I Gave A Parent Notice And Now They Are Badmouthing My Daycare

[permanentvacation]

Lala,

Oh, okay. I just feel that I deserve to at least be given the chance by parents to meet with them and let the parents see for themselves and truly make up their own mind about whether to hire me or not and not just go by the word of others - especially when the 'others' don't even know me.

[daycare]

Lala,

Oh, okay. I just feel that I deserve to at least be given the chance by parents to meet with them and let the parents see for themselves and truly make up their own mind about whether to hire me or not and not just go by the word of others - especially when the 'others' don't even know me.

this is the story of my life....people take one look at me, they judge me and never even get to know me.........I could never do this to someone else, especially when I know how it feels........

[LaLa1923]

Lala,

Oh, okay. I just feel that I deserve to at least be given the chance by parents to meet with them and let the parents see for themselves and truly make up their own mind about whether to hire me or not and not just go by the word of others - especially when the 'others' don't even know me.

I feel the same! I've had people change their mind about meeting me after they found out i live in a manufactured home!

Sending u a pm

[Unregistered]

huh.......the only time I read the bad anywhere was in your post.....

No one here is trying to be hurtful, please don't make it seem that way...

thanks

You are correct! I apologize no one said "bad" except for me but with some of the posts I felt like they were saying it without actually saying it. Such as posting the providers previous violations, some of the responses before and after exc. The woman bringing up this conversation in the first place. That could have easily been handled with a private message or kept to themselves instead of posting it. If it were me I would feel like an outsider, on advertising site, parents exc. Then to come here to vent and ask for advice and instead of receiving advice and comfort, She is receiving more criticism and digging up her past.

OP- I'm sorry this turned into this! I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers!

[daycare]

You are correct! I apologize no one said "bad" except for me but with some of the posts I felt like they were saying it without actually saying it. Such as posting the providers previous violations, some of the responses before and after exc. The woman bringing up this conversation in the first place. That could have easily been handled with a private message or kept to themselves instead of posting it. If it were me I would feel like an outsider, on advertising site, parents exc. Then to come here to vent and ask for advice and instead of receiving advice and comfort, She is receiving more criticism and digging up her past.

OP- I'm sorry this turned into this! I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers!

I see what you are saying. I can see how it did not look right.
Thanks for helping point out that we always need to be mindful.

[TwinKristi]

Oye... That got crazy! Personally, I think you need to do some housekeeping on the Craigslist stuff. I agree with the poster above, your current ads are desperate sounding and a little off. I admire your determination to keep doing this work but maybe your methods aren't effective.
I'm not sure what to say about the violations but I will admit that's worrisome to me and would prevent me from using you as a provider if I was a perspective parent. Add to that the other providers in your community turning against you, I would really figure out a way to make some changes here.
I get that you need the money and some money is better than none, at this rate you will have none anyway. In my area if you start charging lower than what you should other providers will be mad as well. It not only diminishes the value of YOUR work, but of the work your industry does. When I started I came up with a price based on what I was being reimbursed through a subsidy program and my neighbor/friend who does DC as well told me I have to raise my prices, that's way too cheap. A) people will wonder why you're so cheap and B) people will think that's what other providers should charge.
And believe me, I had a DCP who worked with me when I couldn't afford her prices and it was a huge help at the time but I later found out I wasn't just getting a cheap rate but I was getting crappy care! And for the record, I have warned people about a provider I know who has been cited multiple times for similar issues as the OP, is a recovering alcoholic who was drinking on the job and neglecting children, got a DUI after that and the only reason she's still licensed is because she found 3 friends to lie for her and write letters of recommendation.

[permanentvacation]

I USED to leave my door unlocked during the day and help the local kids. I was using this as an example to show that people get all sorts of little stories in their minds and talk about you if you do something that is out of the ordinary (have low rates or help local kids) they don't really understand. Helping the local kids was a couple of years ago. They've all grown up now.

I can't use my back yard due to the fence. So I have to have my daycare toys out front. My door stays locked at all times now and I make sure to check before I open the door. My dog will bark (even if he's upstairs) and let me know if a stranger is outside! I put my daycare sign out front after a couple of neighbors who live only a couple of houses down from me said that they had no idea that I do daycare. A lot of people go on walks in my neighborhood. A lot of moms and dads walk their children up and down my street right in front of my house. So I decided to put the sign up so that the neighbors can see that there's daycare right here where they walk every day in hopes that some of them will need daycare.

