The almost 4 yo child was out of care most of last week due to a tummy bug. He is a very headstrong kid, with some defiance and whine issues. We have been working very hard to correct issues. But he is back today and OH MY GOODNESS last week was sooooo nice!!!

Reply

Oh dcm...if you come at 2:57 and you know nap time is until 3:00, Dont act irritated when you come face to face with my "do not knock" sign and when your children are not ready. They were sleeping.

Irritating.

Eta: one more thing. Dcb DID NOT learn to say "shut up" here. Neither I nor the other dcks ever say that. Check your own vocabulary and stop blaming my dc for everything.

Reply

Same here. I have a kid who regularly comes in with junk. Mcdonalds, donuts, pizza, sunny d in the cup. It all gets thrown away and he is served the same breakfast as everyone else.

Reply

Hello. I am new here but needing to vent so, this seem to be the perfect place to do so...
I dont even know where to begin.....

Lets see, I have been caring for this familys kids for almost 2 years now, and now all of sudden the mother thinks she doesnt have to pay for the days they werent there. Which she has to! The almost 2 yo is mean to other kids, rude, and thinks she has to get her way all the time. What makes this worse is the parents dont do anything about it. The mother laughs, makes excuses for her when shes been bad; like she doesnt feel good or when she bites its because shes teething. Her sisters baby her as well and I have to get on to them when they give her everything she wants or when I get on to her and they run to her babying her.

Next, I have an almost 3 yo who the parent and I have both been potty training her forever now, and she still has to wear pull ups! She will go pee in the potty when you tell her or take her in there, but she WILL NOT go poop! She runs and hides and does it. And if she does pee or poop in her pants, she doesnt care and she doesnt tell you. I dont know what to do!

Last (I think, anyways), when the school kids get here, its like they forgot how to listen and behave. I feel like im yelling from the moment they walk in the door till their all gone. And one of the school kids to seem to never like the snack that I have picked out for them. I am so tired of hearing I DONT LIKE THAT!

Any advice?? Anyone? Please help! I am lost of what to do about any of these situations. About to go crazy! Sorry this is so long.

Reply

Same here! Junk food for breakfast and even lets them drink soda! Its aggravates me so much!

Reply

Just a little vent - Days now are unbearably sooooooo long! Daycare completely sucked inn all my time and energy to the point my life became a big pile of postponed problems to solve!! I cannot even imagine the big blackhole my life would turn out to be if my mother haven’t put some sense into my head and advised me to close daycare now. Can’t wait to go back to MY life!!

Reply

We talk about this all the time at work. It truly is a shame how one child can change the dynamics of a group for the bad. I sometimes feel bad when the class breathes a collective sigh of relief when they find out that particular child isn't coming for the day.

Reply

So 2 days ago the city put signs in front of our house and the neighbors next door and across the street that said no parking between 8-4 on Wednesday due to construction, well no one showed up yesterday. But today a fleet of city trucks showed up

They are tearing up the ground/sidewalk directly in front of my house and all along the side of the house all the bedrooms are on!! My whole house is shaking and the noise is terrible!!

Yesterday (they day they put signs up for!!) would have been perfect, all my light sleepers went home early and DH had the day off so he took DD to visit MIL/FIL but today is the total opposite! DD barely slept and from the way our day is going so far I don't think any of the DCKs did either.

Apparently they are going to 'fix' the water main that broke last June, 9 months ago, because they just temporarily fixed it last time I filled up all the sippy cups in the house with water plus 2 pitchers and 2 large pans but if they cut it off for an extended period I may have to have DCPs come pick up and I know 2 will not be happy. Not much I can do though.

Can it please be Friday?!

Reply

THE SAME THING is happening here, except it is the gas line! I got a 15 MINUTE nap out of everyone today. WAH WAH WAH!

Reply

Oh I feel your pain!!!! We got just under 30 minutes of nap and this afternoon has been torture! I currently have one kicking and screaming on the floor (DD), one laying on a pile of stuffed animals with thumb in mouth trying to sleep and the rest are snippy and cranky!

I can't wait for 5pm!!! Actually make that 7 when DD goes to bed!

Reply

Logged out because I'm sooooo mad/frustrated/hurt/embarrassed-I don't even know.

Woke up this morning to an email from dh. He's not happy. Why did he have to send it on a Thursday night? We don't have time to talk about it until late tonight. So now all day I'm going to have things running thru my head, sporatic crying, and wanting to scream.

Balanced the checkbook last night and paid bills-well, those that I could anyway. I need to get some spots filled ASAP. I received an email last night that I need to respond to, but because of above situation, I don't even want to open my email.

Ds is "mad" at me. I'm not fair. Doesn't want to tell me anything or even talk with me. Yada, yada. I know it's hormones and I remembering telling my parents they weren't being fair, but man, right now it is killing me. I can usually stand my ground and say, I don't care, I am your mother first, but aaaahhh.

I so wished I had a job I could call in sick to because today would've been that day. I forsee this headache I'm getting turning into a migraine by lunchtime. Dcg is being a pain in my tush. Dcm sent me a text warning me the baby is having a rough morning. Only slept for about 5 hours last night. I really hope that means he will take a good morning and afternoon nap, but usually that just means he will spend most the day screaming his high pitched, blood curdling scream.

