Thoughts? Would you terminate?

[michellesmunchkins]

Entitled! That's exactly the word that describes her. I have written up her termination notice and she will receive it tonight. I have given her the month as I would hate for her to just stick her son with the first person who will take him. As much as she is rude, disrespectful and doesn't deserve my services, her son deserves a decent daycare...she has one month to find one.

Special is no longer a service I offer

[Inspired by Reggio]

[daycarewhisperer]

The single mom angle is getting old. Nearly half of the kids under the age of five in the US are being raised by single parents. It's time for single moms to stand up and take their rightful place as the parents of this generation and quit asking for special. They ARE todays parent. There is nothing special about being a single parent. We need to stop equating single parent as special parent. It's the norm now so it's time for single moms to become the leaders in parenting and start supporting themselves. They need to be the ones who offer the helping hand. They need to organize their own support systems and offer others the special they feel entitled to.

[Momof4]

Michelle, you are too kind and it's time to get tough. Do you have a renewal date for your contract? If you don't have anything guaranteed until a certain date then if I were you I would make a new contract and ask her to sign it and make it effective Feb. 1st.

Raise the rate, implement early/late fees for over a 9 hour day, add the policy that children must arrive before 9am. All of that is completely acceptable and it's in my contract and probably most of the other caregivers on this site have that all in their contracts.

As far as being a single mother, I was one of those but I never used it as an excuse to get anything for free. I worked my butt off to support my 4 children and keep us in a nice clean home, well dressed, well fed and off subsidized housing, etc. I don't like it when anybody uses the single Mom card either but that's beside the point and it's time for you to take care of your business.

If you make your new contract date Feb. 1st or March 1st, whatever is best for you, then you can start interviewing to fill the space and if she doesn't abide by all your new policies she can be terminated. I just wanted to give you another idea to think about.

Wishing you strength and determination to correct this problem!

[michellesmunchkins]

The 9am has always been in my contracts, she just assumed I would change that for her as I had changed almost everything else to help her. Everyone just signed new contracts last week and its all in there. I gave her notice last night as I will not tolerate parents disrespecting me, especially after everything I have done for her. She tried to deny that it happened and blah blah but I'm done.

She was going to give me notice as well because sleeping in an extra half an hour is more important to her than stability for her son. So now, she is going to try to find a daycare that will accept her constant schedules changes, late hours, not wanting to pay full fees, and basically wanting to call all the shots. Good luck to her. I would much rather wait to fill the spot with someone who will appreciate the services I offer.

[Inspired by Reggio]

... I would much rather wait to fill the spot with someone who will appreciate the services I offer.

Good for you ~ I too would rather tighten the family budget belt and hold out for a family that brings joy to my program than have to deal with clients who cause me stress ~ this is one of the biggest perks to being self employed is we control who we attract and accept into care ... I did my dues of working with clients that sucked my passion out of my soul when I worked in centre care and I am done!

[daycarewhisperer]

The 9am has always been in my contracts, she just assumed I would change that for her as I had changed almost everything else to help her. Everyone just signed new contracts last week and its all in there. I gave her notice last night as I will not tolerate parents disrespecting me, especially after everything I have done for her. She tried to deny that it happened and blah blah but I'm done.

She was going to give me notice as well because sleeping in an extra half an hour is more important to her than stability for her son. So now, she is going to try to find a daycare that will accept her constant schedules changes, late hours, not wanting to pay full fees, and basically wanting to call all the shots. Good luck to her. I would much rather wait to fill the spot with someone who will appreciate the services I offer.

In times like these it's best to just tell them the real truth. "You need a provider who does as they are told. I understand that is what you need in a child care relationship and I don't provide that service. There are hundreds of providers out there who will work when you tell them to work, allow you to arrive and depart with the schedule that works best for you, offer you really low cost care, and care for your child exactly as YOU want. You won't have ANY problem finding many options. You can make all the decisions and have it your way all day every day. I know you guys will do great and finding care will be one of the easiest things you have ever done."

[kidlove]

Good for you! Didn't seem like this one was willing to change her ways, she does need to find someone who will bend for her, too bad most likely she will either have to pay more for it or take a downgrade in the quality of her sons care in order to get it! Oh well, not your fault, not your problem, just wish her luck and send her on her way! or as my 11 year old daughter says: "smile and wave boys, smile and wave!"