Daycare woes continue

On Wednesday last week one of the mom's at my daycare came to pick up her kids and said she was laid off. We were thinking this would eventually happening. This company has had 2 lay offs already. I lost one parent back in November and now this one. I said oh man, I'm sorry. We talked about my 2 week notice policy to quit daycare services. I said she could pay for one week and not bring the kids. This would cover two weeks of what I would normally make after I pay for diapers and food, etc for her kids. She dropped off the next day and I was in the shower - she asked Jose if the kids could come then for that week she has to pay for. I called her back when I was out and said the deal was that they wouldn't come because then I would get my two weeks worth of pay out of one week if they were not to come. If they come, they'd be using food, diapers, etc and I would end up losing money. I said she could bring the kids for the normal two weeks if she wanted and pay that, but if she wanted to just pay for one week then the kids could not come. She said, ok today's their last day then. She came and got them later, we said our goodbyes and she left. I thought...hmmm...I didn't ask if she put her check in the folder so I checked. There was an envelope - which the parents never put their checks in envelopes. I opened it up and the check was for $6!!! So a little back story - she has two children that come here and pays $238 for them to come. She pays $2 per day that they come at 5:45am since I don't open until 6 - she pays an extra fee to bring them early. The parents pay on Fridays for the following week - so in advance. So she just paid me for the 3 days they came early that week! So I run out - she was getting the kids in the car and said Hey what's with the $6? She said she didn't think it was fair that she had to pay if the kids couldn't come. I said, it was a deal I was trying to help her out, but the kids can come if she wants to do the normal two weeks. We argued back and forth a bit and I eventually walked away because I didn't want to get angry in front of the kids or say something I'd regret. I called Jose and my Dad to get some advice and make sure that I hadn't done anything wrong. I called her like 15 minutes after she left and left a message apologizing for walking away and saying to call me and let me know if she wants to pay the one week or bring the kids for two. I called that evening to remind her that there are late fees if she didn't let me know by Friday. By Friday evening I hadn't heard from her and I tried again - she blocked my calls! All 3 numbers I have for them my number was blocked from.....grrrrr.....I am totally pissed by now. So I have other contact numbers on the children's paperwork for pick up purposes and I called the grandma - this woman's mother. I was just going to leave a message that she could let the mom know I am still trying to get ahold of her and need the money she owes me. The mom answered and started laying into me about how she doesn't owe me money, she didn't get notice from her job and I don't need notice and how I refused to watch her kids. She said dont' call me again and hung up. That was the end of me trying to make this work and now I'm filing small claims court paperwork. I will take her to court and get my money. I'm disappointed that I watched these kids for almost a year and thought I was friends with these people, or at least had a good relationship with them and they do this. Now I understand the frustration of getting laid off, losing your health insurance - and they lost their house a few months back and are living with family now. So I get the financial stress - I had offered to let them do a payment plan. I have the mom that was laid off in November from the same company that is still making payments to me from her two week notice. And she's a single mom with only unemployment for income. So anyway, that's the newest frustration. I did feel bad for her and wanted to help her out, but now I just want her to realize she's wrong and get as much as I can. I have a late fee policy too so if I don't get paid on time I can charge extra, so I'll add that in the lawsuit too. Hopefully she'll get the paperwork and court date and just call me to settle outside of court. I don't want to go to court and just want them to realize that they have responsibilities! I think about it all the time and my stomach churns and it. I don't handle people being upset with me or a conflict being unresolved. I always want to fix everything. So it hurts when these things happen. I need to get some tougher skin before I get my business up and running. I'll keep you posted on the lovely court situation! I have an ad in starting this weekend to fill their spots so I won't hire a regular helper until I get more kids - otherwise I'd hardly make any money with only 4 paying children and a helper. The ones I really like can't start until May or June anyway, so that will hopefully still work out.

Easter went well. We went to my grandma's with my mom's side of the family. We all brought food to share and visited. My mom had a pinata for the kids. I'll post pictures soon. It was fun. Toby came with and did a great job in his crate.

We also took him to Petco on Saturday to get some supplies and he did great there too. They allow animals in the store so we brought him in and he met some new gigantic friends. He was the size of the one dog's snout almost and was very tolerant while he sniffed Toby out. The big dog was trying to play with him and the sound of his paw on the ground was really loud, so we didn't allow the playing to continue. Poor Toby would have been flattened! But it was fun to have him out and about and show him off. It's like having a new baby. Everyone wants to stop and look at him and ask about him. I'm very glad we got him, because it's nice to have that cute puppy that always wants to cuddle so that when you're feeling stressed you can hold him and calm down. I eat when I'm stressed, so I've been working on just giving the puppy a good snuggle instead. But the Easter candy calls to me....

The kids are doing well. They're fighting colds, but at a minimum. Belle is still taking a few steps here and there - everything has to line up just right and she has to have motivation to do it, but when she wants to she can - she took about 5 steps when Jose got home on Friday. Isaiah and Audri are loving being able to go outside now. It's nice for them to wear off that energy. Nicer for me then them I think. :)

Hope you had a blessed Easter and I'd love to get an email or comment from you.