Ok maybe this is where I need to have a backbone and stick up for my contract "rules" but on the other hand I feel as though I'm ripping someone off.
Here's the situation:
I have a new client who is here wed, thur and every other friday. They pay for 3 days even on the days he's only here wed and thursday. In my contract I am closed thanksgiving and the day after and these are paid holidays if they fall on their regular scheduled days. Today she asked if it would be possible on that week to bring him monday, tuesday maybe wednesday since they are closed Thanksgiving and the day after so they are rescheduling her appointments to those other day. So here's the thing, technically she would be paying the regular pay for the closed days plus monday tuesday but she would be paying almost $60 more than normal, I know I know that's just the way it is but I feel bad and "wrong" doing that. Now she didn't say anything about not paying those days or anything so what would you do if you would make an "exception" this one time but they don't know this would you just say yes I can watch him those days this time and just see what they would pay, or would you say I can do it this time and I'll go ahead and just charge the you the same? or if they pay the full amount just accept it and not say anything? they don't seem to be the type that would take advantage of me but they are new so I dont' really know foresure.
I hate when these kinds of things come up, because I dont' like to be unfair which yes its in my contract but I just feel bad still

Reply

I would tell her you'd be happy to take them and let her knwo what the additional rate would be in addition to your paid holidays so she knows what her check should be that week.

I wouldn't hesitate, be wishy-washy or try to over explain it.

"Sure I'd love to watch them - the additional day rate for those days will be ____ in addition to the two paid Holidays."

She is contracted for those days and she has to pay for THOSE days - any days outside of the norm would be an additional charge.

Reply

I agree 100% with what sbschildcare said.

A piece of advice I have learned the hard way is if you give them an inch (even if it's in an emergency) they may think they own you, and then from that point forward constantly ask you to do things you wouldn't normally do.

Don't let them "use" you!!!

Reply

I have mine stated that holidays are paid no matter what days they fall on. I too always have pt parents ask (at interveiw) if they have to pay if they are only here X days. I use my discretion at what I tell them. If I get the idea that a holiday could fall on one of there days then they will need to pay. If the kid comes so many hours a day then they pay what they normally pay for a day. I figure my FT parents pay for it when it falls on a Sat or Sun they can pay as well.

Reply

I would love to be firm and charge her for that whole week, but I'm sure in that situation I would just shift her days to early in the week for that week. In other words, they come M/T/W for the same price as W/Th/F. I would feel better about myself, she would feel better about me, and I would be able to look her in the eye from then on without feeling like she thinks I'm just greedy.

I am on a kick of sticking to my contract more and more. And I'm getting good at it. But this is one area where I would feel perfectly comfortable just shifting the days for no extra cost. It will make for a more trusting working relationship, don't you think?

Reply

In theory I agree with the above posters, but what I would actually DO would probably be different. I would probably charge for only one of the holidays, and then the other three days he actually comes.
That's probably why I haven't gotten rich yet though

Reply

I had a manipulating family once. Their days were scheduled M-T-F, Whenever there was a Monday holiday, they would switch their days to T-TH-F, and I would still only get paid for 3 days, they were screwing me out of my 1 day of holiday pay for all Monday holidays. Well, I gave her a letter explaining that if she changed her days of attendance, then she would owe for 4 days......Monday (holiday pay), T-TH-F, she left 2 weeks later, which was fine, she constantly complained, manipulated, bitched because she didn't want to pay for the 2 weeks she was gone at Christmas break (I did drop one days pay from each week for her), it was always something with them. It is hard to be nice on occassion, because then they expect it.

Reply

I get the impression that she needs to switch her hours at HER job to accomodate her own clients for that week. It doesn't sound like she is trying to milk holidays out of you, it's just that her schedule shifted. If that is right, i'd be nice and let her switch without charge.