I really just want this week to end-now 8 hours and 10 minutes to go Altho, it is Friday and since dcg has been picked up 15 minutes early almost everyday this week, I'm sure tonight will be 15 minutes late.

Reply

An email?!? That's terrible!

I don't know what your situation is but I can't totally relate to how you feel. Lost and nervous, worrying every second and wanting to cry! I'm so sorry that you have to go through this! As much as I hate to share my story (or admit that I was married to this jerk at all in general, I was young and stupid) as its still embarrassing 7 years later, my ex-husband ended our marriage via email and started the "lets take a break" conversation via text and I received both while I was at work and could do nothing but worry/panic. I've never felt so worthless in my life, not only because of the situation in the first place but because he couldn't even bother to talk to me face to face. That made things so much worse for me.

I really hope your doing as ok (well as ok as you can be) and you and DH can talk tonight and work it out. I'm hoping all DCKs sleep well and go home early!

Reply

I had my annual food program training last night. It was a snack swap. Great idea, but after I came home I became violently ill. I don't know if I am more amused or annoyed that I may have gotten food poisioning at a food program event.

Reply

I feel like I've had the longest week of my life! Spring break used to be enjoyable- not this week. My own dd and dcb bickering and fighting...too cold to spend much time outdoors, and it felt like the kids just ran from room to room no matter what I got out for them. Ugh!! Maybe I'm getting burned out...my nerves are shot...really not enjoying the dck as of late. This weekend can't get here quick enough. Gave SA dcp my letter that I will not be keeping SA boy for summer, so at least I won't have to deal with that stress anymore..whew! Now just waiting to see how they will react, but truthfully wouldn't mind a bit if they pulled out both dcb's.

Reply

This reminds me of a dcp I have...she can't hardly get him out the door before he starts throwing a huge tantrum every day I just have to shake my head. Why do you allow this!

Reply

Never again am I bragging about an easy day on here again (see: The Positive Thread from Thursday). Today was the complete opposite. More kids, more behavior issues, and a lot more whining. It was the longest Friday ever.

Reply

Sorry it's taken me a few days to respond

In the past I have had children arrive with "Bug Juice" or "Tumm-E Yummies", those Kool-Aid squeeze bottles, Kit Kat bars, Pop Tarts, cookies, and Little Debbie cakes for breakfast to name a few. Into the trash it went! lol I used to have a parent that brought in donuts and milk for the kids on a Friday here and there, which I didn't mind because it was occasional and they had enough for everybody, and it was a nice way to kick off the weekend

For lunch I had a parent hand me a package of bologna and told me to feed her three-year-old just that, since she was in a "bologna phase". I also had a mom (she was a teen mom raising her child as a single parent and with help from her family), bring her two-year-old son a freezerburnt loaf of garlic bread for lunch..there was no way I was going to feed him that. I threw it out and made him something else, which he liked a lot more than freezerburnt garlic bread


We drink smoothies, water (especially during the summer when it's super-hot), juice, milk, and the occasional lemonade, and soda is definately not allowed here. They're kids, they have enough energy, they don't need soda. My son rarely gets a soda unless me and my family go out to eat, and usually it's Sprite, orange, or root beer. Most of the time he asks for juice.

I think there was a topic on here a while back where a parent actually sent her kid with a 12 oz. Starbucks cafe mocha to daycare and sent him with energy drinks, claiming that the doctor prescribed them (even though on the labels it says that kids can't have them). When I read that I was like

Reply

I had a DCM who sent DCB with energy drinks daily but told me it was "juice with his iron supplement" it wasn't until she brought me in a bunch of the packets (Spark Energy Drink Powder- I had never heard of it prior), because she ordered to much, that I realized why DCB had always been such a handful in the am. His "juice" was really energy drink! I stopped giving it to him, every morning it went straight to the sink, and he was so much better! plus these drink packets are meant to be mixed with a 16oz of water but she was mixing them in 4-6oz for DCB

Reply

I have a little girl like that right now that I care for, she will just haul off and hit her friends, or bite them or pull their hair for absolutely no reason and she knows it is wrong! I cannot do anything without constantly having to have at least one eye on what she is doing unless she is sitting at the table coloring. There have been so many times I have wanted to just call her parents and say you need to come pick her up due to her behaviors.

Reply

I have a child like that, well actually 2, but if only one of them is gone EVERYONE is so much happier, and I actually get EVERYTHING done schedule wise regarding centers/planned activities etc. Like you said it is really sad that one child can do that too a small group. I have been a Senior Therapist (coming up and implementing behavioral programs/social skills/emotional programming for children)for 15 years before becoming a DC provider but never in my life have I ever felt so defeated some days due to 1 child or the other child and their behaviors! I am so glad I found this thread because it has made me feel so much better knowing that I am not going crazy and am not horrible at this, but some people's children really cause complete chaos no matter what you do!

Reply

Yesterday DD suddenly began having severe stomach cramping and was vomiting like the exorcist, all morning and afternoon. Thankfully by bedtime she was back to her old self.

Of course now today all I can I smell is vomit! I steam cleaned the couch and carpet last night but every time I'm in the vicinity I can still smell it.

Reply

Monday morning retraining here. Sigh. What you can get away with at home doesnt fly here, little girl.

