Not so sure about this

[Crayola kiddies]

Especially bad habits that gramma has instilled ... I'm with you playfelt I'd rather have the kid now and train him my way and have the income to go with it rather then leaving the spot open for him till the new year or filling the spot if he is never coming there. I'd be over the moon if someone contacted me right now with an infant to fill my last full time spot.

[kidlove]

GOOD FOR YOU! Not TOO often we follow through on things we feel that strongly about! Well, thats me anyway, I may have just taken the 7 month old and counted down the days until he became "more independent", but not have done that again! That is totally awsome they are so willing to bend.....I am assuming they will want you to take him once he reaches 1 yr, will you have room. I'm sure they dont want to keep the sibblings separated for always!

[2boys1girl]

They had told me at the first interview that they would only need care until the end of June 2013 (the last day of care is already on the contract). They may need care starting again next September but aren't sure yet and asked if I would hold the two spots over the summer next year (with no payment) if they did need care again. I said that I would be looking to fill the two full time spots but if the spots were available for next September they could come back. Or they can make partial payments and come for a day a week through the summer but they were not interested in paying to hold the spots.

I may not need to have two kids starting next summer anyway. I may just fill one spot starting next summer when their contract is over and from the looks of things I may have someone for the spot already. I fully expect that they would want to have their kids in the same daycare especially as they get older. When my kids were in care I didn't even consider splitting them up. I was honestly a bit surpristed that they were so willing to keep their daughter with me even though their son wouldn't be coming. I guess I should take that as a big compliment . I'll just wait and see what their plans are (and what my plans are) next Spring and go from there. In the meantime, I will enjoy my time with her

[playfelt]

What that likely means is grandma wanted to keep the children but the parents felt that the older girl needed more in terms of a group setting and friends and structure and all that. Separating them actually solves all of the problems - grandma is happy, caregiver is happy, kids are happy and parents are happy cause everyone else is happy!

[kidlove]

good for you!!! sounds like everything worked out to EVERYONES advantage! enjoy the girl she sounds cute!!! Another daycare bullet dodged!

[2boys1girl]

Wow, I spoke waaayyy too soon. I received a call from the dad last night saying that the dcg was sick still and wouldn't be coming to daycare. He also said that they had decided that gramma was going to look after both kids and he would be coming to pick up dcg belongings in the morning. This was all totally fine with me with everything that had happened and the fact they would only be here until June. I understand taking both kids out to keep them together. I would have done the same thing right from when we discussed the baby's age and decided that care wouldn't be provided for him. So definitely no hard feelings from me. So then he starts talking about the deposit he left to hold the two spots. It clearly states in my policies that the refund is non refundable even if care is terminated and the deposit goes towards the first months fees. He said I knew from the beginning that the baby was as young as he was and I decided to terminate care for him. I told him that that was not true and that they had told me he was just under a year and it wasn't until after the contract was signed that his wife told me he would be 8 months at the start of care (which wasn't true in itself). I said I was hesitant to take him at that point as he was so young but I thought I would try to fit him in, which I couldn't. He then starts getting super aggressive and tries to bully me into giving him at least some of the deposit back. There was no reason for the aggression. We could have had a civil conversation but he just wanted his way. They also know that my husband is out of town so I think that may have a part in his aggressive manner. I was left shaking after the conversation and I am not looking forward to him coming this morning and I am not a timid person. I decided to give him back some of the deposit that covers the days his son didn't come to daycare just so he wouldn't become aggressive in front of my kids and scare them. It is for reasons like this I didn't want to work from home and have strangers come to my home especially while my husband is away so much and I have little ones of my own to worry about.

I don't know how you ladies do this. I have so much respect for all you daycare providers. I'm going back to work outside my home!!

[Inspired by Reggio]

....I don't know how you ladies do this. I have so much respect for all you daycare providers. I'm going back to work outside my home!!

So sorry you've had such a negative experience ... getting your daycare legs can be an exhausting learning curve for sure and that first year or so spent learning to perfect your interviewing techniques, your contract and policies to avoid miscommunications and minimize dealing with conflict with clients and so forth ... and even when you think you've got it all figured out there are just some really nasty asshats in the world whose purpose in life is to teach us tolerance and strength in ourselves .... been in the field 20 years and I still stumble across potential clients that 'shock me'!

Sadly there is a reason why there is a 'shortage of childcare' in most communities because it is a very HARD job and most who go into it do not last more than 2 years before burning out .... it is a job that is poorly compensated for the amount of work that is often being done and yet people constantly 'complain' about the cost of it when in reality they are only paying $2-4 an hour for it depending on the model .... we are helping to raise the next generations and peoples heirs and yet we are often treated worse than the worst by them and not give the resources or support needed to do our jobs