I have been a home daycare provider for 6 years. I do think that as providers,we have to take care of the financial end of the business, BUT, we have to also be considerate of the parents we serve. If we wish to be paid for sick time (surgery, funerals, appointments, whatever) we should have that in our contract and it should be signed by all involved upon registration. That way, there are no misunderstandings down the road. Two summers ago, I got a case of pneumonia and had to close my daycare. (I do not have a backup person to provide care in my absence.) I offered to pro-rate the following week's tuition for the parents. To my surprize, not one of them took me up on the offer. When I had my son, I took two weeks of "maternity leave" unpaid. Other than our agreed upon scheduled holidays and vacation, I don't expect them to pay me for a time that I am not available to provide service.

As far as having varying fees for clients, that (to me) gets kind of touchy. I feel that the fee should be the same across the board. When there is an increase for one, there is an increase for all. Will there be a time that someone is struggling? Sure. You can work out arrangements for payment then. Personally, I'd rather waive late fees (which I note the waiver, in writing) than to have different amounts due from different clients.

To the original poster, my parents and I do not always see eye-to-eye, BUT, I would never disrespect any of them like in your case. I agree that as providers we are sometimes overly sensitive with our payments because that's our bread-and-butter. However, you cannot expect to be paid for time off if it is not in your contract to begin with.

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