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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>Getting Too Comfortable?
Pandaluver21 07:54 PM 09-01-2017
We currently have a 4 1/2 yr old little girl, who has been with us for about 2 1/2 years. Due to kiddo's aging out, she is currently our only kid.

Our late pick-up fee is $1 per minute, and our late payment fee is $10/day
Mom just signed a new contract, so I know she at least SHOULD have read over it (though those fees haven't changed)

So occasionally (maybe 10 times in the last 2 1/2 years) she has picked up late. She has paid the fee about half the time. (Other times were a minute or two and I stupidly let it slide)

Previously, our rule about payment was that it needed to be made before care (so Friday or Monday was "ok", though I hated this because I sometimes needed payment before the weekend)
In our new contract EVERYONE pays on Friday, no matter what. She signed the contract, and I actually went over it with her again and showed her that part specifically.

So anyway, today her payment was due. She did not pay, as she was in a hurry. I didn't even think about it until about an hour ago when I went to pay my rent and realized I don't have enough in there due to not having her payment.
I think she has gotten to comfortable with us, being that her daughter is the only one. Almost like she thinks we're her Nanny (we're an early learning program and are actually having her daughter for kindergarten this year) School starts Tuesday, and we are hoping with more kids this will no longer be an issue...

The problem I'm having, is well... my backbone... I want to message her and let her know that she did not pay, and to remember a $40 late fee on Tuesday with her payment. The thing is I KNOW she will throw a fit about it. Plus we told parents we only communicate through brightwheel (no longer through personal text message) and I don't believe she has it installed...

Ugh... If anyone has a spare backbone laying around let me know!
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racemom 10:19 PM 09-01-2017
I would send her a message:

Hey DCM, I noticed you forgot to drop off your payment for next week. As per our contract, please remember to include the late payment fee of $40 when you bring it Tuesday morning.

Thanks,
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Ariana 06:54 AM 09-02-2017
No one likes confrontation and no one likes dealing with difficult people so you are VERY normal! It takes practice, practice and more practice. The fact that you could not pay your rent infuriates me because you deserve to be paid on time

Aren't you mad about this? Why do you let her treat you like this? It is not acceptable behavior at all, especially since without you she would be UNEMPLOYED. YES UNEMPLOYED!!! You can't take kids to work last I heard. You should be the person she pays first.

Write her a message outlining how much she owes and let her know that if you do not get payment by X date you are terminating care. Also let her know that if this happens again, care will be terminated immediately. The only way this is going to stop is if you become a harda$$. It sucks but so do parents sometimes.

You can do it!!
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SunflowerMeadow 09:34 PM 09-02-2017
Of course she may not like it, but she also chose not to pay you. I accept payment over the weekend as well so I would invoice her through venmo or Square that way you can get your money. And then update the invoice every day if she doesn't pay it. (Update with new invoice total for late fees)
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Pandaluver21 04:23 PM 09-04-2017
Originally Posted by racemom:
I would send her a message:

Hey DCM, I noticed you forgot to drop off your payment for next week. As per our contract, please remember to include the late payment fee of $40 when you bring it Tuesday morning.

Thanks,
If I message her through brightwheel, I don't know if she will see it. Even if she does have it, she only checks it at work and won't see it until Tuesday after drop off... :/

Originally Posted by Ariana:
No one likes confrontation and no one likes dealing with difficult people so you are VERY normal! It takes practice, practice and more practice. The fact that you could not pay your rent infuriates me because you deserve to be paid on time

Aren't you mad about this? Why do you let her treat you like this? It is not acceptable behavior at all, especially since without you she would be UNEMPLOYED. YES UNEMPLOYED!!! You can't take kids to work last I heard. You should be the person she pays first.

Write her a message outlining how much she owes and let her know that if you do not get payment by X date you are terminating care. Also let her know that if this happens again, care will be terminated immediately. The only way this is going to stop is if you become a harda$$. It sucks but so do parents sometimes.

