How much do you pay for in-home care for an infant?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

It's not the ability to pay on time (all parents have that ability) but the actual paying on time that makes the difference. If you can't pay on time is shows a genuine lack of respect for your daycare provider, and no one wants to work with someone who doesn't respect them, their policies and their procedures. Without mutual respect (and trust me if you don't pay on time your provider won't respect you either) nothing else matters as the relationship won't work.

Tara. (aka: busylady)

Of course parents should pay on time, but I have a hard time believing that it the only important quality a day care provider looks for. Parents can pay on time and still be obnoxious and difficult to work with.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:I pay $260 for M-Fri 7:30-5:30 in Arlington. My kid's not there all that time, but I pay the full $260. We pay for two weeks vacation for our provider. She never cancels due to illness and she is always there for us. She (and her assistants) care for 9 kids year round. She earns her two weeks paid vacation.

Now YOU are a dream come true for any daycare provider. Your provider is lucky to have you as a partner in rearing wonderful, beautiful children!

Judy Trickett

Is paying the weekly charge all it takes to be a great partner for an in-home provider?

No question.

So, as long as a parent pays, its ok if they bitch and moan the whole week about everything?

Paying on time is a good start. Besides, if you can't even PAY on time we would no longer have a business relationship anyway so I couldn't care less what you "bitch" about all week. It astonishes me that parents like you sit in my living room and go on and on ab out how this is such an important decision who you have caring for your child. But the minute you don't like one little policy we are suddenly the devil incarnate. You would bregrudge the person who cares for your CHILD what she is due as per the contract YOU signed and agreed upo?? Yep, not saying much for how much importance you put into the care and concern of your child. Because having an atititude like yours will only result in one thing - your child going from provider to provider because mommy or daddy were too selfish to take anyting but their own demands into acount.l Geesh, how lucky for your child.

I find you rude and arrogant and no doubt so does/will your provider.

My children are not in an in-home day care so I dont have a provider who is as bitter as you. I pay for my childcare on time and in full every week. It is certainly the parents pergoative to like or dislike certain policies. I was just remarking that you seem to think that ability to pay is the only quality that a parent needs to have and this seems rather short-sighted, as there are plenty of people able to pay that I would not want as a client and I would put many other qualities at the top of my list, in addition to ability to pay.

You sound incredibly bitter and I would never place my children with someone who has as much hostility as you express.

If you look WAAAAYYY up, you will likely see that the parent said that her DCP EARNED her 2 weeks....meaning she appreciates what she does and KNOWS that 2 weeks is something her DCP is deserving of....I personally think that is why Judy was saying that she'd love to have her.

NEWS FLASH! Almost ALL DCP are bitter about one parent or another in their care. There are so many parents out there who do not value their provider for what they are worth. I am an intelligent person, I work 55 business hours per week (not including clean-up, prep, etc.), I go to school as well, I run another business on the side, I am a mother....and people have the NERVE to think I make easy money?? That I am not DESERVING of paid time off? I work DAMN hard. My parents would break down and cry if they knew how hard I worked!

I am putting paid vacation into my contract next year. This year I added paid sick days. I am worth it. Mist of my parents take their vaca when I do...so they can pay me while they are off....because their employer pays them....and I deserve it.

Wow. Judy. Do the parents who entrust you with their children know you're this angry?

[Anonymous]

I've been providing care in my home for over 20 years, and really have noticed this problem of parents not respecting policies in the last few years. It seems like a lot (not all) new parents now seem to think they are doing us some sort of favor leaving their child with us, and that they seem to think that we owe them something. I work with the children 50 hours a week, add on top of that shopping, cleaning, prep work and it's probably closer to 70 hours a week - that's alot for what I make! You don't like my policies then don't come here, but don't sign a damn contract and then try to change things every two seconds. Read what you sign - it's a legal binding document!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

It's not the ability to pay on time (all parents have that ability) but the actual paying on time that makes the difference. If you can't pay on time is shows a genuine lack of respect for your daycare provider, and no one wants to work with someone who doesn't respect them, their policies and their procedures. Without mutual respect (and trust me if you don't pay on time your provider won't respect you either) nothing else matters as the relationship won't work.