Reply

I have HAD it with the nap time drama from my two older boys. The don't have to sleep but they do need to be considerate of others - and they are when I am bribing them. But I am so tired of the mulitple bathroom trips, the banging around, the wandering off the nap mat and standing at the door. We only nap from 12-2 and it seems the majority of that time I am sending someone back to bed, shushing someone, etc.

Reply

Dcb, (age 8), just because you have a 3 month old baby brother at home does not mean I now need expert baby advice from you! I think the degree in education, combined with the fact I have 3 children of my own, in addition to the fact I have dealt with children in some aspect (babysitting, daycare center, teaching and now home daycare) for the past 20-plus years might make me a little more knowledgable on the subject...just sayin!

Reply

Dear Dcm,

I'm tired of seeing your thong hanging out of your pants when you bend to hug dcgs.

Seriously, wear a belt.

Sincerely,
My horrified eyes.

Reply

bahahahahaha this happens to me EVERY SINGLE DAY with atleast 2 of my dcm's. Low rise pants + kids doesn't work well. Nice tramp stamps though!

Reply

I am so outrageously thankful that I did not get a tramp stamp when it was popular. I would have totally regretted that! I did get my eyebrow pierced but that was removable. Whew!

ETA:Also, how many girls wear thongs nowadays? I do not. I used to but surprisingly, DH doesn't like them. Thank goodness! Done with that!

Reply

guys they are called "whale tales" it was from the show "the new adventures with old christine" omg, they played it the other day and I was dying of laughter. Heck, is there a rule about spandex pants, I have never ever seen so many scary legs being stuffed in those spandex pants. I know they make them in 3x but I don't think they are really ment to be worn at that size.

Reply

Got up this morning to find the fridge door open and a fridge that wasn't cold. DH apparently didn't notice that it didn't close all the way when he got something to drink last night before bed and the door was open all night!

Do you think coffee creamer is still good? (I tossed the warm milk) I need my coffee and the coffee we have now needs creamer to cover the "flavored" roast I hate, MIL gave it to us. Acutally on second thought I'm waking DH up, he can go get me a "fancy coffee" from Starbucks and milk for DCKs!

Reply

ok, I only had 1 DCK scheduled for today. got up and waited. I expected him at 8. mom texts me at 8:10 telling me she is keeping him home since she is working from home today. I said ok cool see you tomorrow.
I thought I got a day off, and wanted to go tend to my garden. but nope...
mom texts back within 10min saying "nevermind he wants to come over"...
so I am still waiting for them to show up.
why can't she keep him home for once!!@!

Reply

I so would have said sorry, just left the house to run errands. See you tomorrow.

Reply

I was thinking the exact same thing! Sorry, already gone for the day

Reply

Thanks, I should have done exactly that.
next I will do that.

Reply

sooooo what I would have said!

Reply

Dear DCP-

When I text you, please respond to me.

It only takes a second.

That said when you don't respond to me and then text me something you feel is important don't be pissed when I don't drop everything and don't respond to you.

,
Your provider.

Reply

NOT a good afternoon. Out of 5 in underwear 4 had accidents, and only one of those was pee. All in the span of one hour.

Reply

DCD,
When my child has a peanut allergy, please do NOT let your child enter my house with a peanut butter sandwich cracker, which he is munching like an alligator spewing crumbs all over my house.

Oh, and when said child is crying in a puddle at your feet after a weeks worth of vacation. Please do NOT promise the child Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Star Wars lego wii time (it will only encourage this ridiculous behavior because believe me when you leave, he's skipping and as happy as a lark!), and do not ask what he wants (as he's screaming I want Mommy) just to tell him he can't have it, all while rolling your eyes.

Thanks,
DCP

Reply

My dcg has been doing soooo good napping in my sons room when he is home from school. I didn't like having to send him to his room for close to 2.5-3 hours midday. And there is no other place for her to sleep but in main living room... Well anyways today didn't go so well dcg decided to go and knock on my daughters room today and wake her up early from nap. Now I have a very crabby girl on my hands...

Reply

Dear DC girl,

Your nose needs to be wiped. If you want to do it, that's fine. If you don't, it still needs to be done. And using your tongue to try and slurp off the wet snot on your upper lip does not count. Sorry.

From,

Drowning in Snot

Reply

What a day! The routing number was incorrect on my tax forms so now it may take 3 additional MONTHS to receive our refund that we so badly need. I have spent the whole day on the phone with IRS while my toddlers ripped apart the house. The infant has been crying all day, and the one year olds mom had an extended drop off this morning which has thrown off DCG's whole day. DCM gave hugs n asks her back for kisses till the little girl finally crys and then DCM rewards her with ya!!!! She then texts me asking how she was after she left and said that she loves the fact DCG is turning into a mommy's girl bc she has always been so independent. Really? Glad that you find happiness in making your child miserable. Glad she is so confused and doesn't understand why mommy only rewards her when she crys. Sorry that DCG is learning to play with other children and toys n not sit on your lap all day long. Sorry she eats healthy meals here instead of throwing a fit like she does at home. But hey, Ya for her crying over you today. You must be so proud.

Reply

I love when you decide you keep your child home and spend some time with her. BUT, please feed her before you bring her.

