Originally Posted by Unregistered:
First off, thanks for the response back and doing it in a professional, sincere way. I certainly agree with what you had to say about it must be beneficial for both parties. SO at the risk of sounding like I am arguing (which I promise I am not) I don't totally agree with the above statement. While you are absolutely 100% correct, 2 wrongs don't make a right, if I enter into a contract on good faith with anyone, that contact should be honored till its term. Now are there certain exceptions? Of course, if I am constantly late or missing payments then the provider absolutely has the right to not only terminate that contract early, but send me to collections for missed payments. What I don't like is the thought that a provider (whether it be childcare, cell phone, directv, ect) say "hey this is our contract we both signed, but by the way if I tweak it during its term, that doesn't mean it is a violation of my promise to you, my customer. That would be like if I had my salary cut at work and didn't make as much and came back to my provider and said "hey I can't give you the said payment per month because my income has been cut by 20%, so I am going to cut your pay by 5% to even out the lost monies" I write contracts everyday at work and I know if I put that in any contracts to my customers they would tell me to pound sand 
Like I said, I really appreciate your advice and I think you have stated your point well, so don't think I am trying to pick a fight. I just know when I have brought a few things up to my provider, she goes right to the contract, which while can be frustrating, is fair, I signed it and agreed to those terms, I just feel like she should honor those same terms.
Thanks again, and have a great weekend!
Actually I agree with you.
Personally, I don't have a clause in my contract that I can alter it without negating the whole thing. I just know some providers do and I think they do it to cover their butts in cases just like yours....
The provider reverts back to the contract as her way of supporting HER rights but doesn't give the contract that much weight when it suits her... I think that is bad or not really good business practice and like I said, not something I would do. I get grief a lot because I am one of those providers that thinks I should have to follow my contract just as closely as I expect families to.
The trouble with that though is most (not all) in home family providers are in this business to meet THEIR family's needs and don't plan on staying in this field as a career choice, just more of a "what works for me now" phase while their own little ones are small. Its very common and although there is nothing wrong with that, it creates a whole set of issues that are very unique to what I consider a business.
I don't know...it's really hard when your business is considered a "gray" area since it IS a business but its also run within the context of your family/family life so it's hard in my opinion for some providers to separate that aspect of this job.
It's easier for me because I am an accidental child care provider as I didn't mean to get into this business (that's a whole nother story..my first love was contract law
) but found I do like this field and have chosen to stay but as other forum members can validate for me, I am much more business like than most. I see things very black and white and feel that communication IS the key to every.single issue that arises in this profession. I think 99.9% of issues should be dealt from a logical and factual angle BEFORE allowing the emotional aspects to weigh in. What "fits" one situation isn't always the answer to another.
I think your best bet is to schedule a sit down discussion with your provider and see if you guys can communicate with each other well enough to find a good compromise so that both of you remain happy giving and receiving services.