A New Clients First & Last Day Was Today :)

[MarinaVanessa]

Okay I know it's long but there were so many things that went wrong that I had to post everything.

I interviewed a family for my last spot that I have and everything went well. Nothing out of the ordinary happened and no red flags were raised. We discussed the policies, contract and my "deal-breakers" at length and did drop-in playdates last week which went well enough. She decided to sign-up and I gave her a packet to fill out and sign to return to me today at drop-off and today would be their first official day with a FT schedule of 8am-5:30pm while she goes to school.

This is how drop-off went:
1st DCG stayed home so I was alone with the baby so at 7:30am I am in the middle of giving my baby a bath in the kitchen sink. I hear the screen door, hear handle & someone try to open the door, knock on door, I take baby out of sink, another knock, wrap a towel around baby, another louder knock, walk to front door, door bell rings, I get to front door, doorbell rings repeatedly until I open the door ... new DCM is on my front step.

DCM: GOOD MORNING!! I tried my code but it didn't work. You should really fix that. (I have a keypad entry so each parent gets a code that works only on the days and times that their DC kids are here)
ME: Oh hi. Um ... yes, it'll only work from 8 to 5:30. That's what you said you needed. (I move out of way and they come in)
DCM: Yeah that's my school schedule but I'll need time to get to school and after you know. (smiling)
ME: Oh. I'm sorry but when I asked you what hours you needed for care you said 8-5 ... so you'll need what? (look at clock) 7:30 to 5:30?
DCM: Yes on the 7:30, no on the 5:30. It'll need more time to get here after my last class.
ME: Oh. Well we talked about how you get 10 hours a day so ... you want to do 7:45 to 5:45?
DCM: Well ... I wanted to come and drop him off early like at 7:30 so I could say goodbye and everything and take my time but yeah I'll be here like by 5:45 to pick him up.
(pause)
ME: Well ... you get 10 hours a day so you tell me which 10 hours you need.
(pause)
DCM: I'll only be like 5 minutes later to pick him up.
ME: 5:45 is not 5 minutes later, it's 15. Even then 5 minutes every day is 25 minutes in a week. I'll need to discuss a different rate, that will be extra.
DCM: I'll just be like 5 minutes late each day.
ME: Ok, you can drop off at 7:30 and pick up at 5:35.
DCM: 5:35?
ME: Yes, you said 5 minutes.
DCM: (pause) Ok, then. Let's do 7:45 to 5:45. (goes to couch with DCB and pulls out a bag of grapes to give to him. DCB starts to climb on couch)
ME: Oh, no food on the couch. All food and drinks stay on the tile and no shoes on the furniture.
DCM: Oh, sorry. (takes DCB to toddler table and gives grapes) I have the papers you asked for (hands me papers but no contract. I look at her.) Oh I didn't bring the contract because I wanted to stay drop-in like I was doing last week since money is a little tight. (digs through her purse) $31 a day right?
ME: No, it's 40 (looks up surprised) I charged you $31 a day last week because your intentions were to sign up as FT. Thats what I charge my FT's when you break it down. With no weekly contract it's $40 a day. It's in your fee schedule. We went over all of this.
DCM: Well I just find it a bit rediculous that you won't work with me.
ME: (deep breath) You know, we went through all of the policies, my rules and my deal-breakers. You knew what to expect from my end and I am finding that you are not staying true to what you said. It's clear to me that this is not going to work out. (looks surprised) I'm sorry that this can't work out. I hope the best for you.

And she walked out with her son in tow.

PHEW!! I really feel like I dodged a bullet here.

[squareone]

Good for you!!! Sorry things didn't work out with them but like you said, you dodged a bullet.

I am interested in hearing more about the key pad on your front door. I kinda like that. I don't wanna hijack your thread so would you mind PMing me with details about it?

[wdmmom]

No doubt! Better to find out sooner than later!

[MyAngels]

Good for you! I started reading, and I could just see the train wreck that this would turn into ::.

[PeanutsGalore]

Good for you!

I am just curious exactly what conversation she had when you all sat down and went over your policies, which she agreed to. Did she just not listen? And when parents actually sign a contract and then still want to do whatever they want whenever they want without consequences, what do they think will happen? My mother told me never to sign a contract without reading it and understanding it, so if I read the terms of a daycare contract and didn't want to abide by it, I wouldn't sign it. I might ask for a different contract, but I certainly wouldn't show up and just see if the person would do what I really want them to do.

