How would you handle this dilemma?

[cfred]

I'm with MickeyC. I'd never let an existing client go to make room for a new one out of convenience. I totally get the need to put food on the table. As a single parent with a mortgage, children of my own, almost never getting child support and as many bills as anyone else, I'm still able to do that, even with empty spaces. Is it ideal? Not so much, but part of the job, in my mind. To each his/her own, but I can imagine that it could, as stated before, that a reputation for that sort of thing could become a problem in the future. I always factor in empty spaces. I NEED 3 kids to stay afloat. 4 kids is great. 5 is awesome and I tuck money away. I have 4 parents that have either just gone on mat leave or are going on it very soon. They were honest with me and we discussed options and they committed to paying me until the firm date they'd set to leave, regardless or when they actually did leave. This allowed me to advertise and subsequently fill all those spaces as soon as I knew they were pregnant and they'd had a month to think about what they wanted to do with the space.