Reply

Let her switch. The only reason why I charge for holidays to begin with anyway is so that I still get paid when the holiday comes, as my bills are always the same. If I am charging them 3 days, I dont care what 3 days they are. tYou are not losing out on anything! You still get your holiday off and get paid for 3 days. Non issue as far as I'm concerned.

Reply

Thanks everyone, I know I just would feel bad even though I know it's "contract rules", I dont' believe she's trying to milk me out of the days just happens that her job needs her days switched. I just hate when I've done this in the past and then they think they can do it every time. I told myself I was going to stick to it but then on this I just don't feel right even though it is right sheeesh. They are new to the "daycare industry" so I don't know what to make of that, they don't seem like flaky people or anything.
I've had a client for 3 years that tried switching her days to get out of paying, it really irritated me and I had no backbone so I'd say this one time, that's why I dont' want to start it up again. In the end I think I'd feel better if I just told her I'd do it this one time. thanks everyone

Reply

Then I worry if I do it this time, what about the next holiday, she's probablly going to be closed so they'll switch her days again then she'll need to switch with me, I'm kind of with others, as long as I'm getting paid the same, I'm not out to make more than they are here for either ugh this is the part I hate about being self employed

Reply

Just tell her that you will make a one-time exception for Thanksgiving alone and that this does not apply to any other holiday.

Reply

When I started with my first client I handed her my policy book and unfortunately it didn't cover the Monday holidays as being paid. Before she would commit to me she asked me if I would prorate her for Memorial Day. I didn't have any other prospects so I said yes but it was for THIS time only. She didn't mention that she was also going to be gone Tuesday also until Friday afternoon. She paid me for only 3 days that week. Then, after that, any time she was out, which was always, she only felt she needed to pay me for the days she was here. From then on it became me getting mad at myself b/c I wasn't standing up for what was right. I had to go back and redo the policies and do the hard work of telling her she needed to begin paying for the Mondays off and any vacation beyond 2 weeks. It was always a fight. Your client is not losing pay but you will be working extra to avoid losing pay! I would be careful about hedging too much, but I know it's hard and you should do what you see is fair. Just know she will probably expect that from now on.

Reply

When I have had a child for just a few days I've had another child for the days that child wasn't there. In those situations I wouldn't have been able to make the switch.
So if you really believe she isn't milking you - tell her you'll make a one time exception but can't promise this will be an option going forward?

Reply

When they do my paperwork they put down days and hours they will be in care so I think that I'll just tell her normally I have the other spots filled and am unable to switch days but this time I do and this may not always be the case. At this point I dont' think she's trying to jew me out of anything. (yet )

Reply

But now you are not getting your holiday pay that you are entitled to. Is she getting holiday pay for those 2 days off?

Reply

I feel you are getting all your pay that you are entitled to. If you work 3 days, you get 3 days pay. It has nothing to do with getting holiday pay or not. It seems some are trying to get you to rip off your client,by getting paid for 4 days when you are only working 3. Just my 2 cents.. I think it would be a whole different story, if you were only working 2 days and trying to get paid for 3 and she only wanted to pay you for 2, or if she was trying to get out of paying you for the holiday. But this is clearly not the case here. Her hrs changed for that week, and therefore her chilcare needs changed also. I feel offended for this woman by some saying she is "milking" you. Sure some clients will try some tricks, but you will be able to see clearly when that is happening. As long as you currently have the availability to switch days, do it. And later down the road if you are full and cant switch, then she will have to pay & make other arrangements for childcare on the days you are not available. I mean is it REALLY worth losing a client and the income it provides you for one lousy holiday pay? You will end up losing more in the end if you "make her pay". How about this: Treat others the way you want to be treated. If you wouldnt want this done to you, dont do it to someone else. When in doubt, use the golden rule. It will pay off in the end!

Reply

Since they are paying you for every other Friday, even though he's not in care without (presumably) complaint, I would, as a goodwill gesture, change their schedule without requiring extra payment. Sometimes (and I stress "sometimes") in this business a little bit of give goes a long way toward building a good, long-lasting relationship with a family that oftentimes leads to good referrals and word-of-mouth advertising. JMHO.

