Kids are messy, right? They get paint on their pants, jam on their shirts and dirt between their toes. When I first accept a child into my care, I send home a supply list for all the things they will need at care (hat, sippie cup, CHANGE OF CLOTHES...). This change of clothes is for emergencies only. For example: if a child pees through their diaper, a child gets sick all over himself, a sippie cup accidentally opens and spills all over them, ect. I have a little boy who is drooling like you wouldn't beleive due to teething, so I do change his shirts often (or take it off all together).

However, I don't change their clothes if they get a little bit of paint, if their shirt gets a bit of food on it, or if they get a little dirty. My kids ALWAYS have clean hands and faces. I never take a child out of their highchair unless their hands, faces and tray are clean. I wipe down their shirts and pants for left over food and will use a wipe if there is a drop of something on their shirt, but I don't change them.

So, one of the things I discussed with *psycho* mom was that she felt her son was always coming home dirty. I, myself, cannot think of a time that he was exceptionally dirty. Her exact words were, "I expect to pick him up in the same shape as when we dropped him off, I don't think that's an unfair request."

I always had it in my mind that babies are dirty. And there have been times that I have sent kids home with some raspberry juice on their shirt, but I always apologize when that happens, and I have never had a parent say anything about it, but now I am second guessing myself. Should I be sending the kids home clean? Should I be changing them before mom and dad come to pick them up?

When mom picked him today, she asked for the extra clothes. This is like a major issue for her. I tried to explain to her that those clothes are for emergencies, they're not for everyday use. She said she was planning on supplying a bag with an extra change of clothes everyday, but she wanted to take the other clothes with her. I don't understand her issue. (In the beginning, I mentioned to her that he wouldn't eat his lunch so she brought him a lunch and I put it in the freezer on the off chance that he absolutely refused to eat it. Two weeks later, mom asked if she could take it home. I thought it was really weird, and was confused about why she wanted to take 2 week old frozen food home, but I let it go. Now it seems to be almost the same thing with the clothes). I didn't want to argue over something so trivial, so I gave her the clothes. But she sort of "got away" with going against my rules.

Anyways, I'm a little peeved about it, but I'm really resentful with her, and the pick ups are already uncomfortable as they are. I'm just not going to make a big deal out if it, and if his second pair of clothes gets dirty, I won't be making a fuss about it. He WON'T be getting any of my son's clothes. (I've done this in the past and never got them back).

Anyways, (as always I probably made this longer than it needed to be), what do you think about this?