I've had quite the day already and could really use a place to vent. This morning one of my clients let me know, via text, that she was moving. Here's the story:
I responded to her ad on kijiji looking for childcare. I bent my rules a bit and allowed her 18 month old to come into my care. Found out she was actually moving from 7 hours away and that she wouldn't be here til this past weekend. She asked me a thousand questions, had me jump through a thousand more hoops -she was texting me constantly throughout the day. Last week she got a call from her apartment that it wouldn't be ready for her until the 15th of October. She needed a new place. I did all the searching, did a walk through, sent her pictures and she decided she liked it. Then the company had another set of tenants on the hook and she couldn't get her money to them fast enough. So, I loaned her the money for the deposit (note, I hadn't even met her yet...so perhaps that was a stupid move on my part.) She moved in on Saturday, the power wasn't on and neither was the heat, I brought her hot water from my house to hers two days. Then this morning she says it's too hard, she can't do it and is moving back. I only got half a months deposit. She did pay me back the damage deposit for the apartment at least.
I'm so frustrated!!!! I bent over backwards COMPLETELY for her and now I've lost my only real assured spot - she signed a contract with the gov't for a year...I thought she was for sure. I could scream. Are all clients this much work? My God, it makes me want to have the highest standards so I only get perfect clients...but I feel like if anything I need to lower my standards to the point of allowing myself to get burned out in order to have a freaking kid in my care! The other two parents I have are already taking advantage of me. (I haven't even started yet, I start on the 9th)...one of them is paying me waaaay less than she should for family issues (was a friend of mine at one point), and the other is taking as much advantage as she can with her one year old who doesn't eat food or hold is own bottle!!