Conflict has arisen between myself and Maple Tree's HIP coordinator. True, she has picked on me from early on, but I always considered it to be friendly, since she only did it occasionally and in a joking manner.
And then things started to escalate. The friendly jokes about my hair flipping turned into harsh criticism about how I carry myself and my lack of energy when I was sick. She started telling me and our coworkers that she has taken it upon myself to play the role of my mom since my parents live so far away from me. That bothered me. I have two parents, and they are more than enough. I have lived without them since my freshman year of college, and I can continue to do so without her help.
The breaking point occurred roughly two weeks ago. In anticipation of a Parents Plus workshop hosted by Maple Tree's Action Team, I contacted Trader Joe's for a donation. They donated $25 worth of snack food -popcorn, cookies, chips, and salsa. When I told her about the donation, I referred to the activity we were using it for as "the thing on March 9th," by which I meant the Parents Plus workshop. However, the HIP coordinator thought I was referring to the magic show that she had planned for later that night. When I told her that wasn't true, she picked a fight with me, accused me of refusing to work with her, then dismissed the argument when I proved that she had no reason to be upset with me. I sent an email to Yvette and told her to call a meeting for next week.
The meeting consisted of myself, Yvette, my site supervisor, the HIP coordinator, and her supervisor. The HIP coordinator decided that instead of using this meeting as a chance to resolve our conflicts so we can work together in an efficient manner, she would take this opportunity to act like she's hot shit and tell me how to do my job. In the process of doing so, she accused me of not attending/helping out during her events, that I don't know how to relate to the parents, and that I never asked for donations before she suggested it. When I called her out on all of these accusations and proved her wrong, she simply dismissed me and said that there was no reason get into details. Whenever someone criticized her activities, she got defensive and claimed that parents aren't coming just for the raffles and free food. She also wasted no time in bashing everything that was said by myself and my supervisors when they left.
I met with my with site supervisor yesterday afternoon to make sure we were on the same page about the meeting, and I'm happy to say that we are. She also mentioned that before she was offered position of HIP coordinator, this parent was only seen in the school for conferences. I reported all of this to my Parents Plus supervisor today, and I'm glad that we're on the same page, too. Furthermore, the three of us all agree that the best thing to do is just finish up the school year at Maple Tree, make sure the Action Team will continue next year, and have minimal contact with the HIP coordinator.
Between this meeting and two 12 hour days, I'm pretty exhausted. I foresee a weekend of sleep.
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