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I remember when I was in a gifted class in school there was mother and son looking at our class possibly for him. The little boy was black and I guess his name was one that the teacher never herd before but it was a normal name to me. I swear every time the teacher talked to boy during the interview she said his name wrong and mom kept correcting her. By the time they left the mother was frustrated long story short we never saw the little boy again.
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I think the worst one to date was one where the mother basically asked me to change just about everything that we did here so that it would better accommodate her child.
I didn't argue with her, I just finally got the clue and said, I am so sorry that you must be under the impression that we are a nanny service or provide one on one care. Unfortunately, we are group care and my polices/schedule is not negotiable. That lasted about 20 min and out she went. -
Early on in my 20-years of DC, I had a mom of a 3 or 4 year old ask me, "So how do you get your breaks? I mean, I know you need a breather here and there, so how do you do it?" My thoughts were that she was an understanding mom who knew that this was a little bit stressful of a job, and she'd be great to work with! So I replied, "Well, nap time I suppose". She pretty much rolled her eyes, sighed, and said, "Ugh..... the MYTH of the nap." and then cut the interview short.
I was baffled. I do NOT insist on naps. It's determined by MY judgment as to whether any particular child benefits from a nap. But by me giving her that answer, she read into it that I was one who forced ALL children to take a nap no matter what. She couldn't have been any more WRONG in her assumption. Why couldn't she have just asked me whether I did indeed insist on naps??? What I really meant in my reply was that I'd have LESS KIDS during nap, and it would be down time.
Guess I dodged a bullet, but it struck me as so odd, and took awhile for me to reason through it. I still remember it YEARS later!!!
As for funnies during interviews, I had a mom of a newborn say, "You don't shake them, do you?" Seriously!!!Comment
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I had this mom once pull up in front of my house, ran up on the sidewalk, parked crooked. Her two kids (read wild animals) got out barefoot with BLACK feet and then proceeded to go into every room tear up everything in my house and not listen to a word anyone said. My hubby was in the kitchen mouthing "NO" to me. I made up some excuse about I'd have to call the state and see if I could accommodate them and moved them along. Of course I never called her back.Comment
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We had a family (a referral even!) who "wasn't comfortable" with outside time unless we were willing to mosquito net our 100ft x 75ft yard
They also wanted us to be willing to make and try to serve at least 3 diff meals each mealtime in case dcb didnt like the food, pull up/down 4yos pants, lift onto toilet and wipe. And dont forget to never say the word no!! Then she was shocked when they called to accept the position and I declined.:
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I try to prequalify. I send my handbook BEFORE the interview, ask exactly what they are looking for, and why they left their previous daycare (if not a newborn). The worst for me was one that I scheduled at 8:45 PM on a Wednesday evening (I have always done them at 5:45 on Mondays, because it works best for me). I was tired and had done extra cleaning for them to come over. They stayed until TEN THIRTY. Talked about their extended family more than the child. When they left, they told me that they wanted to sign on, and would discuss and get back to me by Saturday. Of course, I never heard from them again.Comment
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Once, I had a parent that was late for the child care interview. She come in, plopped down in the seat and said "OK, what are you going to do if I am late" to which I explained the contract precisely. Needless to say all the talking was worthless. They lasted 5 days...were late every morning and evening and the dad, being a cop, cussed me out and told me they only paid for services rendered and they didn't receive the services they needed...It was sooooo bad I had to call my licensing office in case this turned into a big thing....
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Don't know what to say about that one sounds like the kids run the house and parents are over protectiveWe had a family (a referral even!) who "wasn't comfortable" with outside time unless we were willing to mosquito net our 100ft x 75ft yard They also wanted us to be willing to make and try to serve at least 3 diff meals each mealtime in case dcb didnt like the food, pull up/down 4yos pants, lift onto toilet and wipe. And dont forget to never say the word no!! Then she was shocked when they called to accept the position and I declined.::Comment
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One mother looked at my husband and son and told them it was "creepy" that they worked with daycare.
I showed her the door and made it obvious I was ticked.
Crazy part was when she called a few days later begging us to take her kids!
NOPE!Comment
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I wonder do some people think before they speak or do they just not care anymoreComment
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I think the craziest one I had was the mother who didn't have a car so she needed me to pick up the child from home about 3 miles from my house, take the long way back to my house so I could drop her off at the bus stop. Then of course, I would have to reverse the procedure at night. The real kicker was that she told me that if she missed the bus 35 miles away, I would have to pick her up from work.
She also said that I would need to drive her about 45 miles away so that she could sign up for CalWorks.
Never once asked, just kept telling me what "I" needed to do for her.
After the 4th or 5th call I asked her not to call anymore. Somebody working at a nursing home 35 miles away, making minimum wage does not have the income to pay for those services.Comment
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OMG that's weird about the husbands.
One of my ex-interviewees said "Your husband isnt' here during the day right?" I said "Well on his days off he'll be here" She asked me if there was anything else he could do while her child was here. I mean SERIOUSLY!??!! It's HIS FREAKING HOUSE!
Another ex-interviewee told me she worked with the government and that she didn't make anything (now, I actually once applied for that job she had at the water company and they made pretty decent money!) and wanted me to keep THREE kids FULL time, 2 of whom were not potty trained for $75/week! When I said I couldn't do that, she bargained $125 and I said "No" , then said "OK FINE, $325/week) I said I don't do negotiations and told her I could tell it wasn't going to work out. I mean seriously!
Another one said my dog "intimidated" her because the dog looked at her "funny"
And another said that she was not religious and didn't want her child in any daycare where the provider or other PARENTS were religious, even though we did not teach a religious curriculum. I said "Bye" right then. I'm not about to tell my other parents what religion they can practice.
And my friend DCProvider had a interviewee explain that she was Jewish and not to feed the kids pork. OK, Fine. No problem. The kicker was when the interviewee told this TEXAS born RANCH woman that she didn't even want pork products in her HOUSE! She told them she was sorry, but she WOULD NOT stop eating how SHE ate, and it was one thing to not feed it to her daycare child, but no way was any parent telling her what she could have inside the house.Comment
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my oldest is about 6 ft 2 and very very dark skin. He was out front of the house working on a science project.
I have a dcm interviewing with me this night. she is in my house for about 5 min and she says, " I don't know if you are aware but there is a huge back guy in your drive way, just wanted to let you know so that you can keep an eye on him". She almost died when I told her that it was my son. the conversation was so awkward after that that it ended shortly.Comment
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