The child will come and 10 and dcd will say she ate "3 or 4 bowls of cereal for breakfast. As soon as the door closes, the child tells me she's hungry.

Today, she came in at 12:45, an hour and a half past our lunch. I was just putting the babies down for a late nap as one ended up taking an unscheduled 2 hr nap this morning. I put her down, too.

She wakes up early and asks for an orange. Ok, did you eat lunch? I ate some noodles.

She just ate a big serving of mac and cheese and two cutie oranges. Obviously, she wasn't fed lunch.

I just want to say, wait until snack, but I can't do that to a child who has no control over when they are fed. We're not talking about a child who refused to eat, but one who wasn't fed.

Reply

My venting comes from a 5 year old who exclusively eats junk food at home, and has tantrums when he sits down at mealtime at daycare and sees fruits & vegetables!!!

He arrives in the mornings with chocolate on his face and cheeto stained fingers- that was his breakfast.

When snack time rolls around and he gets to choose from a variety of fresh fruits & veggies, he chooses not to partake most days.

That's OK. No child is ever forced or coerced or shamed into eating. We use natural consequences- if you don't eat, the consequence is hunger. End of story.

He sits down with the other kids, takes a look at the food, and if it's not mac & cheese or spaghetti, he asks to be excused immediately.

His hunger strikes end up in tantrums because he's so hungry, but refuses to eat, then moodiness and more tantrums through the whole day. Then when parents pick-up, they take him straight to McDonalds!! So he gets rewarded for his poor choices.

I have discussed it with them so many times. The mom brags that she makes him whatever he wants. If she makes dinner and he doesn't like it, she'll get up and make him something else. They just are one of those families that eats almost every meal from a fast food place or gets pizza delivered at home, and when they do cook, it's all packaged processed food, rarely fresh from what I have heard them say. They drink soda like water and apparently have chocolate and cheetos for breakfast. They won't change their habits and they don't see the harm it does to their children. It's sad and frustrating and makes my day very difficult.

Today the mom dropped him off and said, "He wants me to tell you he didn't like the lunch you served yesterday". I'm not serving bug carcasses for crying out loud!! Yesterday's lunch was turkey sandwiches with tomatoes and lettuce on the side, fresh fruit, and milk. He drank the milk and left the rest. All my other DCKs chow down during meal times and snack times, ask for seconds and thirds, raving about my delicious food. I wish more parents fed their children healthier at home so a healthy (we are all organic whole foods by the way) daycare isn't such a foreign concept to their child. Grrr!

Reply

Dcm,

If you're going to lie to me and tell me your phone got dropped in the toilet last night and that's why you couldn't text me to tell me that you were going to be late, make sure that you haven't texted me from that exact phone earlier this morning.

Reply

Dear DCM,
although I DO give OTC and prescription medications ONLY if the child needs it, that does NOT mean that when your child NEEDS medication, you bring them in early and say "DCB needs some cold medicine, I didn't have any, so can you give her some?". It's called "GO BUY YOUR OWN FOR YOUR CHILD". lol

Reply

Last week I began watching a nine-month-old and a four-year -old..I had them for one day and everything went very well. When their mother came to pick them up she told me that this week I would have them on Monday, maybe Tuesday, and Thursday.

Well guess who no-called/no-showed come Monday?

Their mom was supposed to be here between 9-10 AM, which she said would be the usual time she would bring them..in fact they were late their first day by 15 minutes, because she overslept. I waited until 11 AM to call and leave a voicemail, and at 11:15 she called and said that she had just woken up. She asked me if she could still bring the kids, and I said she could but if this happened again, I would have no choice but to terminate services because I was told she would be here by a certain time and I was waiting on them to get here without any notice. I was civil and to the point.

Her response was to hang up on me, and I put a termination notice in the mail ASAP. If she responded that disrespectfully towards me, then it was obvious that she wasn't going to respect my policies, and she knew that one of them was if her children were going to be late or not come for the day, all she had to do was let me know either by phone, text, or e-mail. Because of her no-calling/no-showing, it kinda put us a bit behind schedule. It sucks that it came down to losing two kids that were great, but I guess it is what it is.

Then on top of it, I had to call the police on a couple of neighbors (they live next door and they're friends with one another) who had their truck doors open and were blaring their music loudly all morning and into the afternoon. They had the music just booming. It has been an ongoing problem, and it's pretty bad when other neighbors are yelling out their doors and windows for them to turn it down, and when people would yell at them, they'd crank it louder.

Reply

That stinks It sounds like a family you're better off without. Maybe your noisy neighbours could roll on over to her house to wake her up? How does someone sleep that late with little ones? Maybe they had a rough night.

Reply

It actually did cross my mind to have my noisy neighbors go over to her house and blare their music out of their trucks..

But I agree..I'm much better off without that family.

Reply

Ugh! DCB woke up after an hour nap with poop so I changed him and put him back down. He's only 1 so has no concept of being quiet, so all of my kids were up after less than an hour nap (he went to sleep before the others). They will usually sleep 2-plus hours here! On top of that, my ds, age 2 has fought going to bed for the last 2 nights and has been up until 11 pm! I am exhausted and needed the break today! Really hoping they are not all miserable this afternoon, like they were yesterday! Maybe we will go outside before the SA's get off the bus today instead of waiting until after. The baby who started it all is such a difficult baby and somedays he really stresses me out. Guess today will definitely be one of those days!