What is wrong with ppl? Really confused...but seriously, good for you for nipping it in the bud!

[sharlan]

Good thing you ended it before it got started.

[daycare]

Wow great back bone. Good job
Yes please share about the key pad

[Cat Herder]

I love that you handled it so fast.

Did she follow the rules the entire week last week THEN try that this morning thinking you had to allow it??

I don't get her thinking, here. Especially after she refused to sign the contract.

[MarinaVanessa]

Did she follow the rules the entire week last week THEN try that this morning thinking you had to allow it??

:::::: That's exactly what she tried to do. She would come at drop-off stay briefly (5 minutes) and then leave quickly. At pick-up she would come and pick him up, ask about his day, remind him not to jump on the furniture, etc. It was supposed to be a playdate last week but when I told her I did drop in care she brightened up and asked about the rate. I SPECIFICALLY told her it was $40 a day drop-in for a full 10 hours or $5 an hour with a $20 daily minimum BUT that since she was interested in taking a FT spot and would do it as a trial I would only charge her $31 ($155/5=$31). She ended up bringing him 4 days to take care of school things.

In the words of my 8yo nephew. So sad. Too bad.
But I'm actually feeling really good about myself right now .

[countrymom]

glad you nipped that in the butt right away, can you imagine by the end of the week, you would be on this board asking us how to term. them. Please tell us more about your key pad

[MarinaVanessa]

Keyless Entry

Oh and as for the keyless entry system this is how it works. It's called the Schlage LiNK. It's a handle (not knob) with a keypad on it. I've had my eyes on it for a while and finally got it. You install the hardware like you would normally and you can either have it locked on the outside or unlocked and either way you can get out from the inside without having to unlock it. I got the starter kit in satin nickel which cost me a pretty $175 on Amazon. It comes with the handle, a light module (you can hook up a lamp to it ... see below) and a bridge (which communicates to the light module and handle, also see below).

If you want to use the light module and the bridge you can opt to pay an $8.99 a month subscription which gives you lots of extras. Having the subscriptions lets you program up to 18 four-digit codes for people and put them on a schedule. A client is scheduled here at 9am can try to come in at 8:45am all she wants but she's not getting in until 9am (unless I open the door for her). You do this online and it's super easy. This is where the bridge comes in (this communicates to your keypad through your internet)

I have an iPhone so another extra that I have is being able to lock and unlock my front door from my phone. I can also set it up to send me alerts when people use their codes to come in to my house. My SIL has access to our house and it sends me alerts when she comes over and we're not home.

I got it for many reasons one of them being that clients liked to come in late while we were outside and shave a few minutes off on the sign-out sheet. This way if they're late, they're stuck outside until I come to the door. I give them a 15 minute buffer but it's nice when a parent comes in 10 minutes late and writes that they came in on time on the board but I have a message that tells me what time they actually came in at ::::. They next morning they get quiet when they see that I've changed the time on the board.

Another reason is that our area has been hit by burglers a lot in the last year. A large ring of people will be dropped off in different areas and split up and they'll go knock door to door. If there's an answer they'll ask for some random person and when you tell them that noone lives there by that name they'll apologize and say they must have gotten the house mixed up or something. If there's no answer check for open or unlocked doors and windows to break in and steal. A few times residents have been home . I want to keep my doors locked but got tired of having to stop what I was doing to unlock the front door for each parent and I like them to have free access to the DC.

The light module just lets you plug a lamp to it which you can also put on a schedule and control from your phone but this is more for people that are away from home alot, working or when you go on vacation. Your light turns on automatically so that people think you're home or you can turn it on with your phone so you don't come home to a dark house.

All in all it was great for me and has worked out very well for what I needed.

[SilverSabre25]

Good for you for sticking up for yourself and your policies! That mom sounds like she would have been very frustrating to work with in the long run.

[jen]

AWESOME!!!!!! You have done any future providers she comes in contact with a HUGE favor!!!!

[MarinaVanessa]

AWESOME!!!!!! You have done any future providers she comes in contact with a HUGE favor!!!!

Actually I was thinking about this. I was a little conflicted about it at first but then I relented and called up my local daycare association and spoke to the president to tell her about DCM (association also does refferals). I didn't go into detail but I did say that the DCM didn't keep with anything that we had spoken about. She will call providers in my area to give them the heads up.

[Auntie]

WAY TO GO I love the key pad idea. We have iPhones here and it would be great to put on our door for my teenage daughter. LOL