OMGoodness!!!This December is setting the record for most crap being dealt out to me!

[bright sparks]

So my income has dropped by close to 50% this month because a family with 2 kids gave me notice. My washer broke, furnace broke and now I just got the icing on the cake.....

I just emailed a parent for more cheques so I can cash them over my time off for the Stat holidays and she just said she won't need to bring me cheques as she won't be bringing her daughter back. She has financial problems and I get it but not even having the courage to tell me to my face you know when I've done so much for them is just killing my faith in the human race. I want to reply but it's going to be like talking to a brick wall. I went from being full to less than half in a matter of a few weeks. This part of the job sucks.

This is definitely in the top ten most thankless jobs.

[Inspired by Reggio]

Oh hon that sucks specially right before Christmas and its extra expenses for so many families

Do you not have a required notice period???

Sending you some filler up vibes and a smoother less stressful New Year!

[apples and bananas]

I'm so sorry that's happened to you.

I hope that once the holidays are over you start getting flooded with phone calls and fill back up again quickly.

This job is hard. We really need to always have a great deal of savings for these situations so we're not tempted to take whatever comes to us first.

Good luck and I hope you can enjoy the time with your family over the next few weeks.

[bright sparks]

The notice period is when I am off so the mother has forfeited most of it as I am off but she said she wouldn't be bringing her child back afterward and her last day will be Thursday. Thats her choice to not to use the deposit. Its just a shock to be honest.

Thank goodness my husband just got an amazing new job and will be able to make up my loss untill I fill the spots.

[Momof4]

Sorry things are rough Brightsparks. I had a child leave last week because her Mom had to go on pregnancy leave early and it meant that I had to rework my budget for the month of Dec. It SUCKS!

[mimi]

Oh brightsparks I am sure you will fill those spots soon. It is tough when the parents give little notice and leave you reeling.
I'm glad your hubby got a lucrative job, but isn't it always the way, just when you think you might be getting ahead of things financially you lose a client, an appliance needs replacing etc. Sigh! I just want to win a million. Yup, just a million LOL Good luck brightsparks

[Inspired by Reggio]

The notice period is when I am off so the mother has forfeited most of it as I am off but she said she wouldn't be bringing her child back afterward and her last day will be Thursday. Thats her choice to not to use the deposit. Its just a shock to be honest.

Thank goodness my husband just got an amazing new job and will be able to make up my loss untill I fill the spots.

Oh that is at least good to know ~ when I first read your post I thought she was trying to pull without any notice period or payment

So you have at least some little buffer of income over the holidays to get some ads up and secure a new client for the New Year!

Congrats as well on hubbies new job as well cause that should help from the sounds of it!

I admit knowing I have a spouse as a back up plan is truly helpful and the fact that we planned our household budget by downsizing mortgage and smaller home and so forth to allow for only 'one income' to be needed to keep a roof over our head and the fact our home as a second income is basically for 'extras' in life like retirement savings, college savings, household improvements, entertainment, hobbies, vacations and so forth things that can be 'cut back' should either of our incomes take a hit ~ my hat goes off to those who do this as a single income cause the stress of knowing how unreliable the income of this business can be and your daycare enrollment can turn on a dime with no control or wrong doing on your part would do me in!

[Wonderwiper]

Bright Sparks...I'm so sorry all the crap is hitting you all at once! Hopefully that's it, now onwards and upwards! So awesome about hubby's new job! I'm with Reggio...I could never be as happy in this job with the pressure of 'needing' the money to feed my family! This allows me to be very selective in who I accept and the luxury of waiting until I find the right people. Obviously we all do what we have to do but I am very grateful that we are ok with just hubby's income. Since I have been on mat leave with no income, we are used to not having my income and plan to save as much as we can to build a better 'if the s%#t hits the fan' fund! I wish you a very happy holiday, enjoy time with family and in the new year a new family will come along and be thankful that they found you and appreciate all you do for their children!!

[Spixie33]

Well...that all sucks. Deep breaths.
The good news is that 2013 has to get better -right? It is always that everything seems to happen at once.

Financial stress can be devastating. I went through a time where I would fall asleep crunching numbers and wake up with that same panicked feeling to somehow make the numbers work. It has to be one of the worst burdens.

I hope you get some great interviews in January.

IA with Reggio and the others -- ideally I would recommend daycare as a backup or secondary income but I would never recommend it to someone who NEEDS to make a certain amount to get by. Luckily I am in a position where my income is just to do extra and to use for savings or repayment of loans rather than needing it to get by month to month. I am lucky because I get to be very picky on families and what hours etc I want to do.

Wishing you better times ahead

[Lou]

(((HUGS))) That stinks!!!!!!!!!!!!!