Reply

My vent...spoiled kids!!! Seriously! Your kid will not die if you tell him or her no and they have to deal with it!!!!!!! Quit asking your kids permission to be a parent. "Can I take your donut til you sit at the table with your teacher?" Child "NO! I want it now. I don't want to go to the table. I want to eat it on the carpet" UGH. Rule is no eating unless at the table. "Mommy will let you play with the ipad if you go to the table right now." "Come on sweetie go to the table. Please? Do it for mommy" The kid's screaming "No I don't want to go to the table! I want to eat here" Seriously? I'm like...tell the kid to go to the table or they don't get the donut. I wasn't looking forward to the sugar high anyway. I don't feed that stuff here. As soon as mom is gone the child is a completely different kid and walks to the table with a smile on his face.

Reply

Dear Mother Nature.

I get it. Snow is beautiful and when it snows big fluffy snowflakes it does look pretty awesome.

But when it's April and our current theme is Spring and flowers and sunshine, you really aren't helping by adding 8-12 more inches of snow to the ground.

Especially when the first stuff already melted and the grass made an appearance.

My thermometer really does have numbers higher than 32F so please give some of them a turn. Please. Pretty please.

Thanks

Signed,

Someone who already unpacked her "summer" clothes.

Reply

Not really a vent, but I didn't know where else to put this.

7 of our preschoolers are sick with the same stomach bug I had last week (and I don't even work in that room so it isn't my fault). 4 called off this morning and 3 were sent home! I hope they get better soon.

Reply

DCM, it cracks me up when you pick DCC up early for an appt % you refer to his timehere as a "half day", I don't give discounts for partial days & last I checked 5 3/4hrs is not a half a day, LOL!

Reply

Why can't parents just be a parent and put their foot down? Your child should not control your household. Kids need structure and SLEEP. Be the adult.

Reply

Completely exhausted for at least the last month, mentally drained and wondering how much more of this I can take! My heart tells me to close my business as of June (I am planning on taking the summer off anyway) but my head freaks out because I have no back up plan for an income which we desperately need! I hate the parent I have turned into because of this! I don't have much left for my own kids at the end of the day. I really wish I could come up with a solution! And I really wish I could also get back the excitement I had when I started this business 5 years ago. Not sure this technically qualifies as a vent but wasn't sure where else to post this.
How bout I add this:
Dear dcd,
Just because you missed a day of daycare yesterday because your child was sick, do you really have to plan on him attending tomorrow on his normal day off to make up the day? Trust me, your child is not counting the number of days he attends here and isn't going to hold it against you if you only bring him 3 days instead of 4 this week.
Sincerely,
Burned out provider
Guess it's a rant now!

Reply

Ok we have been inside for a long time this winter and now finally the weather was ok to go outside. I have a rather clumsy dcg and she of course fell in the mud and got her pants and tennis shoes dirty. I told her mom she needed play clothes and she took her kid and left. She did not even wish my son a happy birthday. She only cares about her own kid and even expects me to bf her daughter to help her sleep (seriously!), gross. She said she would do that with my son, she is so weird and I would never let her near him.

I got a disgusted look today by another provider who told me she does not let her kids in the mud. Did I let it happen, no of course not. They ran to it as soon as I took them out of the stroller. It is not like I live by the park. I have to walk a mile to get them there so we don't go often and I did not know those water, muddy spots were even there so I did not get a chance to warn them. Ugh some people are just snobby and think they are the best thing ever. I have heart and I just had to laugh at the situation. Kids are kids and they are meant to get dirty.

Reply

What is the private area?? I need to vent privately as well and will even create a username to do so...

Reply

18 month old DCB was supposed to be dropped off at 10:30 this morning. DCM texted me at 10:15 to let me know she would drop off at 11:30 because DCB was napping.

I reminded her that our quiet time was 1-3. She said she knew but he fell asleep in the car and would still take a normal nap. (Yeah right).

Needless to say he did not nap and kept everyone else up too!!!

Now this is my new family...already started issues in less than 3 weeks time.

Reply

Tell her next time you will call her to come get him if he is unable to fall asleep.

Reply

Oh believe me, that is my plan. This is also the DCM that I have to remind that tuition is due every Friday. Well..no more. Time to use my backbone! No more reminders...just late fees added from now on. I do not have time to ''guide'' this DCM any longer.

Reply

I am so mad I could spit. This afternoon was HORRIBLE. Beautiful day out so we get outside only to have kids LOSE THEIR MINDS while out there. Hitting, throwing toys, arguing, etc. etc. etc. So inside we come and I pull out a couple of toys and have the kids sit and play with them. Not long after that they are running, jumping on furniture, etc. So I had everyone SIT and wait until the parents came. I let the parents know the reason we were inside on a such a beautiful day - one parents immediately backs me up, the other says "well there are two sides to every story" Seriously, WTF

Well, here's the MY side: your children behaved terribly - BOTH of them. Hitting, punching, hiding on me, not listening, etc. And I am seriously considering terminating our arrangement regardless of outside circumstances. I'm sure your 4 yo will have a good way to spin how he is used and abused here and how I am "mean" to him, you know, because I don't let him run the show here like he does at home.