You can do it!!
I have been doing this for 9 years, and have worked in the education/childcare field for 15+ years. Still working on the backbone. Some parents are easier to have it with than others I've noticed! :P The thing is, she has paid on Monday's before and I haven't said anything because it wasn't technically a rule. I don't think she intentionally didn't pay, she just forgot because she was in a hurry? (Not saying that is an excuse, no other "bill" would be ok with that reasoning)

Originally Posted by SunflowerMeadow:
Of course she may not like it, but she also chose not to pay you. I accept payment over the weekend as well so I would invoice her through venmo or Square that way you can get your money. And then update the invoice every day if she doesn't pay it. (Update with new invoice total for late fees)
We bill through brightwheel, and I did, but doubt she will see it (or may not until Tuesday after drop off) Our contract states that we do not accept payment on weekends, but she lives in another city and probably wouldn't over the weekend anyway.
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Pandaluver21 09:00 AM 09-05-2017
So I printed out a "first late payment form" Which basically states "this would have been your late fee, and if it happens again, it will"
I have given this to other parents before and it has solved the problem.
She didn't read it, but I handed it to her and had to ask for payment... She cursed, and went out to her car to get it lol. She didn't think it was due last week, she thought it was this Friday.

Thankfully, rent hasn't gone through yet because of the weekend/holiday, so hopefully the check will go in before rent comes out!
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CityGarden 09:07 AM 09-05-2017
Wow I am not sure I could keep a client who cursed at me.... there has to be a certain level of mutual respect.

I am glad she paid you but not only did she pay late she also disrespected you. Perhaps you should start heavily marketing so you can let this family go.... or at least so you have the option to be able to do so.
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Pandaluver21 02:16 PM 09-05-2017
Originally Posted by CityGarden:
Wow I am not sure I could keep a client who cursed at me.... there has to be a certain level of mutual respect.

I am glad she paid you but not only did she pay late she also disrespected you. Perhaps you should start heavily marketing so you can let this family go.... or at least so you have the option to be able to do so.
Not at me, under her breath This was also after telling me that her child might be tired today because she gave her benadryl since she has bumps on her arms and legs...

We will be having new kids start in the next week or so, I highly doubt she'll leave, so hopefully she'll just get on board. She's actually a pretty good dcm, but it's like after being gone all summer she came back with a cruddy attitude..
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Ariana 03:47 PM 09-05-2017
Originally Posted by Pandaluver21:
Not at me, under her breath This was also after telling me that her child might be tired today because she gave her benadryl since she has bumps on her arms and legs...

We will be having new kids start in the next week or so, I highly doubt she'll leave, so hopefully she'll just get on board. She's actually a pretty good dcm, but it's like after being gone all summer she came back with a cruddy attitude..
If this is your definition of a good mom then something is terribly wrong! She dropped her rashy kid off hopped up on Benedryl? Uh no no no no
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Pandaluver21 04:13 PM 09-05-2017
Originally Posted by Ariana:
If this is your definition of a good mom then something is terribly wrong! She dropped her rashy kid off hopped up on Benedryl? Uh no no no no
Haha, no... I said she was a good mom BEFORE she left for the summer :P I hope she will get a wake up call... we shall see... That's why I think she is getting too comfortable. It went from being respectful and open communication, to thinking I'm her personal baby sitter...
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Ariana 04:41 PM 09-05-2017
Originally Posted by Pandaluver21:
Haha, no... I said she was a good mom BEFORE she left for the summer :P I hope she will get a wake up call... we shall see... That's why I think she is getting too comfortable. It went from being respectful and open communication, to thinking I'm her personal baby sitter...
Oh ok good!! Yes she seems like she needs to be put in her place for sure.
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Pandaluver21 05:36 PM 09-22-2017
OY! So today we had the older brother of this little girl. The little girl is paid for through next friday, but brother was not paid for today. Technically mom didn't "get care without payment" since she has all next week paid... but I think mom just forgot to pay for big brother. I'm sure this is what she will say if/when I bring it up.
I forget to ask for payment when parents don't pay, but I really don't think it's my job to remind them!

The problem is I can't financially afford to loose this family right now (but hopefully will be in the next month) and to be perfectly honest, I've gotten pretty attached to the kid sine she's been here for 3 years...

Not really asking anything, just venting :P People have no idea what this job takes lol

She always throws a stink about money with us lately. She is my "grandfathered in" family, so she's paying a lower rate anyway!! She also throws a stink about paying for things like labor day (we are technically open, though don't usually have kids) but we don't charge for a majority of things most people do, but she doesn't care 😛
She's been with us for almost 3 years. Had no problem the first two, but I think because she became our only family for a while, she thought we suddenly worked for her...

She has a 4 yr old and 6yr old The 6yr old is in first grade, the 4yr old is doing kindergarten with us this year and skipping to 1st next year. Her 6yr old went to public school for kindergarten and was one of, if not the highest in the class. She tells us it's because she has "good genetics" ...
keep in mind every kid that leaves us is either the highest in the class or skips a grade...
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springv 06:19 PM 09-22-2017

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Tags:late payment fee, late payment policy
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