What are your important issues? Where will you compromise?

[Tot-Time]

Have you ever found that your contracts are too rigid?

I once had a potential family where the father was a lawyer and after seeing my contract he cancelled our interview. I eventually discovered through the wife it was that my contract was too strict.

Since then I have tried to make my contract have a more parent friendly feel too it. But for me that has been a challenge

[Emilys4Guppies]

Have you ever found that your contracts are too rigid?

I once had a potential family where the father was a lawyer and after seeing my contract he cancelled our interview. I eventually discovered through the wife it was that my contract was too strict.

Since then I have tried to make my contract have a more parent friendly feel too it. But for me that has been a challenge

What portions of your contract did he find too rigid? For the most part, I think that parents are relieved when they see that I have a contract. It holds me accountable just as much as them.

[Tot-Time]

What portions of your contract did he find too rigid?

For this particular family it was that I had 3 clauses: 1) that if a family doesn't pay their childcare fees I will take the account to collections and charge and add an administration fee due to me having to file with collection 2) *if* a family's account goes into arrears and collections doesn't work, I can take the family to court for non-payment and if this was necessary that I will charge the family an administration fee 3) that if a family has an nsf cheque I can charge the family $35 for the nsf, plus the charges I incur throught my bank due to the bounced cheque.

I think there might have been issues with the late payment fee too, because I back date it to when the payment was due and not when I discovered the cheque bounced.

The mom told me straight up that the dad (lawyer) wouldn't agree to those terms and therefore she wasn't able to even interview me to see if my daycare was right for them. I think for me that was the turning point on when I stopped providing my contract before an interview so that the families could meet me and know that although contracts can sound scary, the basics are based on respect and mutual understanding and there to protect both the parents and myself.