Reply

Dcd: "I don't have my checkbook on me today but am going to call my wife and see if she has hers so we can straighten payment out later. By the way, is it ok if he stays late today?"

Ummmmmm, no.

I have 2 different activities to get my own kids to rīght after closing, not to mention the fact your child is my only one here today and I am already annoyed he will be here for almost 10 hours as it is (making it almost 40 hours in the 4 days he has been here this week)!

Reply

Got hit by a motorcyclist today, he wasn't paying attention and slammed right into the back of me. Who would have thought a motorcycle could do a large amount of damage to a Subaru? I've found out they most definitely can.

Everyone was ok thankfully. I didn't really "feel" him hit, I heard it, but he sure felt it. He was ok but in some pain. I'm guessing he'll be paying a bit more attention in the future. I'm just glad we were all ok (17mo DD was in car) AND had insurance.

Reply

Oh wow! How scary!! So glad to hear that everyone is alright! How is you DS emotionally? He probably didn't feel it much if you didn't but does he understand what happened?

Really glad you are all ok!

Reply

I'm not registered here yet, but will be soon. I'm opening a home daycare in a couple months when my paperwork is approved. Is just my opinion here, but I don't care if you drop your kid off and go to work, go home, go take a nap, casino trip... Whatever. I've got your kid and your paying me. If your out of work early and don't want to get your kid until my closing time, I'm ok with this..

Reply

Thanks! DD is doing pretty well, the sound really scared her and now she's not happy to be in her car seat. We ran to the store after in DH's car and she flipped out when I put her in the car seat She usually loves to go places. I'm hoping after a few non eventful trips she'll realize its ok.

Reply

So glad everyone is good! I am sure your daughter will soon forget about it and wont fuss about the carseat for too long.

Sorry I called her a him... I was on my phone and reading and typing fast.

Reply

OK.. Which ever one of you ladies has my voodoo doll please knock it off

Point made.

In one day I had an early drop off attempt, a dope and drop, vomiting/"lost cell phone, sorry it took so long", and a late "traffic" pick-up.

3 DCMs left in near tears, order restored and I am now carbo loading. This just does not happen here... was there a nitrous oxide gas leak in town???

Guess I could post this in the funny thread, too, since it is now over. Ugh.. WTHeck???

Reply

(((((HUGS))))))

It's only funny AFTER it's over.

Reply

A raccoon pooped on our roof. WAAAY the heck up there. I don't know what that critter has been eating, but he needs to lay off the grains or something. It looks like a cow pooped up there.

Reply

DCD,
The "little something" your child did in his diaper "on the way over" this morning is the same little something he has arrived with 2 other days this week! Just a suggestion, but you might want to check his diaper before leaving the house. Either that or start working on potty training since your child clearly has the ability to hold his stool until the 5 minute car ride you take to my house every day!

Reply

You will soon be changing your opinion on this.

Reply

Do any of you feel like this sometimes... Lol...

Reply

I am not sure if this is a rational vent or not. Perhaps you all can offer feedback.

I have been working with my assistant teacher for a long time now. We are good friends and get along well. Other day I get a surprise call from the director. They have an employee who isn't getting along with the teacher they are under. This person needs a strong lead teacher and older children to work with. Can they send her to me? Okay, fine, what can I say, no? However the new girl has been sick for two days so not there for me to work with. Today is in service day, a day where we do some training and clean our rooms in a way that isn't possible when the children are around. Since my new person is sick they tell my regular assistant to report to my room to help me today.

She told me yesterday about what she planned to do, move rugs, sweep, mop and clean the chairs. Okay, great, so I get everything out to bleach the toys. I would rather do the cleaning she mentioned over bleaching toys, but that isn't the point.

Basically she showed up for 20 minutes out of the 2 hour cleaning time today and said that she didn't feel she had to participate because they took her out of my room and it isn't her fault the new girl is sick.

I am majorally irritated because she did not get anything done and I could have done the floors instead of the toys had I known she wasn't coming. So I ended up working extra today to get everything done.

Now I am cranky.

Reply

Honestly it sounds like your "friend" is behaving in an immature fashion and needs to get over herself. When you work for someone else (sounds as if you are in a center?) you do as you are told. In this case, you were "asked" (told) that you would have a new assistant. You could have said no, but it probably would have happened anyway and it would have been a mark against you that you said no... A "good" friend should understand that. When she made her announcement about not working a "Sue, I understand you are upset, I am too, but you are putting me in a bind and that isn't fair to me. I need you to do x,y, and z as discussed. If you are upset, you need to speak to ________."
Now, if she was only there for 20 minutes, did she reflect that on her time sheet? I hope that doesn't come back to bite *you*
As for your new assistant that seems to be "sick" I think it's time for a frank discussion with your supervisor. "Jane, Sally has called off x amount of times in the last week/month. I need a reliable assistant and the kids really need stability. I certainly don't mind helping a new employee find their stride, but she's not even here enough for me to do that."
Good Luck!

