So....I realize that this is a relatively small weed in the garden of life, but I need to get this off my chest.....I got a phone call from my bank last night. It appears that one of the cheques that I deposited last week was declined. As 4 out of my 5 clients have been with me for over a year now and I have never had any problems with their cheques, it was pretty straightforward to figure out where the problem was. What really steamed me though, was when I went to contact the parents to discuss this matter, both of the phone numbers that they provided me with were not working. Now I'm ticked. I've never had to contact parents when a child is in my care, but I NEVER want to find myself in a spot where a child is sick or injured and I can't reach Mom or Dad. I mean really, people - do I need to "check" the phone numbers that you provide me with when you sign the contract - just to make sure that they actually ring and are in service ? Frosting the proverbial cupcake was the fact that the Dad (who drops the girl off every A.M.) wasn't even aware of this problem. When I was unable to contact the parents by phone I sent an e-mail explaining the situation, requesting that they check their bank records to sort matters out. (and to please bring last week's dues in cash this A.M. when they dropped off dcg) It's Mom's e-mail account and I suspected that it was just a "junk" account since it's a yahoo address. Again - people - when I ask for your e-mail information, please provide me with an account that you check regularly so that if I need to contact you, I can ! I am so frustrated ! I realize that since they paid a deposit of two weeks dues when they started up, I am not out of pocket; and fortunately I had enough "slush funds" in my account that when the bank adjusted my balance to reflect the fact that the cheque had been declined that my car payment, mortgage etc. still went through without bouncing. So I'm thankful for those small mercies. I don't want to term over this as I had a horrible time finding a family to fill this space, and I do understand that mistakes happen - especially if money is tight. Mostly I just hate the fact that now I'm going to worry about every cheque these people ever provide me with from here on out. Thanks for letting me get this off my mind - I feel about forty pounds lighter !