Question about Parent Calling off Due to Illness & Then Coming Later

[momofboys]

I care for one family & today mom called me to say her oldest had a fever so she would be staying home to care for him & his siblings. Yeah, day off! Or so I thought. So I had an appt I needed to make for an outpatient exam I needed to have done at our hospital & seeing as I don't have many opportunities to do appts during the day b/c of providing childcare I called to make arrangements & took my son with me. When we got home from the hospital around 11:00 am the mom was calling me & even before I answered I figured it out. She was going to take her oldest into the dr so could I please watch the other two? Now I did not have a problem with it at all however I kept thinking to myself she had already said she didn't need me for the day & now four hours later she decides she does. What if I had made other plans? Am I being too hard on her? I just was thinking to myself why didn't she tell me earlier that she may need me later in the day, I'm sure she knew she was going to call the dr. It just rubbed me the wrong way. Thoughts?

[jen]

Had you made other plans I think you would have been fine to tell her so. It does sound from your post that she asked if you could take the other two, in which case you could have said no.

[momofboys]

Had you made other plans I think you would have been fine to tell her so. It does sound from your post that she asked if you could take the other two, in which case you could have said no.

Maybe she would have been okay with it although I don't know. I kind of felt as though she expected me to be on-call even though she told me I wouldn't have them. One thing she mentioned also was b/c the child/ren weren't here much yesterday she "expected" them to stay late today when they come. Huh? I didn't even know how to reply I was so dumbfounded. She said she had a dr's appt at 5:00 (my hours end at 5:00) so she would be late. There is no way she will come before 6:00. Part of me feels yes I owe her the extra time b/c I only provided care for about 3 hrs yesterday but part of me is miffed b/c it's not my problem her child was sick. Ughhhh.

[mac60]

Why would she just not take her children with her. It amazes me the amount of parents that can not handle their own children.

I would explain that because she cut her day short today, does not give her extra hours tomorrow. No carry overs. If I didn't have kids for the day, I too would be out of the house. You are not obligated to sit at home in case she changes her mind. There was no reason the mom could not had taken all 3 children with her, other than she didn't want too or can't handle her own offspring.

[Unregistered]

Oh no, no, no. She's calling the shots! No! Next thing you know you will be owing her hours on the weekend. You close at 5. You don't owe her anything, but really, if it was me, I would be calling her and letting her know that she will be owing late fees if she picks up after 5. Unless you contract by the hour and not by the day, you owe her nothing, and she knows you close at 5. Ohhhh she's trying to use you. Now I'm all worked up.

[originalkat]

I wouldn't have answered...

That happened to me one day. I just didnt answer. Later I returned her call and told her sorry I missed her call earlier but I was out running errands. If a parent calls and says they wont be bringing them then you are not "on call". You are OFF. Its too bad if they change their mind later.

[laundryduchess@yahoo.com]

my contract,

ok, if anyone wants a copy of my contract in its entirety please let me know I will send it through email.
I actually have an item that deals with this in it.

[gbcc]

Maybe she would have been okay with it although I don't know. I kind of felt as though she expected me to be on-call even though she told me I wouldn't have them. One thing she mentioned also was b/c the child/ren weren't here much yesterday she "expected" them to stay late today when they come. Huh? I didn't even know how to reply I was so dumbfounded. She said she had a dr's appt at 5:00 (my hours end at 5:00) so she would be late. There is no way she will come before 6:00. Part of me feels yes I owe her the extra time b/c I only provided care for about 3 hrs yesterday but part of me is miffed b/c it's not my problem her child was sick. Ughhhh.

You didn't say anything so she probably assumes this is ok and will pull that again. I would have nicely told her that she is contracted per spot and not per the hours and you close at 5pm. If you are ok with them staying late then I would also explain that it was her choice to pick the children up late but late fees would still be in effect.

Personally, I will not answer the phone if they are off because I have had too many parents try this. They can leave a message and if it's for advice I will call back, but not for coming late. Once it just happened that out of my 6 six children they were either all sick or on vacation. So I had no children. My policy states if you are more than a half hour late with no call it is assumed your child will not be here and I will go ahead with my day. Anyways, I just layed down in bed and turned on lifetime when don't I hear my doorbell ring. This was an hour after the child was supposed to be here. I was bummed. Anyways I decided not to answer. The parent called I still didn't answer! I called awhile after they left from my cell phone. I applogized and said I must have been in the shower but I was no longer home as I had no children show up! She never forgot to call again if she was running that late. It kills me though. How does she last at this job where she can go in an hour late. Obviously she thought to call her boss but didn't think to call me. It's sad to say but some parents just need to be taught a lesson because reading and telling them doesn't work.

[gbcc]

ok, if anyone wants a copy of my contract in its entirety please let me know I will send it through email.
I actually have an item that deals with this in it.

I just re did mine for the new year but I would be interested to know if I left anything out so I would appreciate a copy.

TIA!

[tymaboy]

If it were me & that was the only family I had for the day I either 1- would not have answered the phone or 2- told them I had already made plans since you had the day off.

I actuelly have it in my policy that if 1 child is home sick the others should stay home as well as to not spread the sickness around. The siblings may not be sick at the time but I bet they are carring the germs to spread it to others.

[AfterSchoolMom]

I hope you have a late fee for time past 5. If so, ABSOLUTELY charge her for it. The nerve!

[kitkat]

I would have been really irritated by that phone call! If it were me, I wouldn't have answered the phone and let the machine get it. Like everyone else, I cherish my days off (today...yippee!) and if I don't have kids, I take full advantage of that. Even if I didn't have plans, I would have told the mom I couldn't watch the other kids and made up an excuse. I'm sure that sounds kind of selfish, but I don't care, it's my day off.

I also agree with a previous post...hours don't carry over.

[Unregistered]

I have it in my policies that if you dont show or call within 15 minutes of your contracted drop off time it will be assumed that you are not coming and i will proceed with my plans including closing if i have no other daycare kids or leaving the daycare, I also have it in there that if one kid is sick none of them can come, AND it also states that if you call at anytime and say that you will not be there that you cannot bring the child after changing your mind but they will still pay for the spot. I also let them know that they pay for what hours they contract and cannot renegotiate the hours simply because they came late or want early, if they want care outside the hours they contracted they will have to pay in cash the extra fee(if i want them longer) and the fee is higher than they would normally pay, when the mom drops off or picks up if she already left them then id remind her what her contracted hours are and that in order for the children to be allowed into care on their next contracted day she will need to pay the late fee in cash.
It doesnt matter if she is the only family, this is your business not hers, she cant tell you that you have to keep them tell 6pm if you close at 5. If you have a hard time confronting her then simply tell her that you close at 5 and you were in such shock when she TOLD you that they would be staying late that you couldnt speak and that you have plans to be gone and she cannot leave kids there without the late fee...I actually have it stated what the late fee is if they dont pick up at thier contracted time and also that if the child isnt picked up by my closing time the late fee is doubled.

[laundryduchess@yahoo.com]

Ive tried attaching my contract on here but cant, Its too large send me a private message with your email and Ill send it that way if you want my contract.

[momofboys]

Thanks everyone for your input! I misunderstood her. She wasn't going to bring anyone today so she only wanted to bring the baby when she herself went to the doctor. And she switched her appt to an earlier time so it was not during my off hours. I understand the difficulty about going to the dr's with a child or two or three (I have three of my own) but normally I can manage if needed, at least with my own kids.