Those 2 Dreaded Words...

[wdmmom]

Those 2 dreaded words were spoken by a dcm yesterday... "I'm pregnant."

Kinda hard to act excited when I know deep down I hate this.

She didn't go into a whole lot of detail other than she is due in August.

I decided long ago only to take on 1 sibling group at a time since they account for 33% of my income. I already have 1 sibling group now although the oldest will be going off to preschool 2 days a week starting in September.

So now I'm left here really wondering what to do. I can take on a new baby in August when another turns 2 and I will more than likely have my 4 year old leaving permanently to go to pre-k.

The huge dilemma is that this is a school teacher we are talking about. They pay for Christmas break and 1/2 at Spring break (unless the child attends) and not at all for 10 weeks during the summer.

And with her being due in August, chances are the boy I have now will be out June through October and I just can't have that.

She resigns her contract with me every May for August - May/June.

I definitely don't want to start asking questions yet, but what would you do? If dcb will be gone for more than the 10-12 weeks during the summer, I think I'd be better off finding a new family, but these guys have been great! They've been clients for going on 3 years. Never an issue with illness, picking up late, they keep their child home when they don't work, always been on time with payment and usually give a great Christmas bonus.

One part of me feels excited to take on a new little one, another part of me dreads the thought at how much money I'll lose every summer.

[WDW]

One thing I do to offset the income loss on teachers is that while they only pay for what they use in the summer, they pay me full pay the rest of the year (including spring break, Christmas break, etc). I also do not give a sibling discount to teachers as I feel that giving them the entire summer off for no pay is enough of a break. It doesn't give you income in the summer, but it gives you a little more throughout the year. My teachers have been fine with it. Good luck!

[Blackcat31]

Is it hard to find infant care in your area?

If so, I would use that to YOUR advantage and let her know now that with her having two kids, you will not be comfortable allowing her to have extended amounts of off time without paying for it since it will now be two children vs one.

I would charge her a holding fee for the maternity leave and not allow her to withdraw her contract anymore for summer months.

Otherwise, I would definitely start looking for a different family.

I know that ****s but a "golden family" doesnt put food on your table and pay the bills if they are given "free" time off....kwim? Especially when there are two of them.

I don't think you do, but I would also never give sibling discounts as the care isn't discounted and neither is the space.

[mom2many]

I have had several teachers kids over the years and they get one week unpaid off like everyone else, but after that they pay me to hold their spot. They usually bring the kids off and on through out the summer, but never full time.

I remember reading one person posting that they charge just 1/2 rate to hold the child's spot during the summer vacation and thought that might be a good compromise, if a parent had an issue with paying for that time off.

Good luck to you!

[WDW]

Is it hard to find infant care in your area?

If so, I would use that to YOUR advantage and let her know now that with her having two kids, you will not be comfortable allowing her to have extended amounts of off time without paying for it since it will now be two children vs one.

I would charge her a holding fee for the maternity leave and not allow her to withdraw her contract anymore for summer months.

Otherwise, I would definitely start looking for a different family.

I know that ****s but a "golden family" doesnt put food on your table and pay the bills if they are given "free" time off....kwim? Especially when there are two of them.

I don't think you do, but I would also never give sibling discounts as the care isn't discounted and neither is the space.

This reminded me of what I meant to say, that I would honor the summer maybe, but as far as the maternity leave, she would have to pay me for the older kid the day school started, whether he was in attendance or not. I don't give disc. for maternity leave either, they can use their free days if they choose, and that's it.

[wdmmom]

No, I don't offer a sibling discount and no, it's not really hard to find new families in this area. A current dcf just referred me to someone they know and is due in August. What I quoted them versus what teachers family would pay is a difference of $20 a week plus summers.

I really don't lose anything over spring or summer break now because I have a former client that's in pre-k come back to cover the spot.

But if dcb doesn't come back in August like usual and I have to wait until October, that's another $1200 in income I lose out on.

