Want to immediately terminate!

I have been having problems with one specific family and want to call them and immediately terminate our childcare agreement but don't know if it's just me over-reacting. Last Friday I asked the mother to take off her shoes before coming into my house and she had an outburst over it. She threw a fit and left my house that morning after slamming my door. I confronted them about it and reminded them that it is written in my contract that disrespecting me or my family is grounds for immediate termination. Now today they dropped off their son after telling me he had a high fever last night. He seemed fine so I didn't see the need to send him back home. About 20 minutes after he got here he started having diarrhea. I called the mother around lunch and asked her to pick him up because he had diarrhea. The dad came and was clearly not happy to have to leave work. He was rude and just said ''so all he has is diarrhea? I don't consider that sick at all''. I had to bring up the contract that they signed and that diarrhea means their son stays home but he was just ignoring me and didn't say anything. Then he slammed my door in a fit. That's both parents now in less than a week that have slammed my door! I want to call them right now and terminate. Am I over-reacting? It has been one thing after another with them. Just getting wipes for their son has been a struggle. It's not that his fit was such a huge outburst but it's just the fact that 6 days ago I had to give them a warning and specifically say that one more act of being disrespectful would mean immediate termination. What would you all do?

If they were my clients I would terminate.

Ugh. Me too - as in, don't bother showing up at my house tomorrow.

Terminate ASAP. If it states in your contract, use your backbone and Terminate!

If they ask for reasons:
1. You asked her to respect your home by taking off her shoes.
2. She had a fit, THEN slammed the door.
3. You're a bit in the wrong by taking the child after knowing the child had a high fever, but that's besides the point. You called and wanted parent to pick up child as child was sick. They had a fit.
4. Slammed the door again.

For my daycare it's 3 strikes and you're gone. That's 4 right there.....TERMINATE NOW!

They would be out of here so fast. It is your home and they have the nerve to be disrespectful like that ?

That is unacceptable not to mention a horrible example for every child in your daycare. If I was a parent who's child attended your daycare and found out there that there was a parent that was that out of control (slamming doors) around my child I would change daycare if that continued !
Kick that trash out .

I agree with everyone else here.

I treat my parents respectfully and pride myself on not raising my voice. If someone had the nerve to do so to me, in my own house/place of business, and infront of clients (other DCKs) then they would be terminated.

You gave them a warning. Now you need to follow through on the punishment you promised.

Well they are gone! I called the mom and told her I had no choice but to terminate and she didn't really sound like she cared. All she said was ok and then I asked if she could either mail or drop off what she owes me and she said she would after work tonight. So I'm not sure if they already have another home daycare or what but it didn't really seem to bother her at all. I just hope she comes like she said to pay. I didn't want it to come to this because I really like their son and because I do need that spot filled but I don't know what else I could have done. I can't keep giving out warnings.

Congrats and good for you! You'll appreciate your decision soon enough!

Hugs Marie, what a crapy situation for them to put you in. How rude of you to ask her to take her shoes off! LOL Just kidding How rude of her to not do it automatically!

Huge pat on the back for stnading up to them! I hope they paid you?

Yes they did pay me. But she said before she pays me she would like the original contract that they signed for her ''own peace of mind''. I have no clue why she would need that and I hope I did the right thing in giving it to her. I do have a copy of the signed contract but I no longer ever have to deal with them so I don't know what she would need with that.

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Originally Posted by Marie

Yes they did pay me. But she said before she pays me she would like the original contract that they signed for her ''own peace of mind''. I have no clue why she would need that and I hope I did the right thing in giving it to her. I do have a copy of the signed contract but I no longer ever have to deal with them so I don't know what she would need with that.

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Does anyone have any ideas as to why she would want this?? This might sound crazy but I am thinking along the lines that they would like to take me to small claims court. They do strike me as the type of people to do something like this. I just don't want to get a letter in the mail in a month saying they are suing me for lost wages because they had to take time off work. In my contract it says I can terminate immediately for a number of reasons, one of them being blatant disrespect towards myself or my family. I am hoping what she meant by she would like to have peace of mind is that they want to know that I can't sue them and say they left with no notice. Ugh! I never should have taken them on in the first place!

