Feeling sick and frustrated !!!

Last night at 10 pm I get a text from dcm who is supposed to be dropping off a payment for dcks today. She is complaining she can not afford to pay me , as she had to pay another provider for 2 days of alternate care . She has a signed contract which states I have 6 personal/sick days a year and since September I have used three days due to my pneumonia .
I feel I have been more than fair with her , I have her a reduced flat monthly rate , I accomadated time changes and have been very lenient on dcks coming sick , and I allowed her to split her payments up bi-weekly . The only problem I have encountered with her family is having to "remind" her every payday and dealing with her kids being non stop sick !!
I texted her last night and reminded her about the contract , offered to break this payment down ( 1/2 this week , 1/2 next week ) but she ignored my text . I finally concluded that is was late (10:45 pm ) and I'm sick and was going to bed .
I have heard nothing today , I am thinking I will just organize all her dcks items and get her to pick them up . I am wondering I still have 3 days left for this month which have been paid , do I just inform her after the 3 days I won't be accepting them anymore or because she breached the arranged bi-weekly payment arrangement I can just be done ?
I am currently charging $150 more for the same position and none of my other families have had any issues with these sick days !!
I find it frustrating that this is the family that brought in the infection !!
I'm not feeling good and I'm trying to be level headed but right now just feel like closing down ! This is ridiculous trying to work with someone who is not returning my text !!
Ugh !

DO they pay before or after care has taken place? Have they paid for those 3 days but owe you for the following 2 weeks?

If they have been trouble for a while and are not working with you, following terms in the contract then I would lean to filling the spot with a family that is willing to work with you, follow terms and pay your current going rate. The only catch is since they are not causing harm or harassing you or anything serious then I would lean to following your contract policy for letting a family go...which may be giving 2 weeks notice or such.

You've been sick and exhausted and you are not being respected but try to clear all that from your mind when making your decision. Just dropping them today or in 3 days may not be the best move. Ideally you'll follow your own contracted policy so the family has less ability to ruin your reputation.

First of all, I would not answer any more of her texts. Payment is owed. Period.

I don't know what your contract says but if you have late fees, I would charge them.

I would not even entertain your offer of payment options. That was last night, she didn't respond, it's expired.

Her crisis does not need to become yours. She needs to pay and any monies owing are due when her kids return to care. Period.

This. This right here is the part I HATE about childcare. You shouldn't have to ask, beg, bartar, plead for money that is owed to you. It's beyond ridiculous.

Stop doing special for her b/c she clearly does not appreciate it.

I hope you feel better soon!

They pay in advance , so the three days are paid for . I purposely left notice for terminating care out of my contract , we go month to month . I needed this personally as my family has health concerns and I didn't want the added stress of giving a months notice if I had to close . So technically I do not have a policy to keep to .

I think if you are done with this family than terminating them is fine. If you keep them on, every. single. thing. they do will annoy you and eat at you until you are bitter towards them.

I would gather their stuff up, have a termination letter written up and give it to mom when she drops off payment today and have a face to face talk with her. I would likely tell her that care is terminated when the last 3 days that have been paid for are over. She can decide to send them or not but I would not give back that money.

Not following policy, being disrespectful and not answering communications and payment issues would be my reasons for terminating.

Thank you !! I am feeling so gross , I needed help thinking clearly about this !!!
Thank you everyone !!!!

I took a sick day last week, only the 2nd one in 6 years. Nobody complained or said a word about payment. They know I've been working with this awful cold that I caught from their children who came to daycare with all their runny noses, sneezes and coughing and shared it. If anybody gave me a problem like your dcparent is giving you, I would be showing them the door! Nonpayment of fees is grounds for termination, period. Disrespect toward me is also grounds for termination.

Due to her not responding and missing the payment arrangement , I texted her and said that due to that our contract was void and I considered her done with my dayhome . Although I was very polite and tried not to be too personal about it . She thanked me for caring for her dcks so well but sent her sister over to pick up the personal items .
This is my second time since opening , the have a parent decide they didn't want to follow the contract ! I'm not sure if this is normal ?? Both said they were very happy with my service , but I'm feeling insecure abit because if I was happy with my dcp and my kids were too ! Would I lose that service for $100 ??
The first dcf decided in dec they didn't want to pay for Christmas Eve , Christmas and Boxing Day , and now because I took off Easter Monday and was sick for Tuesday and Wednesday this other dcf pulls a hissy !!
Each dcm was very young but I'm having a hard time putting this behind me !!
I really feel like I put so much time and effort into my program , lunches and everything else I do for my dcks !!
My other families I charge at least $150 more for the same spot , they just wished me better !!
I'm trying not to feel like this is my fault but is this normal ? I do not like feeling like we had a conflict and now they're gone !!
Maybe I'm being too sensitive about this !!! ?

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Originally Posted by Secondtimearound

Due to her not responding and missing the payment arrangement , I texted her and said that due to that our contract was void and I considered her done with my dayhome . Although I was very polite and tried not to be too personal about it . She thanked me for caring for her dcks so well but sent her sister over to pick up the personal items .
This is my second time since opening , the have a parent decide they didn't want to follow the contract ! I'm not sure if this is normal ?? Both said they were very happy with my service , but I'm feeling insecure abit because if I was happy with my dcp and my kids were too ! Would I lose that service for $100 ??
The first dcf decided in dec they didn't want to pay for Christmas Eve , Christmas and Boxing Day , and now because I took off Easter Monday and was sick for Tuesday and Wednesday this other dcf pulls a hissy !!
Each dcm was very young but I'm having a hard time putting this behind me !!
I really feel like I put so much time and effort into my program , lunches and everything else I do for my dcks !!
My other families I charge at least $150 more for the same spot , they just wished me better !!
I'm trying not to feel like this is my fault but is this normal ? I do not like feeling like we had a conflict and now they're gone !!
Maybe I'm being too sensitive about this !!! ?

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Sadly, and I feel bad even saying this but, families looking for cheap care are not always looking for quality care. There are plenty of cheaper daycare homes around so for some families it is just as easy to up and move elsewhere than it is to be respectful and read and follow contracts. I don't know you or your daycare...but I would say to not take it personally and to just assume that this family was looking at daycares for the price point and convenience (of allowing them to have control over things they shouldn't like when to pay) not for quality of care and a consistent loving place for their child to grow and thrive.

Whenever someone leaves, it is hard not to take it personally. However, this will happen a lot. There are many types of people and some will fit into our daycare and some won't. It's life and it's okay!

Look at this as a blessing. Now you can fill the spot and charge the full amount and hopefully get a family on board with following YOUR rules.

I'm just curious...did she pay you what she owed?