Texting with Parents...

Looking for some different perspectives when it comes to communicating through text messages with the parents. Recently, I was given notice for one of my dck through a text message. I should've just ended the texting and picked up the phone to discuss this with my client, but out of sheer reaction, I texted my client back.

I feel frustrated as all of the communication about my little guy leaving has been through texting. The parent comes off very short and cold and now I feel somewhat angry and hurt to the point where I don't want to see them or talk to them. I feel disrespected and unappreciated. Lately I'm feeling like the parents coward away from things that should be discussed in person, or with a good ol' fashion phone call. I must say though, that the cold, impersonal manner in which these texts are sent seem to coincide with this particular parent - they have always come across to me this way.:glare:

Does anyone see a pattern in regards to parents picking location and driving distance over the bond their child makes with a provider? I had my own children with a provider and I can say I would have drove long distances to get them there, because of how happy they were and how much they loved her. I suppose this is a bit of a vent as well, lol.

You will get a lot of different parents these days.....some will certainly drive to the moon and back to go to the caregiver that they know their children love, while others will go at the drop of a hat to a caregiver that lives next door and,more convenient. As for the texting, I text my parents all the time throughout the day with pictures and how the kids are doing but for termination she should've done a phone call but also some do an email....email and text messaging is sort of the same thing and I actually prefer that because I have hard copies of what is said in conversation if anything were to come up. Also some parents are just shy and not comfortable saying certain things and find it a lot easier to shoot off an email or texting. I know I am like that.... I have come along way working on that issue, but I'm still a bit shy. I still much prefer to just text or email then to pick up the phone or talk in person :unsure:

I prefer texts, I very rarely talk on the phone to anyone lol. There have been a few parents who seem short via text but not in person. Unfortunately, tone gets lost over text/email so if it's anything important, I would do a phone call. I ask that termination be in writing so I can put it in their file and have a hard copy.

In regard to distant, I think it will depend on how far. I've mentioned moving to a few over the years and the ones closest to me always say that they hope it's within the same neighbourhood. Our city isn't huge, it takes 15-20 mins to get anywhere but apparently this is important to some lol. I guess that does give them a 40 min commute vs a 10 min one that some have now. I find more leave for cheaper dc so I'm always happy to see when other providers raise their fee.

I only email or text if I can't reach a person by phone. All of my terminations must be handed to me in person with a verbal and written notification.
I prescreen my potential clients based on how far their work location is from my house. All of my parents commute a max. of 20 mins from work, but all live within 5 mins of my house. I learned after taking long-commuters, that they were always late on pickups, so I just weed them out in advance now, and rarely have problems.

One must be EXTREMELY CAREFUL when communicating through texts! First of all....unless we make sure that all the appropriate quotations, smiley faces, etc. are put in the text....there is NO QUESTION....texts can misinterpreted....th is has happened to me many times....I find myself saying..."oh...I'm sorry....I wasn't saying it in that way"....Also another time...I accidentally sent a text to one of the parents (that was meant for my daughter)....HOW FRIGGIN EMBARASSING...Hence. ..I don't do texting anymore....

A couple of days ago I sent a text to my girlfriend that was meant for my hubby, yep pretty embarrassing. So glad it wasn't sent to one of my clients!lol

Texting and emails are so cold sometimes and even when not sent to the wrong person, I like good old conversation face to face for most things but giving their notice is better in writing to file