Reply

That's what I said. I think?? Did you mean to quote me on that or the OP?

Reply

EXACTLY! Wish I could've worded it clearly like you did. lol She's still getting paid for 3 days either way. I feel like the paid holidays are only for the full-timers anyway. Anyone less than 5 days/wk is a part-timer and therefore on a daily basis to me.

Reply

I actually just had this come up over Memorial Day, both parents work in stores that were open Memorial Day, since I had taken it off one of the parents had to change their schedule to take it off and work the day they would normally have off. They are contracted for 4 days, I got paid for 4 days, doesn't matter to me what 4 days I get paid for as long as I get paid. I have all really good parents, I want to keep them so I work with them as much as I can.

Reply

I have one mom contracted for mondays, then another contracted for thurs and fri, if Mon needs to switch to wed, she pays me double. Her "spot" is monday,.... If she needs additional, or needs to switch,.. she pays for an additional day. Same with thurs and fri,.. if they need a tuesday, they pay extra. No matter If Im closed on a day and that is why they need to switch or what, they have a year advance notice of any closings,... Not my responsibility to be available to them if they dont cover my holidays in advance. Here, it doesnt matter if you are part or full time, your slot is guaranteed to always be available to you and that is why you pay wether your here or not.

Reply

I agree with you. I am a very giving person when it comes to my families. I have and will continue to work with them to keep a good relationship. My situation was a manipulating mom and every Monday holiday (we have a lot of Monday school closures), she was guaranteed to change her days. I do charge for holidays if I am closed and if family is scheduled to come. If mom changes her days from Monday to Tuesday, then I am losing my holiday pay, and she is gaining hers.

Reply

Personally I dont think it is a matter of "losing holiday pay". I just dont want to lose out out on my "normal" weekly payck if a holiday is in the same week.

Reply

I am NOT trying to start an argument here, so please don't take it that way. i don't charge any holidays...so I'm really wondering if i do how I would explain it. But according to what is in bold, if they're paying for that slot to always be available, then Holiday pay doesn't make sense b/c the slot really isn't available. Do you get where I'm confused? i'm just trying to think of arguments the parents would give me and how I'd explain it to them,

Reply

It is a Holiday, you are closed, no daycare available those days right? You deserve a day off and you deserve to be paid for it, just like anyone else - including this mom I would think! Yes she is rearranging her clients, but she is still getting the holiday off and probably getting paid for it as well, just as you should!! I would just say yes that is fine you can pick up these extra days and this is what it will cost! If you do not have paid holidays and just have them off than I wouldn't worry about it and I would just rearrange to accomodate her and get paid for your three days! If you do get paid for holidays you deserve to and I would take the holidays paid and also charge her for whatever days she picks up! : ) You are adding work for yourself for the other days by adding a child and you deserve to be paid for it just as you deserve to be paid for your holidays!!

If it was a simple change of schedule thing and didn't have anything to do with a holiday I would have no problem rearranging her schedule and only charging for the 3 days they used, I have done this with some of my families!! But, since it is a holiday and you have these days off and deserve payment for them and now you are rearranging to accomodate her you should still be paid for your holidays and for whatever days she rearranges to!!

Reply

I get paid holidays off, if you are scheduled to be here on a monday, and Its a paid holiday for me, you pay me. And I am off. Everyone pays their normal rate, for the week, if your a monday only,.. and its a monday holiday you pay, if you are a thursday family,.. and its a holiday monday you wouldnt normally be here on a monday so its not paid from you. If you want to use an additional day per week for whatever reason,... I charge extra. You said you dont get paid holidays, Thats where we are different., Paid holidays are just that,.. if I work at a bank, and they have a federal holiday, and are closed and they pay their workers,.. then they work an extra day later in the week,..... they are paid for those hours,.... I am the same,....

also,.. on occasion I have kept kids on a sunday as emergency care, or one time about 10 yrs ago I had a child on the 4th of July,.. paid holiday for me,.. so,.. I charged triple time,... If I work on a paid holiday I get triple time. Just like a factory worker. Same goes for weekends,... or overnight,.. triple the normal rate.

