Ouch!!!

Does this picture hurt y'all to look at? That is THREE layers of peeling skin, folks. Thanks to Bosqueville Elementary's, water day followed by a weekend with her Dad at the lake. I hurt for my girl as she flinches any time someone brushes up close to her. I panic because my Dad had skin cancer, I have watched my younger brother struggle with burns and "spots" since he was about 9, and I know that they have linked skin cancer to the first bad burn. I am mad as a hornet because this is one of those situations I had limited, if any control over. I trusted others to look out for my child when I can't. And they failed. The teachers, her Dad, her party mom, me. When I asked her if she reminded them to reapply, she said "no, I trusted them to know and to look out for me". There are no words...

I slathered her before she left Friday morning, sent sunscreen and told her to reapply. The Moms I work with told her to reapply. She forgot her sunscreen, (even though I had put it in her bag) but was resourceful enough to ask a classmate put more sunscreen on. She came home red, exhausted and swollen. I should have made her Dad wait, I should have made her take a shower. I should have taken her to the store on the way and gotten her lotion and sent it with her, milk, vinegar something. But her skin was not blistered and she was mainly complaining of being tired so I just took her to her Dad. I gave her ibuprofen to help with inflammation and made her hydrate. We were in the car with the AC and she slept the whole way there. I did what I thought was best at the time, given the circumstances. Had I known they were going to keep her out in the sun I would have gone in and gotten the most expensive sunscreen, and a rash guard top for her to wear. I trusted them to take over and make sure she didn't burn worse... 

It was her Dad's weekend so I dropped her off, told her to ask Dad for some after skin lotion from him and be sure to wear sunscreen the next day since she had a swim meet and they were spending the weekend at the lake.

This is what she came home looking like.

If this were your kid, how would you feel?

How am I supposed to protect my kids? My hands are tied. When they are with people who I'm supposed to trust to "love them as their own".

Don't mistake what I am saying...this is NOT an attack on her Dad or party mom...I am just as angry with the teachers at water day. I am angry at myself for allowing it to happen. For trusting others to love my child and do what I would have done, for not realizing what was going to happen and trying to prevent it. You'd think by now I'd know I can't trust anyone but myself...especially when it comes to loving and caring for my kids!