Help a mama out 😪

My oldest daughter turned 5 in July and has started kindergarten, and since we moved, started at a new daycare as well. It’s been going pretty well considering all the changes that are in place because of covid and she seems to really enjoy it. One thing that I don’t like, however, is the lack of communication the daycare has with us.

My daughter does suffer from anxiety and PTSD from something that happened last year and we’ve been honest and trying to help the school therapist understand as much as possible how to help her because she sometimes has issues when it comes to speaking up or saying no, she just gets silent or cries

This wednesday, she was taking the bus at the end of the day like usual but it was a replacement bus driver and didn’t know all the stops and apparently there was a mix-up and he ended up dropping her home instead of the daycare, while no one was home, at around 2:10 pm.

At 4:45, I get a call from my husband saying that he got a call from the daycare saying that our daughter wasn’t there and they wanted to make sure she wasn’t held up at school (she has sessions with the school therapist once a week that ends around 3:15). I call the school, freaking out and they tell me she took the bus and they don’t know what happened.

I add 2 and 2 together and figure out she must have been dropped home instead of the daycare. I rush - might be the fastest I’ve ever drove - because it was POURING rain and I was honestly terrified.

I find her curled up in a ball crying on the side of the garage... I can’t begin to tell you how my heart felt, completely shattered. She’s been outside by herself in pouring rain for over 2 and a half hours, crying, scared, confused, and this might have been the saddest thing I’ve ever seen....

I call my husband and let him know that I’ve found her and then I take her in and take care of her... I kept her home today.

This situation leaves a lot of questions unanswered and I’m so lost... why did it take the daycare two hours to notice my child was missing? What kind of mix-up happened that they dropped her home? She’s been going to the daycare since school started... who is to blame here, the school or the daycare? What do I do so this NEVER happens again?

Please, I need some advice, I’m completely lost and broken.