Potential Client NOT!!

[countrymom]

so I got 2 phone calls today looking for care. The first one wanted to start next week, but I go on vacation next week (florida here i come) the second one, well, dh said no way!!

I have issues when "other" people call looking for care for their relatives or friends, like grandmas, grandpas, neighbours....Its wasting my time
this time it was a grandma looking for her daughter because the daughter, I guess doesn't have time.
so gma tells me that she drives by my house all the time, which is fine, I have a sign out front.
so her first question is "am I liscenced' I tell her know (I didn't feel like getting into detail about how canadian laws work
so next question, was how much do I charge, so I tell her. She hmms a little.

THEN, SHE ASKS ABOUT MY POOL. I tell her that its been inspected by the town, I have it under lock and key and it has an alarm on it. Its also in the middle of the yard, so you can see all the way around.
Well, she goes on to give me a lecture how kids drag chairs to the pool and climb and will fall in and thats what happened to her grandson, at this point I'm a bit angry (I'm also not feeling the best because a daycare kid made me sick) so I tell her "well if your grandson was supervised then the accident wouldn't have happened" and I go and tell her that I'm outside with the kids all the time or my odd is out with them. Plus I have rules at my house that even my own children must attain to.
Then I go and tell her that I have a contract that must me signed. And she says, "why do I need to sign a contract" I so wanted to say, "because dumbarse that when you refuse to pay me I'm going to take you court" but I told her that its standard.

Now, this part really pushed my buttons, she askes how many kids do I watch and I tell her 5, well she says "I called another lady who watches children and she said that anyone who watches more than 4 children isn't giving them proper attention" ok, I lost it and said that that lady is a lier and obvious she must not have any of her own children because she wouldn't be saying that if she knew how to watch children and I also pointed out that I have 4 kids of my own and can handle a large number of children any day.
Dh said that after she gave me the lecture about the pool I should have hung up. Hmm I'm surprised she didn't ask about the ditch/creek next to my house. I bet you she would have peed herself when I told her i let the kids play in it.
oh she then says that they don't need someone for a long while, she was just looking.

[MN Day Mom]

Yep you should of ended the call when the pool lecture started.

I have never had anyone looking for care talk to me with such disrespect... totally would catch me off guard!

[TBird]

Once she started berating my pool, I would interrupt her and say..."Well, I'm sorry my program is not a match for you...good luck in your search!" I love it when you can tell RIGHT AWAY who would make you lose sleep at night...it's a GIFT...enjoy it!!!::

[jen]

Yuck! It sounds to me like a nosey grandma who really just wanted to lecture you about her feelings regarding pools and needed to come up with a "legitimate" reason to call you for information. I would almost guess she was fishing for information, not looking for care.

[Zoe]

Well you showed more restraint than I would have! I don't like it when people lecture me. Maybe that's part of the reason I went into daycare....I'm my own boss. Authority be darned! ::::

Anywho, I've had calls from grandmas too. Every instance was a waste of my time, as the moms never called me after everything I told the grandma. It seemed to me that grandma was calling people without the mom knowing it. I'll keep answering questions to those who are interested, of course, but it's kinda annoying, kwim?

[Meyou]

Ugh....it does sound like she just wanted to complain about your pool to me too.

I've had my share of pool complaints and concerns too. My opinion is that if you're not comfortable with the level of supervision and safety I provide under all circumstances then this isnt the right place for your child. I also take the kids to a lake 5 days a week for 3-4 hours a day all summer. The kids love it, I love it and the parents love how tired they are every night. But again....I've had sooo many complaints from potential new clients who just don't "get" that just because they don't listen at home, doesn't mean they don't listen here.

[krystamichelle]

Oh, my goodness! I don't normally like confrontation, but I would have told her that if she didn't like the way I did things, she could look elsewhere. I couldn't bite my tongue while getting lectured about hypothetical care for a child that isn't even hers. Ugh!!

[Unregistered]

It still surprises me (after 24 years of doing home daycare) how many people will question your ability to look after several kids at once...I think they might actually be a bit intimidated that there are actually people who can and do handle it..! There are 5 kids in my family , we were farmers, and yet everyone of use survived even with going to the barn, the fields and riding on tractors with our parents when necessary! I'm not belittling the dangers of course but in this case, we were supervised and learned early to be cautious...

I actually had one mother who was concerned about the railway tracks behind our house...about a MILE behind our house!! I assurred her that even IF they were able to walk that far, through a densely wooded area and actually FIND the tracks( which I have NEVER done myself...even attempt to get through the woods) , then it would definitely be something to worry about! Seriously, do they stay awake at night thinking up things to ask??

It sounds like she was actually looking to start trouble since she noticed that you have a pool and kids there...