Reply

OMG!! Now we are comparing banks & multi million dollar corporations to a working mom who had a baby and is trying to make ends meet?? Obviously famlies need the money they make from work to support their famlies and pay their mortgages, and pay for their childs health care, food, diapers etc, otherwise I'm sure they would rather stay home raising their children themselves! All you guys want to do is make the poor mom "pay" through the nose. I cant believe how greedy people can be!! You are not a corporation, you do not "deserve" paid holidays, but you "want" them, and you want them at any cost! Th eonly reason why I charge for a holiday and I will say this again, is so that my pay will be the same and I wont be shorted when their is a holiday..thats it! It's not because I feel I am "entitled" to it, or "deserve" it, or because I want to make sure a family "pays" me for a holiday or I will feel cheated! My bills dont stop because there is a holiday or a mom takes a day off or has a vacation! I am not out to rip off anybody. You want to treated like you are being paid by some major company..maybe you ought to have these moms pay money towards your 401 k, pay your health insurance, pay for all of your vacation, sick and personal days, and give you a raise every 6 months....

The greed on this thread is extremely upsetting. TREAT OTHERS THE WAY YOU WANT TO BE TREATED! Stop trying to take advantage of people who are working to pay their bills! You are not their responsibility! Take rsponsibility for yourself, and if you want all these benefits, maybe you should get a different job...

Reply

You are working the same amount of time that week when its supposed to be a holiday or extra pay for no work. If you don't charge then you are not really getting that holiday pay because you are working the same amount of time. However, I personally LOVE the notice that she is giving you. I am way more likely to give in to requests for those who actually communicate.

Reply

I meant to quote you, I was agreeing.

Reply

Oh, ok. lol

Reply

As a business owner, it is each individual's right to conduct business as they wish. Since Holidays affect scheduling, and schedules are what billing is based on...it stands to reason that there may be differing opinions on what one's time is worth. It is judgemental to think that everyone has the space for all of their Monday kids to join another day in the week- it may require another staff, or some other expense. It also puts more on your plate for that day than normal, thus the 'premium fee'.
Also it is not the burden of the provider to notice that a holiday falls on a Monday and accomodate accordingly. I believe a parent should arrange the holiday care of their child well in advance, and potentially at a premium. It is not about being greedy, it is about who's responsibility it ultimately is- the PARENT. If you're claiming it is a comparison to major corporations, it isn't. My daughter goes to a small private school, and I do not get reimbursed for holidays when they are closed. They do not offer Saturday make-up day. If I rented a movie for 5 days and one was a holiday, I don't get that day free or get a make-up day. If I pay for a month of cell phone, and I don't use it for 3 days, I don't....I think you get the point.

Treat others the way you want to be treated works well on the playground, in personal relationships, and in public... in business it is treat others at fair market value, and don't sell yourself short unless you are independently wealthy.

Reply

Keep in mind that this works for very small privately owned businesses also. My parents owned and ran a small mom & pop Pet Shop for 10 years and even though we didn't make a large income they still had to pay their workers for federal holidays and paid extra if they stayed open on a holiday and had them work. They never had more than 1 employee working at once which is why my mom worked there mornings, my dad evenings, I worked there weekends and non-school hours and eventually even my little sister worked there too.

Yes, treat others as you would want to be treated. If I worked somewhere I would like federal holidays off and paid or would like to be paid extra if I had to work on a holiday.

