Well, guess I won't be doing that again!

Hi ladies!
I guess being nice doesn't get you very far with people these days.
Like most of you, I have in my policy that sick days must be paid in full...as in, if the child does not attend due to illness, I still expect to be paid for that day. It's never been an issue!
This week was a doozy for my group...It started on Wednesday, when I sent a puker home mid day. The next morning, my cell was flooded with texts from the other parents saying that their children were sick too! So, Thursday and Friday I had NO children at all! This has never happened!
Despite my policy stating that sick days are to be paid in full, I had a sympathy/guilt feeling that they were paying for these days when I had no one at all in my daycare. So, out of the goodness of my heart, and because it is close to the holidays and money is tight for EVERYONE (yes, me too!) I sent out this email:

Hello Families,

WOW, what a bug! I'm so sorry to hear that your little ones are all feeling under the weather. Today (and tomorrow!) was way too quiet around here and I wasn't sure what to do with myself! Hopefully, a nice relaxing weekend is what your babies need, and we'll be back with full energy on Monday morning. Give them all hugs and kisses from me, and I hope they feel much better soon xoxo.
Also, despite my policy indicating that sick days must be paid in full, it is generally the case that I am actually still working and open. Because for 2 days in a row I will have NO children because of this nasty bug, please subtract ONE day of fees from next week's payment in an effort to help you out especially this close to the holidays. I hope this helps you all out!

Have a great weekend (and I hope you all stay healthy too!),

"Lou"


The reason I'm miffed is because I did not receive ONE thank you from any of them!!! I did not have to discount them a day at all, they have all signed the contract stating that sick days are paid in full, but I wanted to be nice due to the fact that I had no children to care for at all, and to be empathetic to their situations. Guess, I won't be doing that again!!! I always boast that I have such great families, and in most respects I do...they just all dropped the ball on this one and they can bet their butts I won't be offering this "kindness" again. Am I overreacting???

It was a really nice thing to do. And although we can say we are doing something out of the goodness of our heart there's always that little peice of us that would like to be appreciated for it regardless.

Fact is... these parents are probably at home thinking... "of course I'm not paying her, my child is sick becuase of her daycare" It's not the way it should be, but it's a natural reaction for sure.

We always have to be careful when we break our own rules... We set a new standard.

Try this next time... if you want to do something nice like this, accept payment as always and use it for a gift card. So maybe give them back a tim hortons or starbucks or favorite restaurant gift card for that amount with a note that says "hope everyones feeling better"

I hope your parents come with some appreciation on Monday. Maybe they just haven't checked their email or they're sick.

I know I SHOULDN'T expect a thank you of any kind...but I definitely do! I guess this is more of a vent, than anything. This job already comes with so little appreciation.

Sadly, most parents would view it the way apples and bananas put it.

I would be upset as well. Whether they acknowledge it this upcoming week or not....you did something nice for your dc families. Sometimes you have to treat the parents like you would the DC kids...since they did not acknowledge your thoughtfulness with a mere simple thank you...I would not extend my kindness (especially when dealing with money) to them again.

You are being too sweet. Unfortunately, I'm strict with my contract and payments and have cut down on my gift giving and all the crafting I did in the first few years I ran my daycare. Why? Because I rarely got a thank you. I suppose you get used to it and learn to view the parents as business only. Sad, but true. Keep all your nurturing for the children, remember to always be professional with the parents. It's the only way to be successful and not feel bitter.

Yes Lou, you should expect a thank you. I agree with Momof4. At first, I too was overly generous with gifts for parents and kids and would rarely receive a thank you for anything I did. I couldn't believe it at first and am still not used to it. I now ask the parents if dcb or dcg liked their gift. If they squirm or are embarrassed that I had to ask, so be it. It is very rude and inconsiderate to not acknowledge and say thank you for a gift. Lou, I also agree with a and b. I would not do this again. If you want to gift then do a gift card. I do have to say though, you are incredibly sweet to have thought of them......even though they didn't deserve your generousity

They aren't going to thank you for something they didn't want to do in the first place. Very few parents truly understand that the cost of child care is for the slot not the direct physical care of the child. Some will agree to pay for the slot regardless of attendance but precious few will feel good about having to pay in any absence. It's a rare parent who understands that the hard cost of operating child care is in the housing, equipment, utilities for the housing, etc. When I'm on vacation my bills go down about twenty dollars a week. The direct physical care and supervision of the children is a very very small amount of the daily fee. Most parents believe it is what they are paying for.

When I first opened my family daycare I didn't charge my clients for missed days and found that they would leave their children with family for free daycare and ended up losing a lot of money. I stick to my policies now. Once you start a precedent clients will keep expecting the same and take advantage of your kind heartedness.

I probably wouldn't have admitted that everyone in the daycare was sick because that did seem to point a finger towards your daycare being the cause.

The parents were therefore thinking that is the least you could do and I bet some of them even thought you shouldn't charge at all since it came from the daycare and spread through.

