Originally Posted by saved4always:
Sounds to me like you are not in a position financially to help her out. I would try making it clear to her that, in the future, please do not ask you to hold checks or wait for payment. This is a business and you need to be paid. If you don't have a policy, make one now and put it in your contract and/or parent handbook about when you expect payment. To me, if you ar requiring payment on a certain day, that means you have access to that money when you get paid. I do not have the greatest backbone but my two pet peeve areas where I allowed little to no slack is payment and picking up on time. I insisted on being paid on time and that I did not have kids past my end time (I would do a favor once in a while but I was rarely asked since I was so clear that my family time started at 4 pm and it was a big deal if I had to give it up....ever 
).
I just quoted what you wrote to my husband. You are another version of ME.
Those are two areas that I start getting frustrated in if a client tries to dilly dally.
As far as this Mom goes, two words. Dave Ramsey.