Reply

I have a 4 yo boy who will rush through breakfast only to ask a 1/2 hour later "what's for snack?" "when are we having snack?" repeatedly. We have a picture schedule, so he knows "when" but he asks anyway I think in hopes I'll do an earlier snack

Today I finally said, we are not having a snack as it's not time and we are done talking about it.
I've wanted to do away with AM snack for a while because it's such a short time between breakfast and lunch that it seems like I no sooner clean up from breakfast and then start snack.

Reply

Dear DCP,

Thank you for telling me how absolutely horrible of a person I am. It was very sweet of you. Never mind the fact that you never paid on time, you were always extremely early- like a 45- an hour, always late picking up, always bringing your druggie boyfriends with you to drop off your child, and the list goes on.

Shove it-
you ex-provider.

Reply

Dear daycare family,

DCM, I believe you are horrible for saying goodbye to your daughter but not your step son at drop off even though I remind you to everyday. I find it disgusting that you text asking how only your daughter is and not your step son. I find it neglectful that you bring your 4 month old daughter here with out socks or long sleeve shirt everyday when it has been between 50-60 degrees here.
DCD, I have no respect for you at all. You are truely a bad parent. You tell me your son steals food. How can a child do that? Your son is allowed to eat in my home and he enjoys plenty of fresh fruit, vegetables and home cooked meals here. It is a disgrace that you are home from work everyday by 2:30 but don't pick your children up untill 6 pm everyday.
DCM and dcd I see why you are with each other. You are both poor excuses for humans and parents.

Reply

DCD, thank you so much for letting me know that DCG would be coming at normal time this morning. I chose to not go have my bloodwork done this morning so I would be here when she showed up.

Guess who didn't show up this morning??????????????

Reply

Ran to the store last night after the last dck (late pick up too) and as soon as we get in the store DD starts acting off, hunched over and wanting to be held which is not like her. So I forget half of what a I need and the second we get home DD vomits all over. After 3 outfit changes for me, 4 for her, 2 baths, 2 sheet changes, and using every towel in our house I finally get her to sleep at 11pm. Of couse she wakes up every hour and a half screams and goes back to sleep, then is up at 545am for the day (today is my only day to sleep in until next weekend ). The vomiting is passed and she's acting totally normal just VERY tired.

I have no idea what that was from!

Reply

I have a dcm that does the opposite. Her almost 3yr old is very big for his age and they keep putting him in size 4 diapers. He weighs 45 pounds. They also buy the really cheap brands and he wets right thru them. Too but with this small size his shirt and pants are always wet. I have asked them repeatedly to bring larger size diapers but they say that they can't find any. Hello you buy these at walmart I think you can find 5's or 6's too

Reply

I have a very young DCM (young as in, she is putting her baby in DC so that she can finish high school) ... says 9 month old infant is down to 1 nap a day, only drinking 1 bottle here (before his nap), and baby does a horrible job with eating baby food. I'm kind of at a loss on what to do with him. He's asleep now (cried himself to sleep on the floor), so this afternoon should be a huge blast :\

Reply

OT but sooo aggravating and a little sad. I got a new phone today. Very much the same as the last one, just a different make. I asked that all my pics be transferred to this phone. The guy put it on the machine and it said it did it, but I didn't check. I then sold my previous phone back to the store. When I checked a little while ago, I saw that it only copied the first 100 or so, out of almost 600. Not including any from the holidays for the past year and a half, nor the ones I took for a work project coming up next week . Windows phones do not use SD cards and he wiped my old phone. So all my pictures are gone forever. Sigh.

Reply

Ohhhhhhhhh nooooooooooo I'm so so sorry

Reply

Awwww no I'm sorry. I lost my SD card from our wedding trip to Vegas.....Not cool

Reply

That stinks! So sorry!

Reply

I am SOOOOOOO beyond tired of teachers as clients. I make it crystal clear when I interview that I am NOT school calendar schedule as I usually only have one teacher family out of 4 or 5 families and thus work year 'round. I make it clear that they need to have back up care.

I do not need your "permission" to take time off during the school year. Every job has its perks and mine is not being confined to school calendar schedule for my days off.

Reply

Thanks guys. The worst part about it is that the ones it did copy are ones I could care less about. I'm just glad it happened now and not after my daughter is born. I have noticed that this new phone does have an SD slot, so hopefully this won't happen again.

Reply

DH is driving me batty, I swear all he cares about anymore is himself.

DCKs go down at 1230 for nap, DD at 1pm, DH leaves for work at 1:15pm (works late shift til June 15th)

I remind him "don't forget naps at 12:30 and 1 so please get ready before then" and get "yeah yeah I know, I heard you"

So I do my thing and put everyone down at normal times, then at 1:05 DH come storming in from the garage and announces he needs to take a shower, he "forgot about the nap schedule" and has to take a shower now. Well DD's bedroom is right next to the bathroom and he's incapable of being quiet so he wakes her up (she was so tired, when I laid her down at 1 she was out) and she spends the next 45mins screaming (I don't just let her scream in the room BTW), she finally falls asleep at 1:55 but at 2:15 wakes up screaming again. She won't go back to sleep so she's up and still screaming away because she is tired and now I have 2 other DCKs that normally sleep til 3:30 awake.

