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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>A Potential Family A Little Too Eager?
queenbee 06:14 PM 06-08-2012
I took my gang to the zoo this morning and while we were having lunch on the grass, a man and his teenage daughter and little son came up to us. He inquired whether we were a daycare and said they were trying to get his son - two years next month - into a daycare part-time.

Dcd owned his own business and mom works full-time. Grandparents were taking turns caring for the little boy.

I currently have 16 children enrolled and I told him I'd only be able to offer him a 3 day/week schedule as I am completely at capacity on Tuesday and Wednesday. This dad was very eager! I told him to contact me through my website and we went our separate ways. As soon as we arrived back from our trip I got an email from this dad saying how impressed they were and asking to come visit, a phone call two hours later and here's the kicker......

He shows up at my house just as my last kid left!

He said he got my address from google and wants to interview right now. I told him that I was leaving town right now (I was headed to my niece's graduation) and we could schedule for next week. He seemed a little put-off by this, but wanted to schedule an interview right then in my driveway.

I told him I would call Monday morning and he drove off.

My last daycare parent looked iffy as they were loading their child into the car and my assistants stayed in the house until he left. Both my assistants were iffy and my daycare parent called 20 minutes later to check up on me.

This dad seems a little too eager to interview and, although I'm biased and think my daycare is fantastic , I'm unsure if this dad and family were THAT impressed.

Any advice for me? I could really use some outside insight!

Thanks!
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pootmcgoot 06:18 PM 06-08-2012
Creeeeeepy. My "weirdo" meter would be going off. Imagine working for his personality type if he is indeed sane and just eager.
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jojosmommy 07:24 PM 06-08-2012
YEP, that would make me nervous too. I would tell him you are already interviewing others, and you will call him in a week or two. If he settles down by then I might entertain the idea of talking with him. Sounds too excited for me though.
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MizzCheryl 07:31 PM 06-08-2012
Trust your gut!!!
If he is this way know can you imagine what he would be like at your house twice a day 3 times a week.
Did you think maybe he was interested more in you than he was daycare?
Too weird to show up at your house.
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MyAngels 07:55 PM 06-08-2012
If you got his name and information and such, maybe you should google him - I'd check the county court website and the sex offenders list, just for good measure, too. He could be perfectly fine, but it seems a little off to me, too.
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littlemissmuffet 08:06 PM 06-08-2012
Always, ALWAYS trust your instincts!!! He could be the nicest, most amazing person ever - and really just be impressed with how you were handling your crew at the zoo... but you feel insecure about him, he alarmed a daycare parent AND your assistants as well... personally, I would not even go through the interview process.
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EntropyControlSpecialist 08:07 PM 06-08-2012
Too weird.
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queenbee 08:49 PM 06-08-2012
So.....I've since checked out the dad on Facebook and searched through the sex offender registry. Nothing on the registry of this guy. His Facebook seems normal, nothing anything really telling me "run away!".

Searched his name on Google, got a few hits on white pages, mylife.com and for his own company.

I almost want to interview with him to figure out if this was his normal behavior and personality, or just some over-dramatic interest in my daycare.

Another thing I thought of.....what if the dad was lying about the boy being watched by his grandparents? Maybe this little boy is a tiny terror. He was chasing after the ducks and peacocks at the zoo.....Perhaps a case of termination from another daycare and that's why he's desperate?
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Meyou 05:07 AM 06-09-2012
Although Dad seemed really forward and creeptastic my first thought was that he was thinking, "Sweet! This lady can take all these kids to the zoo and she is holding it together! This will totally solve our daycare problem and wifey will stop nagging me about it!"

Just a thought.

I take my group to the beach in the summer and I can't count the number of on the spot times I've given out my number or have had to stop someone from trying to interview right there. Seeing us in full action can make the normal person starry eyed sometimes. Even if I say I have no openings for 2 years they still want to "stop by" or "interview" or "just walk home with you"
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cheerfuldom 06:10 AM 06-09-2012
I guess you had to be there....I dont see a huge issue with what he did. Maybe they just really need daycare and havent been able to come up with anything good.
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MNMum 07:48 AM 06-09-2012
Coming from a family with interesting personalities...some people just don't get social boundaries. I could see either one of my ADD brother or father or uncle behaving in this way. They see an opportunity, they want info, and quick. Neither has any qualms about showing up on someone's doorstep uninivited...they figure if they aren't welcome at that time, they will be told so. Growing up watching these three bafoons break social norms like this...I follow our social norms to a T! He might be legit, and a fine daycare dad, but just a go getter.
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Former Teacher 08:15 AM 06-09-2012
Originally Posted by cheerfuldom:
I guess you had to be there....I dont see a huge issue with what he did.
Oh good! I wasn't the only one
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Kiki 08:54 AM 06-09-2012
Originally Posted by Meyou:
Although Dad seemed really forward and creeptastic my first thought was that he was thinking, "Sweet! This lady can take all these kids to the zoo and she is holding it together! This will totally solve our daycare problem and wifey will stop nagging me about it!"

Just a thought.

Seeing us in full action can make the normal person starry eyed sometimes.
I kind of agree with this, maybe he really was just that impressed about how well you handled yourself.
I might be a little worried about the Google factor, but only if my information wasn't really easy to find by people that were interested in my services.
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Hunni Bee 11:33 AM 06-09-2012
Originally Posted by Kiki:
I kind of agree with this, maybe he really was just that impressed about how well you handled yourself.
I might be a little worried about the Google factor, but only if my information wasn't really easy to find by people that were interested in my services.
Yes, I agree here. My concern was the fact that he didn't ask for her info while talking with her, but decided to look it up online and surprise her in her driveway a few hours later. She said he didn't show up til the last kid was gone, which gives me the sneaking suspicion that he was watching the house.

And like another poster said, if he gave the creeps to four different people, I'd trust all of their guts.
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