It Never Fails....

[rmc20021]

I have custody of my grandkids and today is my 10 yo granddaughters birthday. We have plans for after all the daycare kids are picked up (5:30)...well, it's now 5:38 and I still have 2 kids left from the same family, with NO idea who is even picking them up.

Mom drops them off in the morning and tells me 'somebody' will pick them up. I never know if it's going to be their dad or grandma and obviously they don't have very good communication between the three of them because they are texting each other at the last minute to see who can pick them up.

Of all days for 'someone' to be late getting them. I'm sitting here wondering IF anyone knows who is picking them up today. Text mom at 5:20 and no answer yet. Last time this happened was when I had plans also...and they were 45 minutes late, which meant we had to cancel our plans.

Dad just called...said he 'had' to go get groceries. Well...now he's going to HAVE to pay late fees. I already let him know I'm not happy.

Why is it so hard for parents to be responsible?

[MNMum]

I can't believe he even admitted that to you. If you "have" to pick up groceries, bring your kids with you. I'd be charging a late fee and letting them know if something like this happened again they could expect termination papers. I find when people treat me this way, I don't get over it, and every little thing about the family starts to bug me...

[Blackcat31]

I bet if you doubled your late fee for every incidence, he would have some real thoughts about what constitutes "HAD to" and "Wanted to".... kwim?


Sorry you are dealing with this. Happy Birthday to your granddaughter too! happyface

[Willow]

I like the doubling idea (or even tripling)

Seriously though I'd have everyone bundled and my vehicle running when he got there, then follow them out and beat him down the driveway while muttering something about hoping the reservation for her birthday dinner won't have been given.away by now....

[momofboys]

How late were they? I would be sooo ticked off - I hope you gave him a hefty late fee!

[lovemykidstoo]

Happy birthday to your grand daughter!!! That woudl be ridiulously irritating to me.

I do not have late fees for late pickup. I have termination papers. I am beyond strict about this. The last time I had anyone late was a brand new family. The second day, the dad was 10 minutes late, no phone call, no text. My son had a sporting event that day that I was late for because of it. He said when he picked up that he was sorry but he doesnt' get out of work until 5:00 and it's a 1/2 hr drive and traffic was bad. I flat out told him that it wasn't my problem, I'm done at 5:30 and it was totally unexcetable and could never happen again. The next day he changed his schedule at work and now gets out at 4:30. I don't do late fees because so many people don't care if they have to pay a few dollars more, they will take advantage of you. Be firm, don't beat around the bush and tell these people that they can hit the road if they can't respect you enough. Good luck hun!