Reply

I highly doubt she gets paid for those days. The reason I changed my contract for them to fill our their "contracted" days was so that the part timers didn't think they could just switch any time they felt like it, I've had problems with that in the past. I had one parent that always switched to another day if a Holiday fell on her contracted day, but when she would switch it would put me in a bind on other days. In my contract it states, these are your contracted hours, if you need to switch a day it would need to be authorized ahead of time because I may or may not have an opening on that day, if I can do it I would be more than happy to. Like others I dont' mind IF I can do it, as long as I'm still getting paid for the 3 days.

Reply

Wow,.ok, I apologize in advance for what Im going to say,.... once I say it Im done and back to your happy chipper laundryduchess,..I promise. .. ok, yes, I am a business, And as such I see no problem comparing my business decisions to those of multi-million dollar companies,... I pay taxes, contract work out when it can't be done "in house", I have accounting, purchasing, human resource, janitorial and secretary departments. I arrange for trainings, for programming, for interactive workshops. I am a small locally owned business and take credit for that. I am proud of that. Im not a babysitter, I am a high quality childcare provider and because of that,.. yes I DESERVE paid holidays, paid Personal Days, and raises when necessary. What bothers me more than your attitude is how you seem to think you arent entitled to these things as well.
.
I do not feel sorry for the poor single mom who has to buy diapers, pay bills, and feed her kids,.I WAS that mom,... two kids, no education, nothing but two daycare families, a car payment, mortgage, credit cards and an exhusband shacking up with a former daycare mom who I caught him in our bed with..... been there done that, and paid off that credit card. I get so tried of the "well shes a single mom, hes a single dad,... " excuse. Ok,.. thats the situation,.. deal with it, get through it and move on.

As far as paying thru the nose,... I charge 40 to 60 dollars LESS than providers in my area with half the training or programming I have. I offer a high quality affordable program that parents LOVE.

Someone elses choice to have children does not impact my feelings on getting paid for Christmas. I offer a service, I explain my policies and fees up front, prior to care, I give them a copy of our contract to read over and sign and return. ALL of my policies are written in the contract. If they choose not to read it, not to listen, not to prepare themselves for when Im closed I am not feeling bad if they have to switch shifts with someone because they failed to prepare for something they knew about a year in advance.

As a parent, I pay my insurance (health, dental, eye, car, life and home), put money in my 401, play around with other investments, pay for my mortgage, utilities, guitar lessons, trumpet rental, school clothes, dog food, plus first year tuition for my 18 yr old to go to an awesome college. (what scholarships doesnt cover that is) I also make sure he has money in his account for gas, soap, toothpaste and deodorant.

I work very hard at providing a service people LOOK for. At a price that isnt breaking them. I have never in my life been called greedy (unless we are talking about girl scout thin mints because then all bets are off, !) Maybe instead of worrying about how everyone else is trying to cheat people, if you focused your attention to providing a higher quality of care, people wouldnt bat an eye at paying for you to spend Christmas with your family. Instead of trying to blame the providers out there who TAKE paid holidays,... if you looked at it from the other side,.. you would understand how we feel. I have been available all but 4 days in 21 years for the days and times I was contracted for. I took off less than 21 days after the births of all for of my children combined. I make sure I am here, available to do my job every day. Rain or shine, snow or ice. I have taken on the role of mom, dad, sister, aunt, grandma, friend and confidant to not only the kids I serve but alot of the parents as well. I give all of me to the families lucky enough to be enrolled in my family childcare home. Here they KNOW I can be trusted, depended on and believed in. They are safe, happy and loved. I am proud of myself, Im proud of my fellow childcare providers. We deserve alot more than we get credit for. So much of who and what a child will be when they are grown is dependant on what WE do with them as infants, toddlers and young children. We ARE molding the future. It really upsets me when I find one of my fellow providers thinks we are just babysitters,... nothing special. I AM that working person who is paying my bills, and I will continue to improve my program, enroll families, teach them how to be wonderful little people, watch them go off to school, interview more families, and cycle through again and again,.. and you know what is awesome? when those children are grown,... and they call me out of the blue one day and say,.. Miss Jill,.. Im pregnant,.. please tell me you will keep my baby,.... And they come for an interview, I go over the rules, policies,.. and they smile, look at their spouse and say,.. see I told you you would love her,... and the cycle continues,.....

