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I can see both sides. As a parent, I would be so embarrassed and want to pay or at least offer to pay. As a provider, I would probably not charge the parent, but I would do as a PP said and have her sign something that said any intentional damages int eh future would be her responsibility. I guess the other thing I may consider is terming. It is a young age, so I am on the fence, but as someone else said, we are here to make money and if the window is going to cost a month's worth of tuition (not sure what they cost to repair), then the kid would be too expensive and a liability for me to continue watching. I think mom's response was pretty lame, though. Something more a long the lines of "Oh no! I am so sorry! I hope no one was hurt! Let me know what you find out!" would make me less likely to pass the repair bill on.
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I can't imagine being that parent and not insisting to pay. I wouldn't wait to see if I'd be 'charged' for it. I'd pay!
Regarding the child who kicked the outdoor lights while on the parent's watch, I'd charge them and term! That is completely unacceptable.Comment
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I expect wear and tear to my home is an expense I can't pass along to parents. To me, normal wear and tear would be:
*marks on the walls
*spills on the carpet
* an occasional broken toy or ripped book
* a scuff on the hardwoods
A broken window is way outside that array. I don't expect to pay for those. It sounds like the little one was throwing, you have addressed it with the parents, and they let it continue without addressing it. Paying for a window should be the consequence.Comment
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Yes, to all the PP's. He is at the stage where he throws. He has been in this stage for 6 months! I do believe he understands what "no throw" means. He never throws things at the wall, just the window or other kids. I'm going to eliminate all the toys that aren't soft during nap time. DCM has a lame response to everything this child does. So really her response shouldn't have surprised me.Comment
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I had a child hit our window with a plastic hammer. He was 2...pretty much knew better but also still 2 and impulsive. I did email mom and let her know what happened. She apologized profusely and offered to pay for the whole thing. We agreed to split it though because I felt like it really could have been anyone. I was actually thankful it happened. I had no idea that window was so weak and that no one got hurt was a huge blessing. We could replace it before something really bad happened. But I think situations like this are really a case by case basis. I may have offered to spilt it in this case too...not so much after that response though!Comment
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She just sent a text saying "I guess I will be buying a new window to add to this already crappy day."
Can you imagine how crappy a day it would have been if the window had shattered and I had to close because of the HUGE draft coming in? Now, that would have made that crappy day of hers even more crappy. Oh and the fact that 8 other sets of parents would have been out child care for the day and myself out of a days wages? Now that would have been crappy.Comment
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I would probably pay to replace the window this time and then write up the incident and state that any destruction after this is to be paid by the parent and have her sign. I would also have a serious talk with her about working on his throwing at home. Let her know it is term worthy.Comment
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In my opinion he is rather young to understand and think it comes with teaching young children, I would not require the parents to pay although it ****s. I would talk to them and tell them that per his age you would not make them pay but if he were older and more of an appropriate age to understand then they would have to pay. Just my take on it.Comment
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I wouldn't even respond. Although I would want to say something about how expensive and inconvenient it can be to have a child sometimes, so she needs to put on her big girl panties and deal with it, but her text sounds so passive aggressive that it is not worth giving her hissy fit any attention. If you do respond, maybe something along the lines of, "I understand your frustration. I am dreading my electric (or gas) bill next month since there is a draft in the house from it, so hopefully they can get it fixed quickly!":
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That rocks if she assumed she has to pay for the window without you explicitly telling her, and I'd just hand her the estimate when you get it. But if it were my home, unfortunately I'd **** it up and pay for it if a toddler did the damage. They can't really be responsible when we choose the toys they have access to and we (mostly) have control over their behavior. If it were one of my preschoolers or school age children that had a prior history of violent play, I'd definitely make the parent pay. Where do you draw the line at the age where they're accountable for their actions though? This is a tough one. Maybe we should add a poll at the top?Comment
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Haven't read all the replies yet but I absorb the costs of normal wear and tear on my daycare stuff.
However, if a child intentionally breaks something and they are old enough to know better and the "problem" has been discussed with the parent before, I would require the parent to pay for the damages IF and ONLY IF I did my part as well....
For example if throwing toys is something you've had a written plan of action in place to address, curb and teach the child and you have discussed this with the parents and you are both working on fixing it, then I might charge the parent....atleast a portion of the repair costs
If you as the provider knew he was a thrower and still allowed him to play with hard toys and he threw something that broke the window then I probably wouldn't charge the parents because he only had an opportunity to throw something hard because you let him have something hard enough to do damage when thrown.
So, unless he was right in front of you and you literally could not stop him from grabbing something hard and throwing it, you as the provider (since you knew about his throwing habit) bear some of the responsibility and in that case I would maybe see if you could come to some sort of compromise with the parent and have them contribute something towards the costs but I certainly wouldn't expect them to just pay for it when there really wasn't anything the parents could have done to prevent it.
Also, do you have insurance that will cover this type of thing?Comment
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