It does kind of sound like they might want to take you to court, but if it is clearly stated in your contract then you should be okay. But, I would documenteverything immediately and if you have any witnesses, even better! Write down exactly what happened and when and how you dealt with each incident. In fact, yuo may even want to print out this thread from the forum to show that you were consulting others about the situation (it's close to having witnesses). It can take a long time before you are called to court and you may not remember. Plus, it will help your case to have the documentation. You did the right thing! I wouldn't have kept them as clients either!

I admit I have been disrespected and wanted to warn and terminate but could not due to finances; I have always regretted being so stuck! Feeling as though I was letting myself down. Home daycare is tough and good for you you spoke up and still they continue, I would terminate the families lack of respect is apparent and includes disregard for the other children and families in your home.... diarrhea is so contagious... the remarks right there show how little he thinks of others, not just you as his daycare provider.

It's not that I really could have afforded to let them go but I gave them a warning last week and now this happens again. Things just keep getting worse with them...from them dropping off their child still in his pj's and his dirty diaper from the night before to slamming the door in my face.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Marie

Yes they did pay me. But she said before she pays me she would like the original contract that they signed for her ''own peace of mind''. I have no clue why she would need that and I hope I did the right thing in giving it to her. I do have a copy of the signed contract but I no longer ever have to deal with them so I don't know what she would need with that.

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Passive-aggressive, controlling much? :blink: She's a piece of work, that one! :eek:

I see this often - parents not caring when they have another daycare set up and ready to go. My guess is the reason they DID act the way they did was because they had every intent of leaving anyway.

Hey, did they pay you in cash?? If it's a cheque then go cash it TODAY. Go to the bank the cheque is issued from (so, like TD if it's a TD cheque etc etc) and actually CASH it. That way you know the cash is in your hand and it can not come back to your account as NSF.

Also, I always keep all my original, signed documents from parents. They are welcome to a photocopy.

I would have kept my original copy, but I don't know why!!! lol!!!

Yes, they did pay in cash and I gave them a receipt. I knew I had a scanned copy of the contract and their signature so I didn't mind giving them the original I guess. I also have no idea what they could do with it so I don't know if it would have been better to keep it.

Honestly, it's probably not worth stressing over that original.

What is important is that they are gone!

You're right, after thinking about it, what can they do with it? Probably nothing!

Sarah

It's not the original that bothers me. It's the fact that they might try to do something with it or use it against me in some way later on. Either way, they're behind me now so I'll just move on and hope to never hear from them again. I have the day off today for my daughter's first birthday and we have a fun day planned after she wakes up from her nap. :)

Happy very first birthday to your daughter! How awesome.

Marie, what can they do? They breached your contract. You gave them warning. You did everything correctly. Don't fret!

With out question I would terminate.

Yikes, Marie.... that was a winner of a family, huh?? :blink:
Good riddance to bad rubbish, I say. I am guessing that this is the wipe-counters? It sounds like you never meshed as a good working relationship from the beginning. When it comes to her taking the original contract, etc I would think it's so that she feels like she's covering her own bum. However, just to be safe, I would document everything that has happened with them up to this point and put it all into their file. Better to be safe than sorry if they come at you a month or more from now. By then you may not remember all the little details like dates, etc.
Atta girl to you for standing up and saying that this is not acceptable. Now enjoy your day off, and happy birthday to your little princess!!

PS> Thank heavens she actually paid, too! I find that the people who are like this are usually the ones who will try to stiff you....

On the other side of the contract issue. Because there was no notice given by the parents and it sounds like they were planning to leave anyways, by asking for the contract she maybe thinks that that prevents you from having proof of what they signed.

Terminate! No question.