Nonpayment in the summer- how to handle?

[Malmom]

I have a contract and it gives parents 2 weeks of vacation/sick days where they don't pay.

Single mom with two kids started with me last summer. They were here sporadically throughout the summer because they were visiting dad. As a favor to her (and I didn't tell her this) I didn't put her contract in full effect until August when they were here every day. She burned through the last of her vacation time during spring break.

Today they came in after three weeks of being gone. She hands me a check, for payment of this week only. Nothing for the last three weeks. My fault that I didn't discuss this with her before she left, but I just assumed since we have a contract, she knew she had to pay the weeks that she missed. So now I need to address it with her this afternoon and I'm not sure the best way to do this. Thankfully I had a feeling this would happen and prepared myself budget wise for it.

I want to be fair. She is a single mom struggling. I'm not sure if she gets the child support in the summer while they are with dad for the 6 weeks. But I need to be fair to me as well. I was thinking of offering to let her to pay those weeks at 1/2 price. They are with me the next two weeks and then will be gone for 3 weeks again, so this needs to be figured out for the next time they are gone.

What would you do and how would you address it? I HATE having to ask people for money!

[midaycare]

That is a really tough one. Is she there full time during the year? If so, I would probably give her a break - if you can afford it. If she's struggling as a single mom, you probably won't be able to get payment for the weeks the child is with the father.

The child support orders I have seen usually have child support reduced by 50% when the kids are with the noncustodial parent for more than a week. But ... who knows if she even has a cs order?

I don't have any good advice, this is a tough one, sorry!

[Blackcat31]

I have a contract and it gives parents 2 weeks of vacation/sick days where they don't pay.

Single mom with two kids started with me last summer. They were here sporadically throughout the summer because they were visiting dad. As a favor to her (and I didn't tell her this) I didn't put her contract in full effect until August when they were here every day. She burned through the last of her vacation time during spring break.

Today they came in after three weeks of being gone. She hands me a check, for payment of this week only. Nothing for the last three weeks. My fault that I didn't discuss this with her before she left, but I just assumed since we have a contract, she knew she had to pay the weeks that she missed. So now I need to address it with her this afternoon and I'm not sure the best way to do this. Thankfully I had a feeling this would happen and prepared myself budget wise for it.

I want to be fair. She is a single mom struggling. I'm not sure if she gets the child support in the summer while they are with dad for the 6 weeks. But I need to be fair to me as well. I was thinking of offering to let her to pay those weeks at 1/2 price. They are with me the next two weeks and then will be gone for 3 weeks again, so this needs to be figured out for the next time they are gone.

What would you do and how would you address it? I HATE having to ask people for money!

Married parents struggle just as much. It isn't fair to those parents to think of single moms as disadvantaged or less then normal.

Being a single parent is not a disability.

However, I would e-mail her a copy of your contract page that states payment is due for the 3 prior weeks of care and ask her when she can have it paid by.

Being "fair" is charging her what you charge everyone else. She had 3 weeks with NO costs/fees since her children weren't even at home so no groceries costs etc... She SAVED money those three weeks while you lost money. Not really all that fair in my eyes.

I am sure she feels she doesn't owe since she didn't pay the last time but unless you are going to waive the fees, you are more than likely not going to be well received if she truly does not think she has to pay.

Do you require payment up front? I probably would have discussed this with her long before it built up to three weeks...that's going to be alot of money for her to come up with after the fact.

Ugh, this is a tough situation. I hope you have a good working relationship with her so you guys can work it out without you having to take a loss financially.

[midaycare]

Married parents struggle just as much. It isn't fair to those parents to think of single moms as disadvantaged or less then normal. Great Point!

Being a single parent is not a disability. Very true


I am sure she feels she doesn't owe since she didn't pay the last time but unless you are going to waive the fees, you are more than likely not going to be well received if she truly does not think she has to pay. Here is the problem - if she didn't pay last time, why would she think she had to pay this time?

Do you require payment up front? I probably would have discussed this with her long before it built up to three weeks...that's going to be alot of money for her to come up with after the fact. I think for anyone it's alot of money to come up with now.

Ugh, this is a tough situation. I hope you have a good working relationship with her so you guys can work it out without you having to take a loss financially.

I'm thinking it might have to be that going forward things are more clear about summertime. But the prior weeks might just be lost income.

[hope]

Many times parents hand over a check knowing that the full amount is not included bc they know how awkward it is to ask for payment. Don't let this parent do this to you. You gave her a contract and she signed it agreeing to the terms. If she wanted pay as you go or pay half price then she would have chosen another daycare. She chose you with your terms.
Do you think parents pay their water bills or mortgage without reading all the terms? Do you think the bank would be forgiving bc she is a single mom?

[DaisyMamma]

Married parents struggle just as much. It isn't fair to those parents to think of single moms as disadvantaged or less then normal.

Being a single parent is not a disability.

However, I would e-mail her a copy of your contract page that states payment is due for the 3 prior weeks of care and ask her when she can have kkit paid by.

Being "fair" is charging her what you charge everyone else. She had 3 weeks with NO costs/fees since her children weren't even at home so no groceries costs etc... She SAVED money those three weeks while you lost money. Not really all that fair in my eyes.

I am sure she feels she doesn't owe since she didn't pay the last time but unless you are going to waive the fees, you are more than likely not going to be well received if she truly does not think she has to pay.

Do you require payment up front? I probably would have discussed this with her long before it built up to three weeks...that's going to be alot of money for her to come up with after the fact.

Ugh, this is a tough situation. I hope you have a good working relationship with her so you guys can work it out without you having to take a loss financially.

i agree.
the one your not being fair to is yourself. especially when you didnt tell her last summer that you didnt start her contract until august. she will be expecting the same treatment this summer.

[DaisyMamma]

Many times parents hand over a check knowing that the full amount is not included bc they know how awkward it is to ask for payment. Don't let this parent do this to you. You gave her a contract and she signed it agreeing to the terms. If she wanted pay as you go or pay half price then she would have chosen another daycare. She chose you with your terms.
Do you think parents pay their water bills or mortgage without reading all the terms? Do you think the bank would be forgiving bc she is a single mom?