I have always charged a 2-week "holding fee" which I apply to a child's last two weeks, to protect against getting ripped off with a family leaving without notice. But lately I've had a few parents who want to start asap--like next week. And I jump into hyper-prep mode, pulling together paperwork and doing a home visit and preparing the environment for the child, and it occurs to me that that 2-week fee should apply two weeks before enrollment, so I don't do all that and then have a family back out. How do other people handle this? Don't worry about it? Charge the fee and have the child start in two weeks? I can't quite see asking for hundreds of dollars the minute they say they want to enroll, but it's starting to make more sense to me that way. Thoughts? Thanks.

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