inner grammar nazi . . .

. . . and oh, is this bad! I am having heart palpitations as I write this. I must be calm. So, the short of it is that Gemma is currently enrolled at a daycare that is just a basic daycare. A babysitting service where their major focus is on the kids and teachers making it through the day without any major dramas. Gemma has been lucky because she's had the experience of having two really fantastic teachers in her time there. But the teacher turnover rate is like that of a pancake house and there is a new teacher in her room now. So the administrator assures us she has "tons of experiences" (old as dirt) and "just loves kids" (needs the money) and will be able to "get this room in order" (is a strict disciplinarian). Whatever. Gemma leaves in two weeks. So the new teacher gives us a welcome letter, tells us that she's enjoyed having Gemma in class and that she was very well behaved. Of course she is. She's also creative and says marvelously observant things and can spell her name and count to twenty.

Oh, but the letter.

I can't help myself. There are so many typos, misspelled words, and such a lack of basic grammar that it not only bothers me immediately, but it continues to bother me. Days later it bothers me. I mentioned it to my husband. A couple of times. I mentioned it to my mother-in-law. I mentioned it in casual conversation to other people. I mean, really? I know Gemma can't read yet, but she can spell her name. Isn't there some point where we should expect that the threshold of education be that spelling and writing and reading be accurate if one is going to be in the education field? And if we take that to be a benchmark then shouldn't our expectations of those doing the hiring be a bit on par as well? Because once we go down that slippery sliding slope of, oh well, it's only a daycare and they are only babies who can't read or write, then what we are really saying is that we don't value education because we don't hire educated people to care for our babies and toddlers in the first place.

There are seventeen mistakes in her letter. 17! (I'm adding all the uppercase that should be lowercase as one.) Oh, and her rules of the classroom revolve around listening to the teacher and keeping hands to yourself. What is Gemma expected to learn with that approach?

Needless to say, I'm at a loss. I know I didn't go to some fancy private daycare where we all ate organic food and sang wonderful songs about saving the earth and then wrote poetry and discussed Derrida after nap time. But what I am saying is that this letter is a prime example of two things: 1) the blatant disregard of written English grammar and who we allow to be in charge of our children and 2) my obvious and irrational obsession with this letter.

So, I've corrected it nicely and marked it all up. Do I stuff it in the suggestion box so it can at least be seen by somebody so they are aware they've hired someone who can't write? Or do I bottle it up? Should I put up a poll? I think I can put up a poll on Blogger, right? This is really irking the bejesus out of me.

(Side note: Blogger also does note recognize the spelling of Gemma. Best of luck with her teacher's letter!)