Bereavement time

[ebhappydc]

Sorry to hear you're going through this. A few years ago my dad passed the exact same week I started 2 twelve month olds. I didn't take time off as funeral was on weekend but I should have. Take what u need.

[CherryBlossom]

First let me say I'm sorry to hear you are going through this. I lost my dad to leukaemia just 3 months after his diagnosis, and it was terribly stressful and painful to watch him go downhill.
As for that rude client and their comment, well who are they to tell you how to operate YOUR business? Especially if the days are coming out of your allotted holiday time, but even so, if you need extra personal time off during this difficult time then take it!!
Personally if a DCP couldn't understand why I might need to close for a while at a time like this then they wouldn't be clients I would want to have. How disrespectful and cold-hearted can they be! Jeez.
I can understand though that you might not want to lose the client and the income, or have the extra stress of having to interview for a replacement right now.

All I can really say is take whatever time you need for YOU. You need to, not only for the sake of yourself, but also the children in your care.
Explain again to that particular parent, if you haven't already, that you need this time to grieve a little and then to refocus on taking spectacular care of their little one as per usual. If it's easier, write it in a letter and give one to each family.

Once again, I am so sorry you are going through this, it is never an easy time.

[Busy ECE mommy]

Just an update on my client who was being difficult about me taking time off when my dad died.
So he died just before the weekend, and I continued to work through my day just hours after finding out he died(didn't feel it was enough lead time to give my clients notice of closure-middle of the night death)
So I tell the parents at pickup that I will be closed for 3 days to grieve/funeral etc. The one difficult parent called me an hour before opening(6 am and woke the whole family up) on day 2 of my time off to ask if I was open. OMG. Needless to say I was quite blunt and probably sounded rude, but who cares at this point. There are no words.... Apparently 1 day is enough to grieve for a parent.... I don't know how much more of this stupidity I can take...

[bright sparks]

Just an update on my client who was being difficult about me taking time off when my dad died.
So he died just before the weekend, and I continued to work through my day just hours after finding out he died(didn't feel it was enough to lead time to give my clients notice of closure-middle of the night death)
So I tell the parents at pickup that I will be closed for 3 days to grieve/funeral etc. The one difficult parent called me an hour before opening(6 am and woke the whole family up) on day 2 of my time off to ask if I was open. OMG. Needless to say, I was quite blunt and probably sounded rude, but who cares at this point. There are no words.... Apparently, 1 day is enough to grieve for a parent.... I don't know how much more of this stupidity I can take...

I am so sorry for your loss Busy...I understand that you want to do right by your families, but forgive me for being so blunt, but the longer you allow this family to walk all over you, the more you are sending the message that it is an acceptable way to treat you. I think your comment about not knowing how much more you can take hits the nail on the head. How much more can you handle because in all likelihood it isn't going to stop until you make it and put a stop to it. Best of luck with everything. A bad family is hard enough for anyone to deal with let alone when you are going through your own personal struggles. I hope you have lots of supportive people in your life to help you through this difficult time and that you are able to take the next steps towards what is best for you by cutting these kinds of people out of your life. You deserve better and they don't deserve you.

[lemondrop]

I'm sorry about your dad, Busy. As for that parent, I would have termed on the spot during that phone call for blatant disrespect.