Oh, someone asked earlier about whether the dogs made it harder for me to get kids. Yes and no. Most parents don't seem to mind and usually say that they have dogs too. I make sure to tell everyone that calls about daycare that I have pets. Actually, the Husky is my daughter's. She lives at college about an hour away. He is only here on occasion when she comes home to visit. Anyway, I tell everyone who calls about the pets. Most people don't seem to mind the pets. Every once in a while someone will say they are allergic to pets or are afraid of dogs or simply don't want pets around their children. And that's okay. Not every household/daycare setting is a good fit for every family. This is a family daycare, and many families have pets. My pets have been around daycare kids their entire lives and I have never had any problems. I do put my dog in his room a good bit throughout the day just so it's not so much going on in the daycare room, but I don't feel that I should have to leave him a bedroom all day, so he comes on the main floor (in the daycare area) periodically. When my daughter's dog is here, we only allow one dog in the daycare area at a time simply because they are both just over a year old (still puppies basically) and they like to romp and play with each other which of course would be too much to have going on in a daycare room.

Remember, I was basically out of work for 4 months because of surgery. I have to make up for that loss of income. From my last ad, I have one new child (been here a week), had an interview last night, 2 interviews tonight and one interview scheduled for tomorrow night. One from tonight hired me right away. The other from tonight likes me but needs to discuss things with the ex who wasn't on the interview. However, she believes that she will be hiring me tomorrow. The one from last night has a child who is older and is basically waiting for me to get someone closer to their child's age here so their child will have someone their age to play with.

So, hopefully I will be full soon! Once I have 6 daycare kids, I will be okay and not be advertising so much.

[Familycare71]

Lala,

Oh, okay. I just feel that I deserve to at least be given the chance by parents to meet with them and let the parents see for themselves and truly make up their own mind about whether to hire me or not and not just go by the word of others - especially when the 'others' don't even know me.

In lala defense in her original post to you after offering some basic suggestions she stated for you to let her know if you had openings and that she would make sure you were paid what your worth! If she was trying to bash you I'm pretty sure she wouldn't have opened that door...
Also- I would want a heads up if other providers in my area were badmouthing me!
My opinion: take down all of your ads but one. Remove the ad with the capital PLAY in the tittle. And I agree be constant with your cost and remove the refund-
I totally caught the one violation turning into more theme in the link. Keep your head up- I got a dangerous substance because my DH left cold meds on the bathroom sink on a floor my dck weren't using but was on my floor plan- it happens.
I flagged the post and Ill continue to flag -

[Familycare71]

I USED to leave my door unlocked during the day and help the local kids. I was using this as an example to show that people get all sorts of little stories in their minds and talk about you if you do something that is out of the ordinary (have low rates or help local kids) they don't really understand. Helping the local kids was a couple of years ago. They've all grown up now.

I can't use my back yard due to the fence. So I have to have my daycare toys out front. My door stays locked at all times now and I make sure to check before I open the door. My dog will bark (even if he's upstairs) and let me know if a stranger is outside! I put my daycare sign out front after a couple of neighbors who live only a couple of houses down from me said that they had no idea that I do daycare. A lot of people go on walks in my neighborhood. A lot of moms and dads walk their children up and down my street right in front of my house. So I decided to put the sign up so that the neighbors can see that there's daycare right here where they walk every day in hopes that some of them will need daycare.

Oh, someone asked earlier about whether the dogs made it harder for me to get kids. Yes and no. Most parents don't seem to mind and usually say that they have dogs too. I make sure to tell everyone that calls about daycare that I have pets. Actually, the Husky is my daughter's. She lives at college about an hour away. He is only here on occasion when she comes home to visit. Anyway, I tell everyone who calls about the pets. Most people don't seem to mind the pets. Every once in a while someone will say they are allergic to pets or are afraid of dogs or simply don't want pets around their children. And that's okay. Not every household/daycare setting is a good fit for every family. This is a family daycare, and many families have pets. My pets have been around daycare kids their entire lives and I have never had any problems. I do put my dog in his room a good bit throughout the day just so it's not so much going on in the daycare room, but I don't feel that I should have to leave him a bedroom all day, so he comes on the main floor (in the daycare area) periodically. When my daughter's dog is here, we only allow one dog in the daycare area at a time simply because they are both just over a year old (still puppies basically) and they like to romp and play with each other which of course would be too much to have going on in a daycare room.

Remember, I was basically out of work for 4 months because of surgery. I have to make up for that loss of income. From my last ad, I have one new child (been here a week), had an interview last night, 2 interviews tonight and one interview scheduled for tomorrow night. One from tonight hired me right away. The other from tonight likes me but needs to discuss things with the ex who wasn't on the interview. However, she believes that she will be hiring me tomorrow. The one from last night has a child who is older and is basically waiting for me to get someone closer to their child's age here so their child will have someone their age to play with.

So, hopefully I will be full soon! Once I have 6 daycare kids, I will be okay and not be advertising so much.

happyface congrats on the great interviews!

