They Want A Discount

[hope]

A dcm asked me about taking on her Sa kid for the summer. i currently watch her newborn. She said care is just so expensive and she can not afford summer camp. I told her that if she absolutly needed it I could but honestly I think she would be bored here with little ones. I explained that I don't watch sa so I wouldn't be able to entertain her while taking care of younger children. She understood but said she may just "have to use me". Meanwhile, this week she bragged about spending $150 at the hair salon, she is leaving for aspen to ski for this weekend n she just informed me that she is taking a whole month off in july to go on a cross country road trip. Its not my place to judge how she spends her money but she wants a discount n i don't want to watch her older kid. But she is claiming poverty as a reason to put me in the position to tell her no.
Sorry, had to vent. Going to tell her I decided against it.

[bunnyslippers]

Don't take that SA child! It will wreck your summer. And the whole discount thing is so annoying...she had 2 kids, it is her job to pay for those 2 kids. If you have two cars, you don't get a discount at the gas station!

[EntropyControlSpecialist]

Her reasons for why she may or may not need you truly don't matter IF you do not wish to take on the SA child.

Daycare CENTERS usually have a room for SA kids and they do fun things with children around their own age in the summer. That might be an option that is cheaper than camps.

[hope]

I'm definitely not taking. All my teachers kids will be gone so that leaves me with the newborn n my own children. Oh the possibilities that opens up!!!! I planned on lots of day trips that i can not do with an extra child. They just all wouldnt fit In my car n they r activities for younger kids. I work very hard all year, I'm not going to ruin my summer.

[Cat Herder]

Am just playing devils advocate (because I would also tell her NO ).. but do you have a financial backup plan in case she pulls the infant to a center that can accommodate both?

You may want to look into one.. I have had that happen a few times. "I'd prefer *** stay with you, he just loves you.... but I can't afford BOTH places and it sooooo much more convienient to only have one stop. You understand, right????"

[Lyss]

Don't take that SA child! It will wreck your summer. And the whole discount thing is so annoying...she had 2 kids, it is her job to pay for those 2 kids. If you have two cars, you don't get a discount at the gas station!

I wish DH and I got a discount on our 2 car payment!

If you don't want the SA don't take her! I agree it will make for a terrible summer. I do 0-4yrs and for awhile I took an older SA sibling and it drove me crazy!! The poor child was sooo bored and had no one to play with (the rest were under 3yrs). She only came 1 day a week but I literally dreaded that day all week and was miserable the whole day. Maybe it's just my personal preference to have younger kids so I'm biased, but I just didn't have the set up to entertain her (helping with the littles only lasted so long before she got bored) and so it was miserable for both of us. I finally told mom she needed to be somewhere more developmentally appropriate, she needed an environment to challenge her and more kids her own age. DCM understood and put her in the local YMCA program.

I did have a back up plan in motion though in case I lost SA and her full time sibling. Thankfully in my case that didn't happen.

[hope]

Am just playing devils advocate (because I would also tell her NO ).. but do you have a financial backup plan in case she pulls the infant to a center that can accommodate both?

You may want to look into one.. I have had that happen a few times. "I'd prefer *** stay with you, he just loves you.... but I can't afford BOTH places and it sooooo much more convienient to only have one stop. You understand, right????"

I have thought about that and i do have a waiting list at the moment. Never thought i would but very glad I do.

[Blackcat31]

But she is claiming poverty as a reason to put me in the position to tell her no.

I said this before but I think it is worth repeating.

I have learned a TON of things while working in this field but one of the BIGGEST and most important things that I've learned is that most financial hardships are NOT due to lack of income but more so due to a family's inability to prioritize.

[sharlan]

As someone who takes SA kids - DON'T DO IT! I found out that I am loosing my 1 boy when school gets out. It's too hard to entertain an older child when you're set up for the littles.

[melilley]

I said this before but I think it is worth repeating.

I have learned a TON of things while working in this field but one of the BIGGEST and most important things that I've learned is that most financial hardships are NOT due to lack of income but more so due to a family's inability to prioritize.

Well said!

[EntropyControlSpecialist]

I said this before but I think it is worth repeating.

I have learned a TON of things while working in this field but one of the BIGGEST and most important things that I've learned is that most financial hardships are NOT due to lack of income but more so due to a family's inability to prioritize.

I have witnessed this myself in the past 6 months several times.

[rmc20021]

NO NO NO...don't take the SA child. I have one and it's sooooo hard to keep her entertained when I'm set up for preschoolers. She's always bored because I don't have the electronics etc that the kids at that age are used to having at home.

I even have my granddaughter who lives with me and is almost the same age here to help entertain her, but they are so different that they don't really play together much.

I wouldn't even keep her now if I didn't have the younger sib, but for now I have to have the income...but certainly will not do it for this summer, even if it means I go broke.

[Kaddidle Care]

A dcm asked me about taking on her Sa kid for the summer. i currently watch her newborn. She said care is just so expensive and she can not afford summer camp. I told her that if she absolutly needed it I could but honestly I think she would be bored here with little ones. I explained that I don't watch sa so I wouldn't be able to entertain her while taking care of younger children. She understood but said she may just "have to use me". Meanwhile, this week she bragged about spending $150 at the hair salon, she is leaving for aspen to ski for this weekend n she just informed me that she is taking a whole month off in july to go on a cross country road trip. Its not my place to judge how she spends her money but she wants a discount n i don't want to watch her older kid. But she is claiming poverty as a reason to put me in the position to tell her no.
Sorry, had to vent. Going to tell her I decided against it.

Gotta love these people.

Funny thing is - working part time for a Center, I couldn't afford to WORK after netting out camp fees and gas. (Well I could afford it but I realized that I would net about $20.00 a week - so not worth it!) So I stayed home with my son.

BlacCat - you said a mouthful!!!

[Starburst]

Meanwhile, this week she bragged about spending $150 at the hair salon, she is leaving for aspen to ski for this weekend n she just informed me that she is taking a whole month off in july to go on a cross country road trip. Its not my place to judge how she spends her money but she wants a discount n i don't want to watch her older kid. But she is claiming poverty as a reason to put me in the position to tell her no.

My psychology teacher (he is also a licensed psychologist and still has his own practice) would get people who would come in and try to get a discount (he charges about $200/hour- must be paid in the same visit) and if he knew they needed it he would consider but he would ask them to give him a list of their income and their expenses and he said he would point out: "oh, I see you pay $300/month for cable, $100/week at the salon, and $600/month for your Iphone. If you got rid of these extras and got a pay as you go phone, you would be able to afford to see me once a week"

[nannyde]

Parents of schoolagers with young sibs use the placement of the younger child to bully providers into keeping the older kid and they almost always want it for cheap because they believe the older one is easy. They say stuff luke "I can't afford two" or I dont have time to drop off two etc. Wht they are really saying is "if you want the money on the baby you have to take the sibling. All or nothing.

This scam is what lands a lot of providers to do off school hr school agers. They do work they don't want to do to protect the money of the younger child.

School agers are the most difficult children to care for imho. They don't nap and most require a level of supervision that exceeds that of any age group. They are also can cause a ton of parent provider conflict. If you aren't allowed to send them outside WITHOUT an adult outside with them you will have a very very hard job ahead of you. The way to solve it is to set the school age rate so high that the camps she says she can't afford are cheap.