Prolly gonna get an ear full, but that's alright I guess

[Judy Trickett]

Ah, isn't it amazing how views change when you know BOTH sides?

To the provider in this situation: Let this be a lesson to you about doing SPECIAL for parents. When you offered her the lower fees schedule/minimum days and kept her on that became her NORMAL and never, for a second did she see that YOU were being kind and making an exception for her (as is obvious from her posts). The only person who, time and time again, remembered that this parent was getting a special deal was you every time she paid you. Your daycare - your rules. You have the right to have FULL paying clients if you so chose to have them. I think you are likely just a nice person who was trying to understand things from the parent's perspective but, sadly, that is all to often forgotten. And, this is and always has been a BUSINESS first and foremost. When YOU go without income and the parents are "up" income then why is YOUR mortgage payment or YOUR bank account less important than a dcparent's??? Stop being so "nice" and just be a pleasant business person.

To the parent in this situation: Be VERY glad you had a provider who was nice enough to allow you to come on a casual basis for so long and not having had to PAY full-time fees for that schedule. Your provider lost A LOT of money allowing you to attend in that manner. Oh, and "paying on time" does not make you special - it is EXPECTED. Paying your daycare on time is expected just like the bank requires you to pay your mortgage on time or your car payment on time. It doesn't make you a "great" client - it makes you an average client.

Personally, if this were me I would terminate in a heartbeat and get a FT client.

A quick little story for you:

My first client came flex too - for FIVE years. At first they had one child and then another one came along. I did a lot of SPECIAL for that family. In short, for FIVE years I basically held 2 FT spots for them and they attended only an average of 2.5 days a week. At the end of the fifth year when the oldest was about to start school and they wanted a B/A school rate I felt forced to ask them to commit to a minimum payment of $100 a week for their TWO kids regardless of attendance. Well, everything I did over the years and all the money they saved meant nothing and they bolted. In the end, over five years I lost $28,000. Trust me, YOU deserve that $28,000 just as much as ANY client - maybe more so.