Walking away from a family

[Marie]

Thanks everyone!
I will be telling them at pick up today (which is noon thank God). To top it off their 12 month old is sick and they still brought her today. Mom said she gave her some Tylenol so she should be good. Ugh! I will just have to be honest with them and try not to let the guilt eat at me. I feel absolutely horrible about this but I don't have a choice.

[jec]

They brought the little one sick .....why give them Tylenol? Fever- then they should be home as the fever may be masking something that is now being shared with everyone else.

Good luck as this isn't easy but you will feel a big relief once you've told them.

[playfelt]

Their behaviour today is almost grounds for dismissal anyways. To bring a potentially sick child to care knowing you have a 2 month old is rude.

[Marie]

It was rude of them. They are nice people so I don't know if they just weren't thinking or if they just don't care. Either way, I shouldn't have taken her and turned them away. Problem is, I HATE when it comes to things like that. I really need to toughen up because this is not the first time in the year I've been doing this that a parent has brought a sick child and I took them anyways. It's just hard to say when a child should stay home. Right now the little girl has a cold. If all kids stayed at home for every cold then they'd be at home all winter. So that's where I have a problem with it...knowing when a cold is bad enough that they should stay home. She is able to keep up with the others so it doesn't really seem to be a really bad cold. I wish I could just have the back bone I need to do this job! I've gotten better about not letting parents walk all over me but I know I should be a bit stricter for some things.

[jec]

I let me daycare parents bring their kids with colds ~ having said that I have right in my contract that I can only care for children with cold like symptoms. The red flag for me on this one being brought today is being given Tylenol. I hear you thought when it comes to getting a back bone. It's tough!!

[sunnydays]

It is hard to know when to turn away kids or send them home...a cold is okay, but if they are sick enough to need Tylenol, they shouldn't be at daycare. I won't give Tylenol at daycare for this reason. I had a parent bring a kid once and say, if his fever comes back, just give him this (handing me a bottle of Advil)! I told him that I would be calling him if the child had a fever...and sure enough, a couple of hours later, he had a fever and I sent him home. I no longer fully trust those parents as I know they are capable of giving their kids Advil and sending them without telling me. They are VERY nice people too and I love their kids...have had no other issues. Some people are just inconsiderate when it comes to illness...they don't seem to think about the fact that all the other kids are now potentially going to get sick too. Add it to your contract that parents should nto give Tylenol or Advil before sending the child to daycare...that way you at least know if they have a fever or are unwell enough to be sent home. Again though, some parents will do it anyway. I know some providers have a policy where if the child gets a fever around 4-6 hours after coming, they assume the child has been given something before coming and it has worn off and this is grounds for termination...but it is tricky because it could just be the onset of the fever...I'm not sure I'd want to accuse them of anything I can't prove!

[Marie]

Just wanted to give you all an update in case you were wondering...
My second day of care with them went really good. I'm still not even sure why my first day was so brutal. I talked to the parents at the end of the first week and told them that I wasn't sure if I would be able to continue with them. So now it's been a month since I've been caring for them and things are fine. I told the parents that in NO WAY can I care for their kids if they are sick. A little cold is fine but nothing more. I do really like the parents and that was one of the reasons I was feeling horrible about letting them go. They are very easy going and go with whatever I say and that's not always the case. So after talking it over with them we've all come up with a great ending that I love! I have them on Mondays, (the 4 year old only in the afternoon), Tuesday mornings only, and Wednesday are the same as Mondays. My other dcb only comes Mon, Tues, Wed, so that means that every week I get Thursday Friday off!! This is working out great for us and I'm so happy I talked to them before walking away completely. And the 4 year old is finally potty trained so that's another bonus!!

[Lou]

NICE!! It worked out beautifully!

[Momof4]

I'm really glad it worked out for you too. Thanks for the happy update, it's nice to hear about success stories.

[mom-in-alberta]

Great job for sticking it out... especially when we all told you to say goodbye!! \
I am glad to hear that everything is going well.