Should I Call Mom?

[beach_grl]

Ok-I have a DCB that comes Mon-Wed. Mom drops by every other Friday to pay me. I have told her that she can post-date a check, but she likes to come by. I have had to call her a few times to remind her that I need a check. She has forgotten once, and paid me on Sun.
I sent DCB home with chicken pox earlier this week. This is pay week. Should I call and remind her? I am really tired of having to call her and remind her that it is pay week. Should I just not call her and charge her a late fee?
I know she has a lot going on, but really-Dad could have dropped a check off this morning, or she could have post-dated! I am thinking a late charge of $10/day might jog her memory next time... And, yes, it is in my contract that my late fee is $10/day if not received by Friday at 5:30pm.

[DCMomOf3]

I would call her and reminder her this time. I would also remind her you DO have a late fee and it will have to be enforced from this point forward.

[Blackcat31]

OMG!! Are you waiting for the same parents as me?? I am seriously having the same problem right now. I decided to not remind her and just charge the late fee. I have called several other pay weeks with a reminder and now I'm thinking this mom should be a big girl and keep track of her own responsiilites because I can't do it all.....Do I sound a bit cynical? Sorry if I do, but having to deal with the same family over pymts all the time is draining. I applied the appropriate late fee and left it at that. Maybe I will tell her next time that it will be $x for every reminder I have to give! LOL!

[MarinaVanessa]

I would call her and reminder her this time. I would also remind her you DO have a late fee and it will have to be enforced from this point forward.

Exactly what I was going to say. I would call her this once just as a reminder but let her know that you won't be calling to remind her anymore.

Something like "Hello (so-and-so), I was just calling to remind you that the payment is due today by 5:30. I wanted to make sure that you hadn't forgotten or anything, I would hate to have to charge the $10 late fee if it's here past 5:30. ..... Oh you'll be bringing it by today before then? Okay great. I should have known that you wouldn't forget. You know that is great news because I feel a little silly when I call you to remind you so you know what, I won't call anymore because of course you know that it's due every other Friday by 5:30. See you soon. Bye!"

[nannyde]

Set the payday as the last day of attendance of that week. If she comes Monday and Wednesday then payday is Wednesday.

I never had that problem with part time people because the last day they picked up in the week was the day they paid.

I don't do Friday payment for part time kids. I don't offer to give a day they can come by to pay. I want them to pay when they are already in the house. I don't want an additional parent contact/conference time to be available so having them come on a day their kid isn't here won't work for me.

Parent contact or conference time needs to be managed. If you don't manage it you will have situations like this where they should or could come at a time when you are not actually caring for their kid.

Keep it simple and have them pay when they are scheduled to be there. If the child is absent that is still the day they pay. Let this parent know you are changing your policies and are not offering Friday pay for part timers. They need to pay their last day of attendance during the week so that you don't have to have additional parent contact time on your "days off" from them.

[kitkat]

Set the payday as the last day of attendance of that week. If she comes Monday and Wednesday then payday is Wednesday..

That's exactly what I do, too! Last day of care for the week is the day they pay. If they don't pay on the last day of care, then the late fee kicks in. I agree with nannyde...change your contract/policy immediately and the problem should be taken care of.