child is that when said child acts up whether it's a tantrum, breaking things like her sister's toys, jumping on furniture and counters she is going to walk away from the entire situation, go to her own room, lock the door and read or have a nap or have a shower or talk on the phone. Once the action stops she will leave her room and IGNORE the fact that this behavior has happened and instead "praise her deeply for skills she possesses and previous good deeds"(these were her exact words). She said she's been using this tactic for about a month now, which would explain why she's been acting more terribly here - it's working at home and she figures she will eventually wear me down. Mom asked me to employ this method to I told her no way. I will only use time outs. I will not allow her to do whatever she wants.

So, I printed up my termination letter and was planning on giving it to her Wednesday, but yesterday as I'm making after school snacks, I hear the bathroom door being slammed over and over. She's on the inside doing this and another kid is on the outside. I tell them to stop and she continues. I open the door, she's totally naked, with poopy toilet paper in her hand slamming the door. I close it and tell her to finish, wash up and come out. She responds with "I am not in the mood for your CRAP! You're stupid, ugly, etc. I hate you!" I put her in timeout and she continues screaming at me. It's not fair to the other kids, it's not fair to me, even my dog ran and hid under my bed.

I gave mom termination letter last night at pick up and explained what happened. Child says, "No, I was sitting on the toilet and she came in and told me to get out." Child continues with "See mom, this the crap I have to put up with. She is so stupid and ugly. I hate her." Mom says," Well, that's your opinion and you are more than entitled to your own opinion". I tell her this is not appropriate way for a child to treat anyone and mom says she is raising her daughter to "stand up for herself" and "be assertive and to be a strong and independent woman". She goes on to say she has done tons of research on child development and spoken to many public health nurses who agree that this is "completely normal behavior for 7 year olds and that I will finally "see the light" once my own children turn 7 and I have to deal with the exact same behavior. I disagree but told her that I simply cannot and will not put up with this behavior anymore. I've given 2 weeks notice but told her if an outburst like that happenes again, she will not be allowed back. She went to say some rude things about how I'm not a good caregiver but I choose to ignore them and tell her to have a great evening. It's so terribly sad that this woman feels this is normal and okay. *sigh* In the meanttime, advertising like mad for another family to fill in. Have an interview lined up in the next little while, hoping it is a good match for the family and myself!