And, if things stay like they are, summer of 2014 might be ugly since I'd have 2 kids out.

How long do I wait to ask her the intentions she has of current dcb returning in August or if he'll stay home during maternity leave? I think that'll be the deal breaker.

I'd even be alright with him returning 1/2 time during maternity but to give up 2 months of income is not something I really want to do.

[Blackcat31]

Personally, I would ask about their intended plans the minute they say the two dreaded words....

I just use the whole "I really need to make the necessary arrangements so I MUST know what your plans are"

If she told you she is expecting, she must already be thinking about what she is going to do about care so I definitely don't think it is too early to ask.

[wdmmom]

This reminded me of what I meant to say, that I would honor the summer maybe, but as far as the maternity leave, she would have to pay me for the older kid the day school started, whether he was in attendance or not. I don't give disc. for maternity leave either, they can use their free days if they choose, and that's it.

This family was my first teacher family and I was so new to it, I really wasn't sure what to do when I set up her contract.

She's always paid for winter break and the child may not attend during this time.

Spring break she has the option of bringing him but pays 50% of her weekly rate regardless of attendance.

During the summer she only pays for the days the child attends but does pay my full weeks vacation.

[wdmmom]

Personally, I would ask about their intended plans the minute they say the two dreaded words....

I just use the whole "I really need to make the necessary arrangements so I MUST know what your plans are"

If she told you she is expecting, she must already be thinking about what she is going to do about care so I definitely don't think it is too early to ask.

She JUST found out. I think asking her now will only result in things changing later. There's just no way anyone can really know what the plan is so far away and I don't want to get into a deal of being told one thing and then another, then another to the point of possible resentment.

She just told me that she's expecting and that she'd due in August. She asked if I would have an opening this summer to which I replied, "It's quite a ways off, but it shouldn't be a problem." and she said we'd discuss details as it gets closer.

Would waiting a month or so be alright. If I wait until after the week of Spring Break, she might have a better idea of how her pregnancy is going and her intentions. DCB was born 5 weeks early so I think to be safe, at least waiting a little bit would make sense.

I'm sure they were trying for another but she seemed quite surprised when she told me so I presume either she just found out or it happened pretty quickly.

[NeedaVaca]

I know I couldn't afford not to be paid during the summer months and would have to charge. I WISH we were more financially secure because it would be awesome to only take teachers kids with summers off to spend with my own kids...I also don't like taking siblings because when they leave it's 2 spots to fill

[Blackcat31]

She JUST found out. I think asking her now will only result in things changing later. There's just no way anyone can really know what the plan is so far away and I don't want to get into a deal of being told one thing and then another, then another to the point of possible resentment.

She just told me that she's expecting and that she'd due in August. She asked if I would have an opening this summer to which I replied, "It's quite a ways off, but it shouldn't be a problem." and she said we'd discuss details as it gets closer.

Would waiting a month or so be alright. If I wait until after the week of Spring Break, she might have a better idea of how her pregnancy is going and her intentions. DCB was born 5 weeks early so I think to be safe, at least waiting a little bit would make sense.

I'm sure they were trying for another but she seemed quite surprised when she told me so I presume either she just found out or it happened pretty quickly.

Oh, yeah, I suppose being due in August means a fairly new pregnancy.... for some reason I was thinking that wasn't too far off.

I would think a month would be appropriate to wait and ask then. Maybe just tell her, you have no idea what YOUR situation will be like but you would like to know her tenative plans. Let her know you understand that things can happen and situations can change but you are just wanting to keep an open line of communication so that everything falls into place ahead of time.

Maybe just make a plan to continuously communitcate about it throughout the pregnancy.

I don't know, I guess for me the bottom line would be making sure my own income doesn't suffer due to someone else's situation.

Maybe asking for continued discussion about it on a regular basis would allow you to stay one step ahead of the situation and allow the DCM to understand that you are trying to manage several families and not just hers.