Having a VERY bad day...

[zoomama]

some of you might remember that i mentioned a frustrating dcm. well, it's gone from bad to much worse. this morning she texted me shortly after drop off that she wanted to give me "notice" that she has found alternate care for her daughter for JUNE!!! she's a teacher and i've never required summer pay, so i'm out a whole month's pay right before summer!!! i didn't take deposits and didn't have anything in place to protect myself or my income should this happen. in four years this has never happened, but i know it's my fault. i just finally put out a policy book, which is partly what she's reacting to. her and i have never really meshed well, and i was warned about her by two ppl before taking on her daughter. prior to the last couple of months, it's always been okay and sometimes even good. i guess it's just shame on me for being so naive and trusting, but it's really wrecked my whole day. and probably any chance i had of visiting family this summer. oh well...i told her it's best for both of us if she brings dcg to alternate care TOMORROW as there are only 3 days left in the month and i don't need the added stress.
lesson learned. business is business. i'm FULLY protecting myself from now on...IF i stay in this business at all.

[sunnydays]

Aww..that sucks! Sorry to hear she is being so petty! But don't let this push you out of the daycare business if this is what you want to be doing. You now have policies and you will know to take a deposit and require a notice period (mine is one month) for giving notice etc. Things will not be this bad again! Hang in there!

[playfelt]

Everything in this business is a learning curve and just like any job we can't do it all when we first join the company. Gradually we learn the skills and grow in the business. Since you just put out your policy book and will now be interviewing and treating clients differently think of it as starting out and what you have done up to this point was the training.

Teachers have always been my worst clients. I think they look at their work and at our work and think we have the easy end of it. They look after a room full of kids all day too and deal with political interference - then again my training is as a school teacher and I wouldn't go back into a classroom for anything so maybe we do have the better end of the deal except for the paycheck and benefits part.

It also sounds like she has been looking for awhile when you first started mentioning changing policies and never had any intentions of staying with you for the summer months. That is one of the reasons I charge teachers more and then let them come one day a week in the summer at no charge as even those that promised to stay at least part time always changed their minds come end of June but wanted to come back in Sept which meant either taking them as a sure thing or advertising and hoping for the best. Again my policy evolved to meet a new need. It never ends.

[Judy Trickett]

For future reference......when it comes to teachers you charge them $5-$7 more per day than anyone else you have in care. That way you still get "paid" for the summer. Lots of teachers will come from Sept to June and then pull and find new daycare again in the fall to avoid paying for summers.

Just an extra $6 per day means that over the ten months they are teaching that is an extra $1200 a year. This way you can let the teachers be off and not come to daycare on school breaks and not pay for it either. This way you maintain your clientelle AND you get paid for a full year. You can let them take the summer off, enjoy a smaller load of kids but be out no money.

[zoomama]

thank you for the encouragement and not making me feel more stupid than i already do. it's hard not to let this stuff get personal. i've had a warm and friendly relationship with my families, and therein lies the problem. it's best to keep business business and personal life personal. it's just a potential for disaster to mix the two. i appreciate the thought of looking at this as a "training period". there are so many reasons i don't want to go out of the home to work. not the least of which is having to then find care for my son b/a school and summer vacay. as a single mom, the prospect of not being here when he gets home from school, not to mention putting a chunk of my income into childcare, is extremely unappealing.

[Momof4]

Zoomama, you are like me, everything I learned in this job I learned the hard way. But that's kind of the story of my life. I don't like to make the same mistake twice though and that's the reason why my contracts renew annually, because as I learn I update my policies. There's always something new popping up.

[torontokids]

I add amendments to my contract as they come up. I just an email out to parents and have them sign their acknowledgement of the change.

[zoomama]

thank you, momof4, for those words of affirmation! i sent out an amendment today to my policy released on friday. haha. it's regarding...you guessed it...deposits!!

i have had the day to cool down and feel much better about everything. really, it's good riddance to this dcm, even if her daughter was an angel.

good point about renewing contracts every year.

judy t, excellent advice. it's now in place. if that means i lose a couple of clients, so be it.

i hate learning things the hard way!! but at least then it sticks!

[zoomama]

Dcd came and paid for may - minus the last 3 days when dcg was not here. I'm not surprised but just glad they paid at all! Lesson learned and good riddance!!!