Providers Financial Need=DCP Not Following Policy

[NeedaVaca]

I have been so sad to read SO many posts lately about how parents are completely disrespecting providers! Late pick ups, rude comments, bringing sick children, dropping kids off on a providers scheduled day off. All because providers feel financially they can't afford to term.

There are ways to make it on less income, save and set money aside when you are full so you have cushion for terming or when numbers are down. Cutting back on things you don't need, couponing, selling things on ebay. I don't know...there is just no way I could allow someone to come into my house and do these things.

Does anyone else have suggestions for these people that feel like financially there is nothing they can do so in turn they let the parents walk all over them? I just don't know how long I would last in this business if I were dealing with issues like that.

[Blackcat31]

I have been so sad to read SO many posts lately about how parents are completely disrespecting providers! Late pick ups, rude comments, bringing sick children, dropping kids off on a providers scheduled day off. All because providers feel financially they can't afford to term.

There are ways to make it on less income, save and set money aside when you are full so you have cushion for terming or when numbers are down. Cutting back on things you don't need, couponing, selling things on ebay. I don't know...there is just no way I could allow someone to come into my house and do these things.

Does anyone else have suggestions for these people that feel like financially there is nothing they can do so in turn they let the parents walk all over them? I just don't know how long I would last in this business if I were dealing with issues like that.

I agree Needavaca. There are some posts I simply don't respond to because the provider isn't willing to lose that income.

If a provider is allowing herself to be held financially hostage by a family there really is NOTHING that can be advised or done about it.

I offer my sympathies but that's all I can do.

I totally understand NEEDING the money but like you said, there are so many other things I would cut first before I would allow a family to be rude, disrespectful or outright mean to me. Especially in my home.

There is NO amount of money in the world that would make it worth it to me to keep a rude, disrespectful client.

Once I moved past that, my job, my stress levels and my life in general improved greatly.

[Dsquared]

It is a tough spot to be in. I started the daycare because my husbands business no longer was bringing in steady income. Four year laters and here we a still are. I never thought I would still be doing daycare. I am basically the sole provider. I wanted to be able to stay home with my two kids. I will not except to go out and get a full time job while my husband becomes Mr.Mom. When I know I am going to lose a child I don't sleep at night worrying about replacing them. I am currently going through it right now. I do let parents get away with things for fear of losing them, and fear that we won't be able to pay our bills. I don't know any other way around it. It is hard to put money aside when you are living paycheck to paycheck.

[MarinaVanessa]

We cut down on a lot of "wants" when we were having trouble with finances.

Gym memberships
House phone
cable
stopped eating out
couponed
shopped at discount/bulk stores
Planned meals in advance and made a grocery list when shopping, stuck to it
Bought canned/frozen foods on sale
cut-down on shower times/cut down from daily showers to every other day
Kids showered instead of baths
Put a gallon of water in the toilet tank to reduce amount of water used
Washed only full loads
Line-dried clothes instead of using dryer
Slowly converted from regular bulbs to LED
Made cleaners out of cheaper household ingredients instead of buying commercial ones
Used cloth diapers instead of disposable diapers
Didn't renew magazine subscriptions
Unplugged appliances/electronics when not in use (most continue to use up power even when turned off if they are plugged in)
Household "light's out" curfew (8:30pm for kids, 10pm for adults)
Didn't use lights during the day between 7:30am-6pm
Lowered the thermostat
Lowered the temperature for the water heater
Cleaned out house/garage and had a yard sale/CL anything we didn't need
Temporarily offered earlier/later child care times to get a little more income (at a prime rate)
grew a potted veggie/herb garden

That's what I can think of from the top of my head

[Crazy8]

I just posted about this to one of those posts before reading this. I absolutely agree!!
I think for some the thing is they see/know they are just making it on their current income, there isn't much extra so they feel they NEED every penny of their income. Cutting a kid that is $100-150/week (or more for some of us) feels like it would kill us financially. And for some it may, but for many of us there are A LOT of areas we spend in that we can cut back on.

One of the biggest things that helped me a few years ago was Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover. Wow did it open my eyes to how much of my money was just disappearing!!!

A few months ago I lost about $200/week of my income, I was devastated that I wouldn't be able to get by. And then in Jan. I lost another $100 due to a family going part time during maternity leave. I decided I needed to go back to the Dave Ramsey ways I had swayed away from a little and started using cash envelopes again. Are things tighter now on less money? Of course. But I am still feeding my family and still doing most of the things we need to do. In 2 months I have a new baby starting so my income will go back up and I know that all that money is really "extra" to what I can survive on now and I'm actually going to try to just bank that check and keep living as frugally as we are right now.

