What Is The Worst Interview Anyone Has Had

[SquirrellyMama]

My worst interview was because of my cat I told the family I had a cat before they came just in case there were allergies. The mom was obviously weirded out by my cat from the beginning. Her kids were petting the cat and she kept trying to get them away from him.

We went to the basement to check things out and the cat followed. He went into the laundry room and started sharpening his claws on a corner beam. Well, it sounded like some huge rodent in there. I told them what it was and that we didn't have rats.

As we are walking up the stairs my giant cat sits on the stairs in front of us and won't move. He starts hacking up a hairball on the stairs in front of us. They were disgusted, and I was trying not to laugh.

They didn't call back, and I was fine with that.

I also still allow the cats out during interviews.

Kelly

[SquirrellyMama]

I had a mother tell me that her 3 year old daughters favorite thing to do was play with her horses testicles.



Never mind how gross that is, but the safety issue of a small child standing behind a large animal like that is scary.

[GKJNIGMN]

I had one that not only offered to pay me in food but also told me she had to move to the city I am in because her child's father murdered someone. I hadn't asked why she moved here I took that one though and she ended up being awesome.

[Happily_wed]

I think the worst interview I ever had was one I didn't have! A dcm came in talking about how I was going to be keeping her nephew from now on, etc. I asked what she meant and she told me how her sister in law had told her she had called me the night before to discuss her son coming to me, she really liked me,etc. I told dcm I had no idea who her sister in law had talked to but she had NOT called me! I never did find out who the woman had called but it kind of freaked me out to think she has spoken to a stranger and was ready to leave her kid there!

[melilley]

I haven't had a terrible in person interview, but I have had a weird phone interview.

A woman called looking for care for her 1 yo ds. She asked a few questions and told me she was going to move here for school and would need care when she did. She then went on about how her ds doesn't listen, but that her and her family were working on it and that she was young and that I could help her teach him to listen. Then I told her I have a dog and she said she was allergic to dogs, but wasn't sure if her son was, but she guesses she would see when he came.

At the end she told me she was going to bring him here when she moved here. I explained to her that I didn't have an opening for that age, but when she moved here she could give me a call to see if I have an opening. She said "no, I'm going to bring him to your house when I move there"!

It was strange. She never called back or showed up, but sometimes I wonder from seeing on here how some people have just showed up. My address is on the state's website after all...

[mountainside13]

My worst interview was as a parent. When my daughter was 9 months old we were looking for a new provider. She scheduled our interview during her daughters 1 year old birthday party with all her friends and family. It was very uncomfortable and awkward! The provider and her mother were "amazed" by how large my daughter was and they were comparing how large she was to her 1 year old that was really tiny. After we left I emailed her and said we would not be attending. I became a provider and ran into her at a training class 3 years ago. She asked how she was and wanted to see a picture. She said she looks more like my daughter now!

All my interviews as a provider have yet to top that.

[Blackcat31]

I haven't really had any bad interviews....I've had some strange ones but a lot of them have turned out to be great families so...

I had a mom call once and ask to bring her child the next morning. She didn't ask a single question other than what time she could drop him off.

She ended up being a family that stayed with me for almost 15 years and 3 other children. Of course, I didn't take her kid right away the next morning...I made her take the day off, do an interview and come the next day with all the necessary requirements.

I've also had random people just stop by and ask if I'm a daycare. I've enrolled a few so it's not always a red flag IMHO.

The worst daycare experience I've ever had (other than my mentally ill DCM~loooong, heartbreaking story that involves police calls, fist fights in the yard, restraining orders etc....)

...but the worst experience I've had with a DCF was a mom who signed up for summer care for her 5 yr old. Did all the paperwork, paid etc and showed up her first day to leave child.

The DCG was ok for about an hour and then we went outside to play in the splash pool. The kids were all sort of squatting around the pool with their hands in the water splashing and laughing when all of a sudden DCG puts her hands on a 3 yr old girl and shoves her head into the water and holds it there!!!!

I freaked! I called the girls mom IMMEDIATELY for pick up AND termination.

Mom told me at pick up that I was the girls 5th daycare and that she (DCG) had violent and aggressive tendancies toward other kids but she didn't tell me because she said if she did, she knew I wouldn't enroll her daughter. SHe was right.

That was early on in my career. I've learned now to interview VERY well now so that this kind of thing NEVER happens again.