Yay an afternoon of screaming & a 20 minute nap, what a great evening this is going to be. Of course DH doesn't care because he doesn't have to deal with any of it because he's off to work. Outta sight out of mind. I may have sent him a less than friendly text & am debating recoding the screaming and sending it to him

Reply

DCK was out for a few days last week. Today DCM asks what she owes for next Friday (month end) as if she expects a deal because they went on vacation.

Seriously.

1) You pay upfront for the month

2) Next weeks fees are for the NEXT month

3) You owe for everyday

sheesh.

Reply

Been a bad day all around here. MIL was here visiting with her dog so that was a big distraction during lunch and naptime. The only dkb is 16 mos and not walking or steady on his feet yet. He fell backwards and hit his head on the wall and got a bump on his head, and fell forward on a toy and bruised and made a mark on his chin. My own daughter (not yet 3 yrs) fell and hit her nose she looks horrible. The two dkgs (almost 2 yrs) chose to only take about an hour nap today. This was after refusing to eat the lunch I prepared for them. I'm ready for a long weekend. Luckily I will only have 4 days next week then off for a total of 10 days on vacation. If only we could afford to go away for a few days.

Reply

My 4 1/2 year old dcg bit another child badly. I want to term this family immediately because the two girls constantly hit and bite but their last day is already June 7th. I'm trying to stick it out but honestly,I just want these girls gone.

Reply

at 4.5 that is CRAZY!

Reply

I completely agree! She's never bit before. She usually is a hitter/you're not my friend kinda girl.

She's been acting out a lot since Mom put their notice in.

Reply

I simply will NOT put up with cheap, crappy diapers. I recently amended my contract to state that I prefer Pampers diapers. If you don't send those, then Target's Up & Up or Huggies will do. Do NOT send any other store brand diapers, do NOT send Luv's.

There are simply too many brands of diapers that don't work, and it is not fair to take time away from my job every day to bathe children who are covered in poop because their diaper failed again.

At this same time, I stated that parents of infants are expected to use a high-quality bottle, and I stated that much as I hate to clean them, I feel that Dr. Brown's are the best. Parent's Choice bottles and the like that allow a child to swallow more air than milk are NOT allowed at my home. I state in my contract that I have 2 dozen Dr. Brown's bottles that they are welcome to borrow from me for use at home, if they choose not to purchase them. The first baby I had after this change is using bottles borrowed out.

I explain to parents that it is not fair to kids to cause them pain from swallowing all that air (these kids cry all day, as we all know). I made this decision after feeding a baby from one of those POS bottles and watching it bubble and gurgle while the poor kid tried to get milk out of it.

I HAVE been called insane for both of the policies, I HAVE been told that I am out of line to dictate diaper and bottle brands. I don't care. When I am the one caring for the child, I will NOT deal with the fallout of parents who want to save a couple of bucks.

I also am an Amazon Prime member, and tell all DCP's that I will order their diapers for them from Amazon if they wish, in order to save them some money. I clip and print diaper coupons for the parents to help them save on them, too.

Reply

I have a strict no outside food policy. Only if the parent requests to bring a special treat for say a birthday and they bring enough for everyone do I ever let outside food come in. As well I don't allow personal toys or jewelry.

Reply

I don't know if anyone does Home Daycare on a Military Base? But having a huge issue right now. The military bases have programs to help military parents who work outside of the normal day time work week. The program is ECC (extended childcare), and I am currently in an up hill battle trying to fight them decided not to pay me for over 100 hours (almost 700 dollars worth) of child care that I did on weekends and overnights. The whole issue is because 1 person is misinterpreting 1 sentence from our training. Doesn't help that my coordinator is pretty much shrugging her shoulders and throwing her hands up in a I don't care, I give up way about helping me out. Even though that dcd knows he is responsible for payment if the government programs continues to refuse payment, I feel horrible to charge him, and stuck. I have this gut feeling that I just wasted all my weekends in May doing child care, and it was gonna be for free. /sigh

Reply

I just love when parents don't let you know about schedule changes...late drop off...early pick up....not coming in at all today. I remind them constantly that if no kiddos are in care...daycare is closed. I'm not going to sit around the house all day doing nothing just to be "open" and at your beck and call. So many parents think you're just their 24-7 on call babysitter...bah! I have threatened termination on parents like that.

Reply

Tell the parent...payment is just like usual. You've had no problems for 2 years, nothing has changed. Pay up or get out. Also, if you have problem children that are mean and cause problems (ie, hitting, bitting, etc.) terminate. I have a zero tolerance for parents who don't pay, pay on time, and pay in full prior to care being given, as well for aggressive, destructive children.

I have 2 school kids of my own and 1 dc school ager...it's the same. Luckily with 2 of mine I can send them to their rooms! I find having them play for a few minutes outside gets them to calm down and eat snack afterwards.

The kid who hides to go poop and doesn't say anything....my oldest son used to do that. It was really frustrating and never could figure out why, but he seemed to stop it completely once I actually got him to poop in the toilet once.

Reply

AAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

Just get through the summer, just get through the summer... that is my mantra. I can DO this, I am almost done!!!!!

Reply

Family is contracted until 5:30, but has picked up at 4:30 or earlier EVERY SINGLE DAY this school year. I made an appointment for 5:30 yesterday at the gym and they didn't show up til 5:45. I made one for 5:45 today, they picked up at 5:04.

Ten more days!!!!

Reply