On the other hand - maybe some will say thanks face to face when they see you or acknowledge it.

It was a nice gesture on your part

I know how you fee. I was looking after a group of school aged children for a couple of years and they were all getting older and quite self sufficient. I could send them out to play without having to sit and watch so i had time to myslef so just before summer, i sent out a letter telling parents that given the age and indepence of all the kids and that they are a great group of responsible and respectful young men, that I was reducing my weekly rate for the summer. I expected to be flooded with grateful parents and i did not get one thank you. I seriously regretted my judgement on that one LOL>

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Originally Posted by Lou

Hi ladies!
I guess being nice doesn't get you very far with people these days.
Like most of you, I have in my policy that sick days must be paid in full...as in, if the child does not attend due to illness, I still expect to be paid for that day. It's never been an issue!
This week was a doozy for my group...It started on Wednesday, when I sent a puker home mid day. The next morning, my cell was flooded with texts from the other parents saying that their children were sick too! So, Thursday and Friday I had NO children at all! This has never happened!
Despite my policy stating that sick days are to be paid in full, I had a sympathy/guilt feeling that they were paying for these days when I had no one at all in my daycare. So, out of the goodness of my heart, and because it is close to the holidays and money is tight for EVERYONE (yes, me too!) I sent out this email:

Hello Families,

WOW, what a bug! I'm so sorry to hear that your little ones are all feeling under the weather. Today (and tomorrow!) was way too quiet around here and I wasn't sure what to do with myself! Hopefully, a nice relaxing weekend is what your babies need, and we'll be back with full energy on Monday morning. Give them all hugs and kisses from me, and I hope they feel much better soon xoxo.
Also, despite my policy indicating that sick days must be paid in full, it is generally the case that I am actually still working and open. Because for 2 days in a row I will have NO children because of this nasty bug, please subtract ONE day of fees from next week's payment in an effort to help you out especially this close to the holidays. I hope this helps you all out!

Have a great weekend (and I hope you all stay healthy too!),

"Lou"


The reason I'm miffed is because I did not receive ONE thank you from any of them!!! I did not have to discount them a day at all, they have all signed the contract stating that sick days are paid in full, but I wanted to be nice due to the fact that I had no children to care for at all, and to be empathetic to their situations. Guess, I won't be doing that again!!! I always boast that I have such great families, and in most respects I do...they just all dropped the ball on this one and they can bet their butts I won't be offering this "kindness" again. Am I overreacting???

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Hi Gramma, aren't you thoughtful :), but just remember, your responsibility for the children's well being doesn't diminish so IMO your fee should not either.

lou, *hugs to you dear*

yes, it would be nice of them to send you a thank you note.

but as many friends pointed out, they take it as business.

above all, most of us go above and beyond call of duty, we make these little munchkins muffins on their special day, buy crafts, etc. And along the way, not a single gratitude. A bit sad, isn't it? well, life goes on, we learn - choosing cheap or free craft material, use more recycles "flyers, yogort cups, egg trays" - you are still providing activity for fine motor skills, right?

I agree with gift card instead, i need my pay for supplies for the week. And i don't want to set precedence.
If I am one of your parent, i will write a nice thank you card. But then again, we are a different bunch, we are the caring bunch .... not them.

Live and learn Lou! I am a People pleaser and although I do "nice things" like your offer to save the parents one full day in fees, out of the goodness of my heart..I too, like you, would appreciate a little thanks of some sort when going out of my way for others. And if I may speak honestly, although I don't do it for the thanks, I do find myself a little miffed sometimes when I feel that I have offered more of myself than needed and don't get any kind of acknowledgement. That just means that you are a kind person, who not only offers of your self but is also very aware when others offer themselves to you. I'm sure if the tables were turned you would have given a great big thanks to them. Not all people are kind and caring and to top it off, I am willing to bet (great families or not) a lot of our Day Care parents might expect to not have to pay for the inconvenience of having to take a day off work and stay home with their sick child, I'm willing to go one step farther and bet about half of those parents actually even deep down blame YOU for the sickness in the first place. :) You did a nice thing lou and clearly didn't have to, I don't think I would have even offered the free day, considering, it wouldn't have been my fault all the kids picked up the virus in the first place. Not only would I have charged everyone for the day, but I also would have had to charge the parents of the puker a sick child fee of 20$ per my contracts. I would have made out quite well for the inconvenience, a full days pay for the first day being closed and an extra 20$ for the cleanup and care of a sick child, plus an extra day off to boot. Your too kind. :) Unless it was you or one of your school aged children that was sick first, there is no way you were to blame for the illness, so why cut yourself short!?

It seems all of us 'people pleasers' learn the hard way, but it's important that we DO learn our lessons and never repeat them. It doesn't make us hardasses, it makes us smarter business women who can still respect our clients who respect us in return and care for the children 100%. But our contracts get stricter with less room for errors.