child care problems

[marshalbc77]

I am so frustrated feel like

I work 3 days during the week and every other weekend. My current child care provider(license home) wants us to sign a "contract" for the days specified. Whether or not my children are there at her home we still have to pay. My problem is sometimes I get cancelled on, (only 1 time a week). We will be required to pay for the day I get cancelled. If you call in because your child is ill, too ill for child care you still have to pay. She wants 1 week paid vacation.What that means we are going to end up paying double, for her and the back up babysitter for that week she took her vacation. What my husband is really upset with is her Paid Holidays, for example if Christmas lands on the day specified and we both got Christmas Day off we are still required to pay her. I never had this problem before we moved to a new city so we left our old Child care provider which never did the whole contract thing she was flexible. What I found out is that this is common practice child care providers can set up contracts like this. I just think its unfair. Can't qualify for subsidized child care cause in their eyes I make too much $ so can't get help there. We don't make a lot of $ just to agree with her "contract". It's always the hard working middle class people who gets hurt. I understand this is her livelihood and the contract makes it so she has guranteed money. But I feel that hey this is the profession she chose. If she wants a definite paycheck then she should work (lack of a better word) a "regular job". What do you guys think?

[nekhismom]

i guess i'm luckier than i thought. my childcare provider is a licensed caregiver who works out of her home. she provides breakfast and lunch and 1-2 snacks each day, included with the fee. now, my son doesn't get to go outside to play while in her care, and he watches tv most all of the the day, but she is good to him. she always keeps him clean and dry and well fed. and she only charges $12 a day, or $60 for a 5-day week. can you imagine working for $12 a day??? sometimes she has my son for 9-10 hours!!! for 12 dollars a day!!! i feel embarrassed to even pay her only $12, it's like i'm cheating her. she doesn't charge holiday pay because she's not open on holidays. she takes the week of july 4th off without pay every year for her vacation. but she's reliable and often flexible, if given enough notice. my son adores her. my only complaint is the lack of physical activity provided in her care, and the tv time. this thread has really made me reconsider what is the most important part of daycare. i'm fortunate in that i won't need to send my son to daycare 5 days/week now that i've graduated, so i can look into enrolling my son in other activities. i wish you the best of luck in finding a provider, and i hope things go well for you and your children.

[LolaRN]

I agree completely with EJM99. I have been a day care provider in home and in a center. I have also been a daycare center director for many years before beginning nursing. Day care in any form is NOT a money making business. It sounds to me that the bigger problem that you are having is the lack of affordable quality care. Many providers can't make enough to pay bills in home or in centers. Parents can't afford to pay what really needs to be paid. Until this problem is addressed, we are only hurting each other. This quandry is one of the main reasons that I left day care. The place that I worked didn't hardly make enough to cover the bills and the workers only made $6 an hr with college degrees. When I did day care in home, I had no health insurance, no 401K, no paid time off, no holidays, etc ( most of these I didn't have in the centers I worked at either). I understand your frustration as I have 2 children of my own and no how hard it is to find a good caregiver that is affordable especially in a small town or rural area. But I truly believe that the bigger issue is the lack of affordable care, not to mention QUALITY care,

[SnowymtnRN]

It sounds like you just need to find another provider. I never understand why childcare providers...probably one of the more important roles in society....never get any respect for their jobs. Why is she not allowed to have vacation days like any other respectable profession?? If you don't like it--then change the situation and quit bellyaching about it. hty/

I think this was a bit harsh. And i agree that quality affordable child care is the issue here, however i don't think that any of us get a paid holiday if we aren't WORKING on that holiday. So if i'm scheduled to be off for Thanksgiving, and the daycare is going to be closed obviousely, its fair to expect me to pay for it? no i don't think so. I'd think that any childcare provider would see this, and yes they are trying to protect themselves and make a living. However, i'd rather than increase their rates and have it in the contract as no paying for holidays than to pay for something that i'm not involved in. I don't get paid holidays, i only get time and a half IF i work. Same should apply here.

[ejm99]

I think this was a bit harsh. And i agree that quality affordable child care is the issue here, however i don't think that any of us get a paid holiday if we aren't WORKING on that holiday. So if i'm scheduled to be off for Thanksgiving, and the daycare is going to be closed obviousely, its fair to expect me to pay for it? no i don't think so. ......have it in the contract as no paying for holidays than to pay for something that i'm not involved in. I don't get paid holidays, i only get time and a half IF i work. Same should apply here.

I agree w/ this as well....it comes down to the fact that it's up to the provider to make her decision on this.

I've done both...paid and unpaid holidays...dependant on the parents work benefits...if they get paid...I do....if not...I don't. The problem is some parents are not honest about it...so I quit doing that unless it was w/ someone who worked somewhere that I was familiar w/ their work policies and beneifits.