[permanentvacation]

Lala,

I sent you an e-mail.

[permanentvacation]

Familycare71,

Thank you about the interviews.

Yeah, if you got a dangerous substance on your report, God knows what someone might think that means! I think they should reword the reports or something. It's hard for someone who is not in this business to read a report and know whether something really is something they should be truly concerned about or not. In my case, I flipped out when I read my report - until I realized that a couple of them really are repeats of themselves which makes it look like more violations than it really was.


Re: Lala, I didn't think she was trying to bash me. I just wanted the opportunity to have her personally meet me and decide for herself, not be guided by what someone else said about me.

I know I am worth WAY more than I am currently charging. However, after being closed for a couple of months for surgery, I really need to get those first couple of kids in here. Nobody wants their child to be the first couple of kids. They want to wait until there's lots of friends here for their child. Which is understandable, however, if no one will be the first two or three, you can never get to having a lot of friends. So I have lowered my rate just to get the first few in here.

Going by my years of experience, education, what I do with the kids, and many references from previous parents which show that I have proven myself time and time again over the years, I definitely deserve at least the going rate. However, not everyone can afford that and at this moment in my life, I simply need income. And the first few children. Then others will feel more willing to hire me because there will already be friends here for their children to play with. Then I can raise my rates again.

I posted the ad saying Children LOVE to PLAY here simply because the one parent said that I don't let the kids play. I wanted to emphasis by my title and pictures of kids playing that I posted in the ad that Yes, indeed, the children do play here.

I also offered the refund if not happy because of that parent's complaint of not being happy here. I decided that I would allow the parent to try my services for a certain time frame. I truly believe in my daycare and am willing to stand behind my business. If someone isn't happy with my services, I was willing to refund their money. I know that could get people who just want to use me for free daycare for a while, but if that ad got me one new child, it worked for me. It also let people see that I stand behind my company with a money back guarantee. Companies that make products offer a money back guarantee if not satisfied. I have complete faith in what my childcare offers, so I didn't see anything wrong with offering a money back guarantee. It's different, not typically done, but it shows that I truly believe that if given a chance, you will like my daycare.

I know other daycare providers talk about me. They have even called me on three way to fuss at me for my rates. I appreciate someone letting me know that it happened to them, but I know the other providers are upset with me about my rates.

I really don't think that one or a few providers offering lower rates will make a difference overall on the whole of the daycare business. Actually, a typical center rate is $120-$200. However, I know of one center - not a home daycare- who offers a rate of $75. They've been offering $75 for quite a while. There facility is pretty much the same as the $200 facilities. They do about the same things with the kids. But when I worked at the $200 facilities, I never hears anyone fussing about the $75 facility. I wonder why home daycare providers are so worried about each other's business when facilities simply go about their own thing. They don't seem to compare themselves to the other facilities, their directors are not calling each other or getting on forums telling each other off for their rates. I have been in center interviews and in the room when a parent calls and asks about childcare. Never once did I hear a director/employee of a center tell a parent not to use another particular center or in anyway discuss the goings on at another center. I wonder why home daycare providers feel the need to do so. hmmm... just a thought there.

[permanentvacation]

I started my last post addressed to familycare 71, but toward the end, I just started expressing my thoughts which weren't meant to be addressed to familycare. I actually just got lost in thought and forgot that I was addressing familycare. Sorry.

[Familycare71]

I started my last post addressed to familycare 71, but toward the end, I just started expressing my thoughts which weren't meant to be addressed to familycare. I actually just got lost in thought and forgot that I was addressing familycare. Sorry.

I followed you!
I am personally amazed at the fact that you get so much hate based on your rates!
I agree- they need to change the way they word things in the violations... Some sound horrific- or they need to just provide what circumstance the violation was broken. I learned... I don't use my lower floor anymore- only spaces I can physically check at the beginning of each day
I wish you the best of luck getting back on your feet! I will continue to flag the posts- I am surprised yesterday didn't remove them!

[permanentvacation]

Familycare71,

Thank you. Have a good day. I have to start my work day now. I'm going to go make breakfast for the little girl I watch.

[SilverSabre25]

daycare--nope, not a mod anymore. Not my choice, but whatever.

The rest of you--reading this thread even *I* was getting anxious and feeling like OP was being jumped on. While I realize that everyone is trying to help...it just felt too "attack-y" to me. It calmed down after I posted the knock it off So that worked. Helpful without being overly critical or bringing unrelated topics into it is a good game plan for these things. And lala, it might have been less...antagonistic...if you would have brought up the "other providers don't recommend you" in a private message to her instead of in public. Not to single you out, but that's really where the "piling on" began. and then the unreg who had to go and post the violations--not fair either IMO.