I have been wanting to do Lamaze educator training for a while, actually, ever since we took Bradley. I love the Bradley method but to me, Lamaze encompasses more. The Bradley method is also known as "husband-coached childbirth" - which of course, requires a husband, which, of course, many pregnant women don't have. Obviously I think having a husband before having children is the easiest way through life, but many women choose other paths and many don't get a choice. Plus Bradley is 12 3-hour sessions, which is great but for crying out loud, it's really long. So, I'm going to teach Lamaze. I hope.
A 3-day training seminar is one of the requirements for the LCCE certification. Finally one of the training companies scheduled one within driving distance, and better yet, from Wed-Friday so I don't have to miss worship services. I put my deposit down in November, and never heard anything back. I sent a few emails and never got a response. In January I got a generic, vaguely worded email with the name of the neighborhood and a hotel recommendation (including a strong suggestion that one of us should stay there so the trainer can share a car.) She didn't even say what time the class starts. So I have been sending her repeated emails and voicemails. No reply.
Oh besides the $395 seminar fee which I fortunately didn't pay in full, I also had to buy a $180 study packet, which of course I never got. Part of the $180 was a student membership to Lamaze International and their (required) official study guide. And with the heavy snow crippling the DC area, I haven't been able to get in touch with THEM to see if she paid them on my behalf.
Obviously I am more than peeved. And apparently I am not the only one. The trainer's facebook wall is full of posts from people saying "I am getting fed up" and "Can you contact me about the order I made WEEKS AGO?" I finally emailed the host and until today SHE hadn't been able to get in touch with the trainer either. She has paid her HOA to use the community clubhouse, and now she is worried that the trainer won't show up and she'll be sitting there with a room full of angry women who will hold her responsible. Because honestly, when you pay someone good money and then you don't hear from them for weeks and weeks and weeks, you start wondering if they are dead or in a coma. I am sitting here thinking, she's dead and her husband or whoever has no way to wrap up the details of her business. I mean, if I died suddenly, my husband wouldn't know how to log in to all our bills to pay them, or which sippy cups match which lids, much less my doula clients' names and phone numbers. In all seriousness, I think she must just be super disorganized, and incredibly rude.
All in all this is the only chance this year that I have to do this training, so I finally decided to roll with it. At least Paypal will reverse the charges if necessary. If nothing else, we spend the night in Hotlanta, get up and find out the class is canceled, and have a fun day in town before going home. If she shows up and dares to say something to me about my increasingly ugly emails, oh - it's ON.
Best case scenario - I go, the training is awesome, and I learn a lot, and the trainer has brought all the materials I ordered with her, and at night I have a great time with my family.
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wakeful dreamer