I too pride myself on my reliability but, there have been situations where I found I had only 1 child or family scheduled and ended up taking the day off.
I've NEVER left anyone without care (all families are required to have a reliable back up provider) though and always make sure it's not a big deal.
Most my families are great about it and all of them seem to understand that FCC providers don't often get unexpected days off so most are pretty happy to find alternative arrangements.
There have even been those times in which I will put up with something (from a family or child) just so I can use the "favor" later.