QUOTE=legomom922;45894]OMG!! Now we are comparing banks & multi million dollar corporations to a working mom who had a baby and is trying to make ends meet?? Obviously famlies need the money they make from work to support their famlies and pay their mortgages, and pay for their childs health care, food, diapers etc, otherwise I'm sure they would rather stay home raising their children themselves! All you guys want to do is make the poor mom "pay" through the nose. I cant believe how greedy people can be!! You are not a corporation, you do not "deserve" paid holidays, but you "want" them, and you want them at any cost! Th eonly reason why I charge for a holiday and I will say this again, is so that my pay will be the same and I wont be shorted when their is a holiday..thats it! It's not because I feel I am "entitled" to it, or "deserve" it, or because I want to make sure a family "pays" me for a holiday or I will feel cheated! My bills dont stop because there is a holiday or a mom takes a day off or has a vacation! I am not out to rip off anybody. You want to treated like you are being paid by some major company..maybe you ought to have these moms pay money towards your 401 k, pay your health insurance, pay for all of your vacation, sick and personal days, and give you a raise every 6 months....

The greed on this thread is extremely upsetting. TREAT OTHERS THE WAY YOU WANT TO BE TREATED! Stop trying to take advantage of people who are working to pay their bills! You are not their responsibility! Take rsponsibility for yourself, and if you want all these benefits, maybe you should get a different job...[/quote]

Reply

But this is not about whether a person charges a fee for a holiday when no care is provided. She DOES take paid holidays. She made that clear. She's not asking us "should I charge for Thanksgiving day and the day after? I don't feel right about charging when I don't work." That's not the issue here. The issue is whether she should make a small accommodation for a client who's employer changed her days to earlier in the week. Can she shift from watching that woman's child on We/Th/Fr to Mo/Tu/We instead. And what many of us are telling her is that it would make for good Provider/Client relations to do so this once. Does a restaurant charge you for that extra bowl of sauce because you don't like your food dry, or extra tortillas for your fajitas to wrap up in, or the bigger piece of cake because you're sharing it with the table? Does the grocery store charge you for the bottle of ketchup you dumped over, or the 6 paper bags because you want your groceries double bagged? Dumb examples, I know... point is it's good customer service. And the Mom DID ask her ahead of time. If my math is right, Thanksgiving is TEN weeks away.

Reply

In case you didn't notice, I never stated MY opinion of whether or not to charge/ credit the day. I expressed the right to the option.
I was responding to the judgmental post that I quoted. How I prefer my fajitas has nothing to do with the fact that I am responsible for a child as their parent, and as an adult, I should honor all signed contracts. On the flip side, I see nothing wrong with a parent asking for the favor. It's an individually exclusive business decision, but be warned- do it once, you have set a precedent that may bite you in the butt.
In other words- it's ok to ask, it's ok to say yes. It's ok to say no. It's ok to say yes, but it will cost you. It is not ok to tell fellow providers that they are greedy for even thinking of taking a paid vacation, when you do not know the circumstances of the contract.

Reply

I can agree with that. It seemed to me as if you were advocating for sticking with the contract NO MATTER WHAT. And I was just trying to say that sometimes it's good customer service to make an exception.

It's all good.

Reply

Laundry duchess: No one here has accused anyone of "just being a babysitter". We all have our jobs, our businesses, and we all pay our taxes, and do this and that. No one is even talking about Christmas! None of that is the issue!

I understand that if you rent a hotel room, you have to pay weather you use the room for 3 hrs, or 24...I understand that if you order a meal you have to pay for the whole thing even if you dont eat it...I also get if you have a cell phone you pay for the service weather you use it or not..I get ALL of that type of analogy...

