I don't do daycare full time. I watch a friends kids part time and that's it. I got suckered into helping a family out and watching their 5yo twin boys, wed-fri, 2-8pm. Boys seemed fine, interview went ok. Parents said needed to pay biweekly, I agreed as long as they prepaid the 2nd week. Pay me Friday for current week and following week. Or pay me every Friday. I'm flexible, as long as I get paid on time. First week, they requested 5 different schedule changes, a couple I accommodated, the rest shot down without question. Friday at pickup they paid for the week plus $10 extra. I applied towards following week. Called in sick the following Wednesday, had boys Thursday and fri. An hour before pickup Friday, dcd texts saying family friend is picking up boys. I replied ok, total is $50 for the 2 days. He said sorry, can't pay till next Friday. On Friday, the boys had broken the toilet seat, squirted shaving cream on the floor and dumped out half a bottle of body wash, all in the time it takes to potty and wash hands, and the shaving cream and wash were up high enough they had to climb to get them! I was at my wits end before dcd said they couldn't pay. During this interesting 2 weeks with them, I heard thru others in our tiny town that they stiffed the past provider for a chunk of money, so I contacted her when this happened. Yep, left owing her $400 and boys had damaged her house. At this point, I termed them immediately per the trial period in the contract (at least I had that!). Dcd began texting nasty messages, refused to pay the $50 balance plus late fees (whatever, just go away) and it got bad enough that I had to block their numbers and on FB.

Not looking for advice, but had to vent! Where do these crazy people come from?! I've done daycare off and on for 10 years and have never encountered people like this! Needless to say, I've realized from lurking on here for a while that I was far too nice and have learned to not let things slide! Next time, I will be much more firm from the get go.

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I'm glad you got out of it before they owed you more money or destroyed your home!

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You did the right thing! you gave a trial period and quickly saw that things were going downhill fast with payments and the boys behavior. You saw right thru the parents tricks to pay late, have other people pick up on payday and try to bully you with angry texts. you got out of this quickly and i would rather these people go than try to fight over $50.

the only suggestion I can say is that you should do ALL payments in advice. Parents can pay weekly, every two weeks or monthly here but always in advance. if there is a late fee, they cant return until it is paid.

that said, even if they were a great family, there is no way I would take 5 year old twin boys LOL I know that sounds bad but twins are hard! and schoolagers are hard and put them together....ummm, no thanks!

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If I ever decide to take on unknown kids again, prepay will be a must! The day they didn't come due to illness, dcm tried to get me to take them and I refused. Antibiotics for ear infections and bronchitis? Forget it. I have my own 2 kids and myself to worry about. None of us have time to get sick! I told her not to bring them back until they had antibiotics for 24 hours. They acted so sweet and well behaved at first, and then turned into holy terror stealth ninjas that could destroy everything in the blink of an eye. My kids are very patient with dck here, and by the second week they couldn't do it anymore. They'd lock themselves in their rooms or mine until the boys went home. After I termed, I found out through a friend that there was yet another provider they had stiffed in addition to the one I talked to, and my friend refused to even meet with them. In a town of 600 people, it does not serve one well to screw over the few daycare providers around.

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There are a few families here that made the rounds to almost every in home provider and stiffed all of them. I got one of them but only got hit for two days because I require prepay and only let the Mom slide for 2 days before I said bring the money or don't bring the kids. Never saw them again.

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They sound like the twins that I just termed... I'm still coming acrossed broken toys, Had to patch my walls and paint because of thrown toys. And the parents owe money for 3 hours of care...( thats how long I had them here before I called for pickup) I will never take twins again! Double the naughtyness.. Sorry to hear that they stiffed you...

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Twins were definitely a nightmare! Honestly, I do daycare to help out a friend or two and have some fun money so I don't feel guilty for getting my nails done or taking the family out to dinner. We can live without the income, but we are on a tight budget. It isn't even worth it to deal with that nightmare! I'm thankful I could run away quickly and not worry about the electricity being shut off (not long ago, I'd have been stuck). I've been asked to keep a 14 month old recently as well, 1 day a week, and it was such a relief to be able to say "no way!" Without a second thought. Thankful I got out only losing $50 to this family and didn't let it drag out any longer. If you can afford to eat out 3 times a week at a sit down restaurant (small towns don't let much go unnoticed) but not pay your provider $50, you are beyond helping.

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That is something most of us had to learn the hard way!...should be a lesson included in Licensing orientation

I'm glad you stood up for yourself!

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