[TwinKristi]

I would say that one of my weirdest was a mom who turned out to be an okay client. She paid on time, picked up on time, but was kinda passive aggressive and would bring her child sick all.the.time. He just left when break started so it's still kinda fresh. Anyway, she showed up on a Sunday to interview. Stayed about 15 mins chit-chatting. She called me that night and said she wanted to start that week instead of the next. She never called any of my references or anything. 20 Mins was enough and she started 48hrs later! The next interview I had was similar but she had a cousin who's known me for a few years from LL baseball. She came one day, brought him the next week. No reference check or anything. Another mom came once, had a zillion questions, had to come back with her dh and had literally interviewed every provider in town and chose me but again never called my references?? How can people decide on care without even calling the people I list? My friend said she doesn't bother because she knows they'll all say good things or we wouldn't provide them so why bother? One or my old DCPs accidentally gave someone my info and knows I wouldn't have a good thing to say and asked that I just ignore their call. Haha! They never called and it happened to be someone who interviewed me as well but she didn't know that.

[MotherNature]

I had a mother tell me that her 3 year old daughters favorite thing to do was play with her horses testicles.



Never mind how gross that is, but the safety issue of a small child standing behind a large animal like that is scary.

What the what? ::

[Kabob]

In retrospect I wish I would've kept the packet instead of throwing it out. It just had stuff removed like certain hoidays that I take paid were crossed out, she changed the day that payments are due, she took out the part where I said that there are no grace periods for late pick ups and gave herself a 15 minute grace period, crossed out the part that said late arrivals do not allow for late pickups, also the part about how absenses can't be made up on another day, crossed out the part that said that children that are to participate in meals need to arrive on or before the scheduled time and later arrivals won't be able to participate etc. Stuff like that.

Stuff she wrote in were things like on my daily schedule, she wrote in what she wanted her child's schedule to be, I gave an example I think on what I serve on a typical day and she crossed out 1% milk for her 2 yo and wrote in whole milk and said something about wanting to avoid her child being on the failure to thrive list, not wanting me to give too much sugary foods (one example was that I served graham crackers as snack and she asked that any sugar be scraped off) but then crossed out the part that said that I don't serve juice at all and she wrote in that her child be given Capri suns juices because they were his favorite, she also crossed out the part that said that i transport and she wrote that her child was not to taken anywhere in a car but i had clients that I picked up from school and I told her so before the interview ... weird things like that.

I did end up giving her a new packet and went over with it with her and made it clear that this was my business and that I wouldn't be making any changes for any individual client. She did sign it but it didn't last very long, she was testy but not too bad and ultimately she was laid off and said she would use me as drop in care when she looked for work and had interviews. I was always "full" when she called.

I figured she would write something like that...sounds like a parent's dream. I get it but it's a handbook not a request book. Oh well.

[Candy]

I guess without crazy people we would have no entertainment

[Angelsj]

I had a mother tell me that her 3 year old daughters favorite thing to do was play with her horses testicles.



Never mind how gross that is, but the safety issue of a small child standing behind a large animal like that is scary.

There has to be a safety/neglect/abuse issue there somewhere...for the kid, or maybe the horse.

[Hunni Bee]

I have to say mine was the creeper dad.

A couple years ago at my old center, a man called to look for care for his four year old son. I told him about my preschool program. He seemed to like everything I said, and we set up an interview for 1 pm the next day. I was kinda weirded out because he kept calling me "boo" and "baby", but I brushed it off.

The next morning, he calls at 10, asking if I was there and saying I'd told him to come at 10. I felt even more weird, I know I told him 1 because I always scheduled interviews and tours at nap time. My coworker took his interview because even she felt the weird vibe from him over the phone. He showed up at 11. He became uninterested after he realized he wouldn't be talking to me, and only stayed about ten minutes. He did, however, leave his son for about three hours. At one point, I looked up to find him standing in the doorway of my classroom, staring at me. In the semi-darkness. I quickly got his kid together and tried to send him on his way, all the while with him continuing with "boo" and "baby".

We never heard from them again, but we had agreed not to take them on if we did.

[crazydaycarelady]

I don't know if it is just our part of the country but we commonly say "Yeah" for yes. Well, I had one dcd request that I only say "yes" to his child. I told him "Yeah!" LOL

[Starburst]

I had a mother tell me that her 3 year old daughters favorite thing to do was play with her horses testicles.



Never mind how gross that is, but the safety issue of a small child standing behind a large animal like that is scary.

IDK weather to laugh or to cry... it's odd and can come off as funny to some people (maybe the mom thought this was funny and didn't see anything wrong with it for some reason); but at the same time it sexually abusive to the horse (and even to the child) and inappropriate behavior for a 3 year old, honestly if a parent told me that I would be afraid of letting her near any DCBs. I know she's probably just curious but still... I feel bad for the horse.... and the little girl when one day she realizes what she was doing to the horse and may feel guilty or even ashamed about it.