However I also get that if you need extra grocery bags, the store doesnt charge you for them, and I also get that a waitress will give you a free cup of coffee if you spill yours, etc etc. I totaly yget all of these type of analogies.

I went camping a couple of weeks ago and they had a 3 night min..we could only stay 2 nights because my husband had to work..they could have & should have, charged us for the 3...because thats what their POLICY said. But guess what? they only charged us for the 2 because I explained the situation.

I had a bunch of ck to mail for bills, and I went to the grocery store to buy stamps and was planning on mailing them in a couple of days, when payday came..I left the envelopes on the counter by accident..Well a good samaritin "thought" they were doing me a favor and mailed them for me..All of those cks bounced!! The banks policy is to charge for each bounced ck. I went to the bank and expalined what happened, to see if they could help me out. Well they waived all of those fees for me even though it was in their POLICY to charge $35 for each of them!

This is called "Customer Service" This is going above and beyond for people. It's the "human connection". Sometimes you just have to be human and realize other people are human beings too. you have to be willing to bend the rules and help people out sometimes. Sure policies are put in place for good reasons, but they also can be over written.

I had a situation today where DCM is "contracted" for 1130-4 on fridays. However her employer wants her to work different hrs tomorrow, and so she asked if she could come 945-230 instead. Now if it were you, you probably would have told her no, or yes but she would have to pay double or some crazy thing because you are a serious businness woman, and your contracts cant be broken or it will just mess up your whole day...So of course I told her it was ok. She needs me at a different time, so what. Shes paying for the day anyway. She was very greatful and even hugged me..not that that was required or anything, but I'm sure she greatly appreciates me, and she will tell people good things about me.

This other mom in question was not trying to get out of paying tender hearts holidya pay, she only wanted to switch her days because her employeer changed hers! She is still paying for 3 days, and tender hearts is still getting her 3 days pay and her holiday off. What is the big deal? Seems like some providers think they are getting ripped off or taken advantage of only because they just want to work 2 days and get paid for 3 days... Sounds like greed to me...

Reply

But daycare providers ARE working to pay their bills too. They are entitled to the same benefits if the parent's signed an agreement saying they would pay holidays. How is that greedy?

Reply

Treat others the way you want to be treated works well on the playground, in personal relationships, and in public... in business it is treat others at fair market value, and don't sell yourself short unless you are independently wealthy.[/quote]

ITA with this.

Reply

I used to feel greedy or being picky about following my policies or even worse changing them to create less chaos in my life. Then I remembered that I need to take care of myself before I help others. I even put food on my plate before helping others get their food. I don't eat before they do but I serve myself first to remind myself that I have needs that need to be addressed as well. I am not here to bend over backward to help others out. That said I do make exceptions to my policy from time to time. I actually had a mom tell me to stop allowing her husband to get away with last minute schedule changes even though the changes were not a bother to me. So my advise is do what you will but remember to put your needs before the needs of your clients.

Reply

Banks, grocery stores, and restaurants do not have binding contracts with you. In fact, you make our point stronger using those examples, because those businesses are operating on return customers, and the more the merrier- not a limited amount of possible customers and revolving contracts. It behooves them to 'give a little' as doing so puts them at the advantage of impressing a customer that can choose which restaurant, grocery store or bank to use each time the need arises. The good far outweighs the bad on that one.

In our case, 'giving a little' means possibly going over ratio or reaching less than comfortable capacity. Why bother with a contract at all, if adjustments are allowed with no repercussions. In my case in particular, I have 11 families I am juggling schedules with, and schedule changes are simply not all that easy for me. I hold parents to contracts because if one thinks they can switch as needed, they all should be able to. That cannot happen here.

I'm not even attempting to address the 'changing hours on same day with notice' bit, because I think you are trying to assert that some of us wouldn't accomodate that... please....

All in all, we all run things differently and some are able to accomodate easier than others. Can we be a little less judgmental of each others' differences? Please?

Reply