(34F) background: About a decade ago I got my first day care job. I have always been great with children. There was an older woman named Donna. Real Karen type. Miserable divorcee. Definitely peaked in high school. I worked with infants and toddlers. She worked with Pre-K and would fill in as supervisor on occasion but was not an official supervisor.
Build up: one day I was assisting with the older kids. The main teacher, Marla, asked me to take a misbehaved child to “the office” to be disciplined by the owner, Vance (equivalent of sending to the principals office). I went in and Vance was not there. But I knew he was always moving around and in and out of the office so I decided to wait. I was told to do whatever Marla told me to do so I waited. Donna saw me and demanded to know what I was doing. I explained. She told me to go back to the classroom. I told her I couldn’t do that. She got mad. I decided to ignore her. Shortly afterwards Vance came back. I gave him the child and went back to Marla.
The incident: I was called into the office with Vance, and Donna was there too. Donna was making crazy accusations about me. She claimed I had a bunch of children in the hall with me and I was either (1) not properly supervising them, (2) not able to control them, or (3) allowing them to misbehave. Her story kept changing but the implication was clear that I was incompetent. I didn’t know how to defend myself from such crazy lies. I went back to Marla upset. Thinking I was about to fired after only one month. She was like “that didn’t happen. You were with me. I’ll go talk to Vance.” Vance later apologized to me but never trusted me again the 2 years I worked there. Donna defended herself to the other teachers the next day by saying “I was only thinking of the children.”
Aftermath: Donna ignored me and never talked to me again. I outlasted her there. After she left I had to place a document in my file when I came across the paper with her lies on it. Vance kept it in my file. I was pissed. I stuffed it in my bra and shred it when I got home. It was over.
Reflections: I later learned Donna had gotten other young teachers before me fired. She did take other young teachers under her wing. One who later apologized to me for having me all wrong. She told me Donna told her awful things about me she realized that none of it was true after getting to know me. All of “Donna’s girls” had one shared trait: white and blonde like her and unlike me. I have dark features being Jewish and Sicilian. It was years after I left that I realized that.
P.S. I left day care for good and getting a degree in paralegal studies