A well deserve vacations

Hi,
I'll be going on my summer vacation soon, I don't have sick days, my last vacation was in Christmas so at this point I really need a break and I want to spend time with my children I open my door every single day Monday to Friday. I have this family was has being with me for long time and I have good communication with the dad instead of the mom dad is more friendly and loves to chat but when it comes to my vacations I see them unhappy, I don't charge for my vacations so I don't know why they act like that they take holidays and travel everywhere I get to listen all their plans I like the child because he is use to me and he shows me that he cares about me but he seems to have ADD but the parents don't look at him like that and I don't want to get into that, he is with me everyday and I don't get any days off sadly but their lives are too busy I was expecting from the mom to say at least have a nice vacation but NO but it's fine but she send the boy chewing gum I was not happy at all really I want to go on my vacations with a sense that I deserve my time I truly work so hard with him because parents don't discipline him, I do all kind of activities with the children but I need a break but they think I am a robot I need my break and I am a daycare provider not a parent to the child. I can't terminate because it's not a huge issue but I really want to feel appreciated once in a while I get some from other families but this one I was hoping because the child needs my 100% attention, I rarely hear a thank you so sad.

Unfortunately that is how some families are. First thing you need to do in your business is to start putting yourself first and not worry about what the families think. It is hard I know. I rarely take holidays either but I have started taking more during the year. I am up to about 10 days off a year although they are never in a row. I like to add them onto the long weekends during the summer. This year I have every second Friday off.

Unfortunately we need to keep our heart out of our business and just save it for the kids. I have bent over backwards for some families only to have them give their 2 weeks notice and leave, no thank you, no card, nothing.

Feel free to vent to us on here, it will help make things feel better.

Thank you, you are right we do it for the passion to take care of the children, I feel I get so into the business that I put my feelings last, it's nice to have support in here and vent because dealing with the public is not easy, it is hard dealing with issues constantly.

This is going to sound harsh and I don't mean it to.

Sadly, you can't control your clients. You can't control the way they think, the way they treat you, or the way they make you feel. And it sucks, I know, when you have a family who you feel don't appreciate your efforts.

What you can control is you. That's it. It took me a long time to understand this in life in general, let alone all the various little annoyances we all encounter during our lifetime. Having control of yourself, means having control of your reactions to those who aren't quite how you wish they would be.

Try (and I know it's hard) not to take to heart their tone/actions. Instead, try and question yourself as to if what you think they feel is valid. If you are providing a quality service, then you have nothing to feel guilty about when you take your leave. You said yourself that this family readily takes vacation themselves. It also might be that they are very appreciative of what you do but just are horrible communicators.