I highly recommend the Dave Ramsey program to EVERYONE, even if you feel you are fine financially. And as for "needing" those families, I can't even put into the words the weight lifted off of you when you say goodbye to a problem family.

[Blackcat31]

And as for "needing" those families, I can't even put into the words the weight lifted off of you when you say goodbye to a problem family.

That is the decision right there.

What is worth more to you...sanity/no stress or the income?

I can't and won't put a price on my mental well being.

If I lived in a mansion but was stressed out and pressured everyday would I be happier than living in a cardboard box and being happy?

THAT is the choice each of us has to make and for each of us it is a personal decision. There is NO one right or wrong answer. Only what's right for YOU.

I think MV did a good job listing things that they were able to cut down on and live without.

Maybe when being faced with losing a family providers need to make a pros and cons list to really get an idea of the big picture.

[TwinKristi]

Personally, I had no choice at one point and all my clients but 1 left for a variety of reasons. One went to preschool 5 days instead of 3, one went to JrPreschool to be at the same site as his sister making d/o & p/u easier, one mom decided to be a SAHM when they wanted to increase her hours and responsibility and she didn't want to work more hours or weekends. So within 3 mos I lost 2 FT & 1 PT client and right before the holidays. I was advertising before I even got their notice as I was hoping to term one of them for non-compliance of my sick policy. Then once the reality of losing 2/3 of my income hit me. I was kinda freaking out. There was some divine interventions financially (basically the income I lost those 3 mos appeared and kept us afloat) and then I was able to fill 1 spot with a PT DKG at the FT price. I also increased the days of one client at a discount and it really changed things for the better. I'm still trying to fill 1 spot but things are much better already. I accept drop-ins to fill in the time, I work at another daycare when she needs me and I'm doing what I can to increase business.
Allowing a family to treat you poorly and disrespect you only because you need the money doesn't work for too long. What happens when they leave anyway? Then you're really screwed. You've allowed yourself to be treated poorly, your motivations have changed and you won't feel proud of yourself or your daycare.
Looking back I may have had money but I was really unhappy with things and felt trapped. I had a family I cared about who paid well and was reliable but broke rules and felt like they could for whatever reason. I allowed certain rules to be broken when I felt guilty or like I could help them by doing so only to have it be the new way to do things. It ****ed. I have learned a lot in the first year plus and I know how to handle things better and this forum has as well! It's taught me what is and isn't ok! Don't allow people to treat you poorly and they won't. If you find families who treat you professionally it works better for you and for them.

[Cat Herder]

Sadly it seems to be a common theme here lately.

I sense this will continue as the bigger political picture seems stacked to phase out private care altogether.

I have been planning ahead by putting $$ aside in an Emergency Fund that equates to 3 months salary currently.

I started it in case of disability/illness/Life in general but am seeing the value for other reasons, now.

This is a good start:

[daycarediva]

Sadly it seems to be a common theme here lately.

I sense this will continue as the bigger political picture seems stacked to phase out private care altogether.

I have been planning ahead by putting $$ aside in an Emergency Fund that equates to 3 months salary currently.

I started it in case of disability/illness/Life in general but am seeing the value for other reasons, now.

This is a good start:

I'm doing the same thing!!! Yay for savings!

I save ALL of my SA income, late fees, drop in care fees. I don't even budget that it's there.

Dh and I also learned from our parents mistakes-

we do NOT use CCs. We HAVE them, but we use them to save a % and pay it off. Essentially, if we can't buy it in cash, we don't buy it at all.

we live within our means. Our monthly bills can reasonably be paid on one income.

I drive a ridiculously old car. I do NOT care what people think. :: We make double car payments when we can and extra towards our house monthly.

We have 4 kids-thrift stores, hand me downs, garage sales and craigslist lots. My dd loves platos closet and thrift store shopping. I buy sneakers, socks and underwear new. My kids are VERY well dressed.

I have been VERY blessed with good enrollment, but dhs business is up and down. He had a really bad year this year, but we are still ok because of all of that. ^

I will be honest, I HATE terming and avoid it/put it off more than I should. I am term crazy this year. Getting my sanity back, and loving my job (and LIFE!) again.

[Crazy8]

I am doing the 52 week money challenge as well! Only looking it over and seeing those high amounts every week in Nov/Dec. I knew I wouldn't be able to handle that and instead I am doing it "bingo" style. I randomly choose an amount from $1-52 to put in my jar every week and cross that amount off. This week I made an extra $90 for taking a kid 2 extra days so I chose that to be a high dollar week for my jar. I am even a few weeks ahead!

