Divorce

[spud912]

I have a school aged drop-in child who I only see once every 1-2 months. They are the only family I have who does not have a written contract since I rarely see the child (who we absolutely love!) and they have never given us any problems. She has been coming to us for a year and a half and it's been less and less as of late. In the past, the father would always drop off and the mom would usually pick up.

Anyway, dcg (who is 7, almost 8) came this past weekend and mentioned that her parents are divorcing and her dad already moved out. I am wondering if I should mention something to the parents or leave it be. I really don't want to get involved in any drama or cause anything, but I'm confused now who to correspond with or if I will even see her again. Does anyone have any advice?

[Crazy8]

I would wait until her next scheduled day. I assume one of the parents calls you to arrange the days she will come?? I would think the one calling would mention it at that time, if not that is when I would just ask who is picking up/dropping off. I wouldn't even mention the divorce if they don't - really doesn't matter in the scheme of daycare as long as there is no custody order that states a parent can't pick up.

[cheerfuldom]

I would absolutely ask about it before the next scheduled date. You need to figure out what your policy will be regarding separated/divorced couples because you need to know who is authorized to pickup, who to call in emergency, who will be handling payment and correspondence. I think it would be best to be proactive about it and not wait till the morning of a drop off day.

[spud912]

Well, it is somewhat confusing, but dcg only comes the occasional Sunday, usually for 10-13 hours at a time. It sounds like a pain, but she is such a good girl and very helpful. She basically tags along with whatever we do on a regular Sunday, although we usually try to make it a fun day for her and our kids (doing "field trips" that we normally could not afford, but we can when she tags along because the money the parents give us is extra).

Anyway, the parents are pretty bad about letting us know ahead of time if they need us and we usually find out the night before. It doesn't bother us too much, because we know that we can always decline (they have other providers they use as well). Well, in the past, if I wanted to know ahead of time (as in a few days prior to Sunday), I would text mom and ask what her schedule is looking like over the next month and she would respond with when she needs me. Now it really depends on who has dcg for the night and if that person is working. Hmmm...........