I'm a Registered user who needs privacy for this post.

I enrolled a 20 mo little boy into my daycare two weeks ago. I interviewed with his mother previously and she seemed like such a great fit. She did question a lot about my home daycare but I expected it because she was a first-time parent. She loved that I accommodated cloth diapers and that I sent out daily reports. The mom had been home for the first 3 months of the little boy's life before Grandma became the nanny so Mom could go back to work. He had never been away from Mom or Grandma and had never experienced a daycare setting.

First couple days go by perfectly. DCB cries on and off but by the third day he was engaging with the other kids and playing with toys. He had slept well and ate well, and overall I was very happy with the progess DCB had made.

Thursday comes and Mom drops off DCB. She says DCD, who I've never met with or seen, will be picking up DCB today and to not be "intimidated" by him as he can come off as very protective. I give her a funny look before saying goodbye and continuing on with my day. 11am comes and DCD knocks on my door to pick up DCB. He immediately starts looking over DCB and I get the weird feeling he's looking for any clues that his child's been harmed or hurt in anyway. I try and tell him about DCB's good morning when he interrupts me and starts asking one of my DCK's where they got the bruise on their head from. I'm not sure what kind of response he expected from an 18 mo but I filled him in on how she tripped on a toy at home. I finish telling him about his child's morning and progress and he makes a quick departure.

Friday morning Mom comes in with DCB and completely takes me off guard with her questioning of every....little....thing that I'm sure I covered in our intial interviews. She asks to see where he sleeps (I show her), how I put him to sleep (I describe it), what he ate the previous day (I tell her to read through the daily report), if there are any males in the house at any time (umm, yes, as this is a HOME daycare), if his cloth diapers are posing any problems (nope), if my sister who I live with has a boyfriend and whether or not they would be in the house during daycare hours (whaaaaa?), would I be entertaining visitors during naptime when the children are sleeping, how much supervision do the children have while outdoors, how often do I clean the toys and what do I use to clean them and many more questions that take up more than 30 minutes of my morning and leave me exhausted! Mom finally leaves and says she will be picking up at 4:30. I go about my morning until I hear the familiar sounds of the mailman coming down the street. All of my kids go nuts over this and will stare out the window waiting for the mail man to deliver the mail and wave at their little faces pressed against the window. It's 11am.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see a car pull down the street three houses down from us and I see DCD step out of the car and literally RUN up the sidewalk to my driveway. He keeps going until he gets to the side of my house and he peaks over the fence that leads to the backyard. He stares for a few minutes before he comes back to my front door and knocks hard on my front door. I answer it almost immediately and his first question after he picks up DCB is: "Do the children play out there?" with this finger pointed towards the general direction of my backyard. I respond with a "yes......of course, that's the backyaaaaard......" and with what I'm sure is a disbelieving face. He nods, picks up DCB's belongings and leaves without another word.

Monday morning comes and I get an email from DCM saying that she is so sorry that she has to pull DCB out of my daycare, but Grandma has decided to continue watching him instead of going back into the working world and she believes it will be the least stressful for DCB. She asks for a day and time to which she can come by to collect his belongings. I email back and tell her that we will miss DCB very much and she can collect his belongings on Friday. Also, as per our contract, I require a two-week notice of termination of care and that payment is required even if DCB isn't in attendance. Monday goes by without contact, Tuesday goes, Wednesday goes, Thursday afternoon I finally email her again and ask her if she will be coming by so I can be sure I will be home (going on a fieldtrip) and to remind her of the balance that is due. She responds "Sorry for the late reply. DCD will be by tomorrow afternoon to collect DCB's stuff". I email her back with an "I'm sorry, but because DCD isn't listed on his registration packet and he didn't sign the contract, I'm only allowed to distribute DCB's belongings to you".

I'm still waiting for an email back when DCD texts me and asks if he can swing by in 20 mins to pick up DCB's things. I tell him I'm not home and that Mom will need to pick up his things and she is the only one listed on the contract. No text back from DCD and no email back from DCM.

I feel like they are trying to skip out on paying. Dad isn't listed on the contract (only as an authorized pick-up person) and I will not release the belongings to anyone else but the Mom. I'll be waiting tomorrow for a response of any kind but I will not be putting off my fieldtrip as my kids are very excited to visit the zoo.

I'm not interested in taking this to small claims as I don't have enough energy or time to do all that is required, but is there another way I can maybe get them to think I'll be going that route should they decide not to pay me? How should I respond if either of them comes to my house without notice to pick-up DCB's belongings?

Thanks for any advice!!

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