But really, a lot of what MV posted is part of the Dave Ramsey plan - you basically do everything you can to cut down on expenses, sell anything you can on ebay, craigslist and all the newer garage sale facebook pages, etc. There are so many ways to make up for lost daycare income and remember, it would just be temporary until you can get a new client!!!

[Play Care]

I have been trying to find a second source of income that does NOT involve tons of work on my part. I just don't have it in me after my long work week, plus I don't want it to interfere with my family time.

In my case it has nothing to do with my current dcf's - though a cushion would be nice. I've tried consigning, garage sales, etc.

[Moppetland]

I closed down my FCC and started working in a preschool. I realized that I really missed my business and the children I made a difference with and just opened back up last June.

The reason why I closed in the first place was because I was burnt out. Why I was burnt out?

1. Having to go toe-to-toe with disrespectful parents due to them not following my policies and daring me to make them follow them.

2. Parents "forgetting" to pay me, but dropped off their children anyway.

3. Parents always late picking-up, no matter how much money they paid in late fees.

I felt that I needed to go through this stress to keep a decent income. But when my doctor told me that I need to quit this business, that's when I really knew that the stress was wreaking havoc on my body.

Well, this time around, I will follow my policies to the T and won't hesitate to terminate. I don't care if I get down to one DCK, as long as I'm stress free and feeling good about my decision on why I had to terminate, it doesn't matter if my income went down. I always tell people that God has my back and He takes care of me.

It's not worth it. You will get other DCKs down the line, but if you are unhealthy, suffering heart attacks and strokes due to having to tussle with this new generation of parents, then you won't have a business anyway because you'll be incapacitated.

I'm different this time around. When I interview parents I tell them up front what I won't tolerate and what will get them terminated immediately. I let them know that this isn't a "babysitting club" and they will be very satisfied with how I will care for their children if they work with me and follow all policies.

Hang in there my fellow child care providers. Regardless, people will keep having babies, and we will always be needed.

[jenn]

I understand both sides of this.

My daughter has health issues and we have medical bills running out of our ears. We have cut out everything we can cut out without being miserable. We don't waste money, but we do use a small amount for "fun".

I need 5 DCKs to make our budget work. I try to stay full with 6 DCKs so that if someone leaves or I have to term, we aren't in the hole, just don't have "extra". In my area, it can sometimes take a month or longer to find a replacement kid.

If I had a waiting list or did not depend on the income, there are families I would terminate immediately. However, when you know it will most likely take a while to replace the kid, it changes things. Sometimes you do have to temporarily put up with them while looking for someone else.

I do think there is a cut off though. I will put up with some kid/parent drama in order to keep the income. There is a point though that enough is enough. We would eat beans and rice for a month before I would allow a parent to tell me how to run my program. I will allow them to argue and fuss a bit, but once they've crossed the line, they are done.

[Play Care]

I also want to add - this is the one forum I frequent where terming a child is the answer to a lot of questions. There have been times I've wondered how some of the providers here stay in business with the terming left and right that they claim to do... I agree that blatant disrespect for a provider by a dcp is a reason for immediate term, but generally I do like to try work other issues out before throwing in the towel - with that may come multiple posts questioning my sanity :: but eventually things work out (either we get over the hump, or the child has to move on) I live in a small town and I do need to be careful about terming willy nilly. That doesn't mean I won't, it just means a lot of thought and consideration will go into the decision.

[TwinKristi]

I also want to add - this is the one forum I frequent where terming a child is the answer to a lot of questions. There have been times I've wondered how some of the providers here stay in business with the terming left and right that they claim to do... I agree that blatant disrespect for a provider by a dcp is a reason for immediate term, but generally I do like to try work other issues out before throwing in the towel - with that may come multiple posts questioning my sanity :: but eventually things work out (either we get over the hump, or the child has to move on) I live in a small town and I do need to be careful about terming willy nilly. That doesn't mean I won't, it just means a lot of thought and consideration will go into the decision.

I agree, I have noticed that's the answer to like 90% of the questions/concerns on here ::
It really takes a lot for me to want to term a family, and I've been to that point before twice and luckily it resolved itself and I didn't have to. But if I did it would be for a darn good reason and well thought out for both my family and business. Some of the disrespect I've read on here that providers didn't term for would make me term. That's one thing I will NOT put up with. Rude, disrespectful people will not remain clients.