Kids & Family

Florida Mom 'Furious' By Diaper Message Written On Son's Belly

A single Florida mom says she was "furious" to find a message from a day care provider scrawled across her toddler's belly in marker..

SANIBEL ISLAND, FL — A single Florida mom said she was "furious" to find a note scrawled in marker across her toddler's belly from her day care provider: "Mom I’m out of diapers pls read my report.”

Heather Chisum of Sanibel Island, who posted photos of the message to her Facebook account, said she had a difficult time getting the marker off.

"I’ve scrubbed it with several baby wipes and it’s not coming off," the mother of two said on Facebook earlier this week. "I had plans to take them to the beach to play, and now I can’t because my son has writing all over him."

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Chisum said Wednesday she was overwhelmed by the response the photos generated since she posted them on Facebook Monday.

Not all of the comments were positive.

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"I’m blown away that somehow all of these people have gotten copies of my bank statements to make statements so bold as 'I buy makeup over buying my children diapers,'" she asserted. "All based on my featured pictures showing me wearing makeup (I’m assuming that’s where they are jumping to this conclusion)."

Others commenters implied Chisum must have been told many times that her child needed diapers.

"The answer is once," she countered. "I was told once through a daily report that I missed because I’m a human and sometimes I miss things."

Tribune Media Wire reported the day care facility, Children's Education Center of the Islands, fired one of its employees over the marker note.

A spokesperson for Florida's Department of Children and Families told Patch the agency was also aware of the incident but could not immediately say whether the day care facility violated any regulations.

"In the very worst case scenario, I can’t see anything other than 'need diapers' needing to be written," Chisum said in her post. "Why a big long message needed to be written across my son's stomach is beyond me."

The working mother said the day care facility could have written the message on her son's diaper "or ya know, just tell me."

A daily report is usually placed in her son's lunch box that talks about his mood, diaper changes and if he needs more diapers or wipes. She acknowledges that she missed the one about needing more diapers.

"I’m a single mom with a full time job, and two very young children," Chisum penned. "Sue me for not reading the report every single day."

This apparently wasn't the first such message from the day care facility, according to Chisum. "They’ve done this several months ago too," she added.

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