I actually did a deal w/ a single young mom, coming out of a horrible marriage w/ 4 kids..that she paid for 2 and got the other 2 kids care FREE ....w/ the understanding that on her days off..she kept the kids if it fell during the M-F. And if not I watched them 5 days for that amount....not a penny more expected...I was really trying to help her out some.

It was AMAZING how after 3 mos she never once had a day off M-F.

I spoke to her about it......she said she never had a weekday off ...

then I had a situation where one of the kids got sick, the school couldn't get her, they called me, I went and got the child from school and then talked to her supervisor at work....I explained I needed to find the mother as the child really needed to go to the dr and was told she's off EVERY MONDAY since her first day working...as it's retail and she was required to work one weekend day..and some weeks (2 a month) she was off M and THurs being her required full weekend to work. I was so upset.

I mean I had been upfront..."if you just need a day to run errands, deal w/ your divorce /school stuff..or even a mental day..cool..I'll keep them..but be honest and upfront w/ me about it"

When I finally found her she still denied it and said she'd been sent home sick herself....til I told her that her supervisor spilled the beans....she didn't even have the courtesy to be embarassed at being caught in a lie. Had she said...look I have 4 kids..I need a break. I would have been more understanding...

I fired her.

I don't work w/ dishonest parents.

[MrsWampthang, BSN, RN]

I feel like a terrible mom because my child turned ten in November. At the end of last year my sitter found out that she couldn't watch my son anymore because she watched babies. He used to get on the bus at her house in the morning and the license issuers told her that if she had kids that got on the bus that she had to be standing outside on the porch watching them get on the bus, but since she had babies, she couldn't because they also said that she was expected to be in the room with the babies at all times so she couldn't be two places at once. (the babies are actually toddlers).

Anyway, the bottom line is that she had to quit watching him before school and since he was starting to get really bored after school at her house, he isn't there after school either, so now my son is officially a latch-key kid. He's ten and we live in a very small neighborhood with like ten families that go to our church practically within shouting distance, so I'm not worried about his safety. I just feel badly that he has to get himself up and on the bus in the morning and then has to be on his own for 3 hours after school at his age. Seems way to young to be that responsible. So far he has done great. I wake him up before I leave and tell him I'm leaving and then set the alarm for 7am. He comes in after school and watches TV or plays on the computer, eats a snack and calls me to let me know he's home. If my boyfriend is off, he'll run by and get him. Like I said, so far, so good. I know that if he needs anything he can call his former babysitter (she lives down the street and around the corner) so as I said, I'm not worried about his safety.

I went through those years of nightmare babysitters, expensive daycare, and sweating about finding a dependable babysitter that would sit on the crazy hours that I worked/went to school. I am so glad those years are over. I don't know how he or I survived. I feel like I had to sacrifice a lot of time with him that could have been used to spend quality time with him. I still mourn those lost years.

I guess my take on this pay thing is this: I took him to private sitters, licensed sitters, and daycare centers. When he went to the daycare center, it allowed for one week with no pay a year, otherwise it was a set fee every week. Holidays weren't extra, just figured it into the weekly fee. When my son went to the last sitter, she is licensed and had a contract that stated that if I took a vacation that I still paid her for that week; if she took a week (which she seldom did), she didn't get paid. She also expected paid holidays if they fell during the week (she didn't work the holidays and/or sometimes the day after). I have mixed feelings about that, but I always paid for each day he was there and I knew he got good care there, so it was worth it. It's tax deductable at the end of the year too, so that's a plus. Like a couple of people have said, it's hard to find someone you can trust and does a good job taking care of your kids, so sometimes it's worth paying a little more to get good help. Guess it is all in how you look at it.

I have mixed feelings now. Like I stated before, I'm glad my nightmare babysitting years are over, but I'm not thrilled that my ten year old is so soon on his own.

Just my 0.002 cents. :)

Pam

[heatherbless]

It seems that community daycare centers when they are closed like on thanksgiving,xmas, etc, also get paid for those days irregardless--so-I guess if that is their policy--then you as a parent have the choice to make other arrangements for childcare. I still do not think it is unreasonable for this childcare provider to get paid for holidays.

[heatherbless]

Let me clarify something heatherbless. I am not saying she's not allowed vacation days and for her to just work, work, work. My chief complaint is that I don't think its ethical/fair that a parent has to pay for her vacation days and holidays.

Do not most professions that work fulltime get benefits that include holidays and vacation? Again, I am not trying to argue your point--it's just that if that is the way the provider does it....then she will either agree with you or not. So, you may be able to find another arrangement that works better for you. I have children too and have always had to pay for those things-if stipulated in a contract.