Hey Momof4, good catch.

I actually wrote that post based on something that the OP said in a later post:

Here is the quote:
I have sent out newsletters to all the families reminding them of the rules, to no avail. I have talked with them individually, to no avail. I don't know what else to do. I really don't want to pull out the B**** and be the iron fisted daycare lady, but I can't be nice about this anymore.

What I meant to say was and probably didn't in the best possible way, that it is okay to stand up for yourself. It does sometimes suck and is never easy, but gets easier the more you do it. You are NOT a B*** for enforcing your contract. These people sat down and agreed to your contract and now they are picking and choosing which parts work for them. For some reason, whenever we have to stand up for ourselves it always comes back in our head if we are being "B***-y or not". Maybe because our profession is often viewed as "lower" than others, or that some in society feel that we are just babysitters and that we should always just be nice about things because we are nice and take care of children all day. Whenever I psych myself up to stand up for myself, I tell myself that it is okay to be the "B****". This is something that works for me, just in my head to get in a mindset to defend my policies. I am a professional through and through, but I am also a very hopelessly nice person that gets walked on easily. So when I tell myself that, I am able to have a frank conversation with whoever is taking advantage of me and then I can go back to being the nice, wonderful person that I want to be. The great thing about home businesses like this is that you want to reward the great families. I regularly have "Parent Night Outs" and can cater to occasional favours for my daycare families. But I also have wonderful families that are so grateful and fantastic and appreciative and it took me a long while to get to that point where there is mutual respect between us. I had to get rid of a few bad apples during the first few years.

I meant nothing about acting in anger, or that you shouldn't act as anything but a professional. But if confrontations are hard for you (they are for me!), then tell yourself whatever you need to do to psyche yourself up to get through them. You are not a B**** or a bad person for doing so! I hope that clarifies somewhat! We are here for you!