Tara. (aka: busylady)

Of course parents should pay on time, but I have a hard time believing that it the only important quality a day care provider looks for. Parents can pay on time and still be obnoxious and difficult to work with.

It's not the only important quality, but an obnoxious and difficult parent can usually be spotted during the interview, and therefore wouldn't be getting a space in most home daycares anyway. I specifically mentioned paying on time because it's something that happens after care has started and a contract has been signed. Like a later poster mentioned, if you don't like the policies regarding sick days, vacation, and payments then don't sign the contract. Find another provider.

Tara.

[Anonymous]

Wow. Judy. Do the parents who entrust you with their children know you're this angry

?


Those are not all my posts. I signed my name to those I wrote. However, I made a kind comment about the poster who said that she respected her daycare provider and anonymous (whoever you are since you are too scared to use your name) made a rude comment that payment was the only thing that mattered to us as daycare providers.

Well, yeah payment DOES matter. You can be as nice to me as you like, follow my policies, show up on time etc etc but if you don't pay me then all the rest is a mute point. I don't work for free.

And another point is of reference to the quote above. Why is it that in ANY other industry if a person complained or demanded what is duly theirs everyone would stand around and pat them on the back with a big Hurrah....but when it comes to someone who cares for children we are "angry and bitter"? If you didn't notice daycare providers are just people. People like YOU who have feelings and biases and ambitions and mortgages to pay. Just like you there are parts of our jobs that well.....really suck sometimes. There is nothing wrong with that. SO, why the societal double standard? In fact, I would be MORE leary of anyone, provider included, who always had a smile on their face and came off like the world was full of roses and lollipops. Because I can tell you that it isn't true. People like that are the providers who let parents who don't pay get away with it and before long that same provider grows resentful and want to know what happens then? She closes up shop because dealing with parents is too damned difficult and then all those children who have bonded with the provider and their little friends have to start up all over again somewhere else. This business is hard; not because of the kids but because of the few parents who do not understand what it is we do and afford us the consideration they would anyone else in any other business.

So, sorry, I am not angry. But if that is YOUR peception of it then perhaps you should look into yourself and why it is that my desire to defend my right to be treated fairly and equitably bothers you so.

Judy Trickett

[Anonymous]

OP here -- gulp. Thanks for the price quotes and the discussion. Happy Holidays to all!!!

[Anonymous]

Very well said Judy!
I've just taken some time and read through all these posts and I have a few things I would like to point out to those parents that think not paying a caregiver for vacation time is okay:
1. You pay your rent/mortgage, utilities, cable, phone, etc., whether or not you use them.
2. How can you refer to a childcare provider as a service provider - this alone shows nothing but disrespect!
3. Childcare providers assume the responsibility of providing loving, quality care for your supposed most prized possession - yet, so many people pay more per house for a freaking housecleaner than they do for their childcare provider.
4. This, like any other profession, has it's good days and not so good days, and truly it's parents that squabble and gripe over something as little as a couple hundred dollars that make providers feel unrespected and looked down upon. Before snubbing what providers here are trying to tell you, look at what you are saying, and ask yourselves how you would feel if you were in the caregivers position.
5. Just because a caregiver may gripe about parents does not mean that they provide any less care to the children - we wouldn't be in this business if we didn't truly care about the children. It's a known fact that many children receive more stability and loving guideance in their childcare setting than they do at home.
Why is it okay for parents to gripe about caregivers, but caregivers cannot do the same - are we not allowed to vent our frustrations????

Signed K

[Anonymous]

Judy, why are you posting on DCUM in the middle of the work week? Shouldn't you be watching the children in your care? If my kids were in your home, and I found out that you were goofing off, you'd be fired in a heartbeat.

[Anonymous]

Whoa people. Daycare providers: I think you are perhaps misunderstanding what the parent was trying to say.

First let me say that I have great respect and tremendous gratitude for the two wonderful people that look after my daughter while I am at work, and I think daycare providers are horribly underpaid. That said: welcome to the club: so are teachers and lots of other people who do important work that helps others; meanwhile, celebrities and athletes who (if you ask me) provide far less in terms of benefit to society are paid obnoxious sums of money. We live in a culture that values all the wrong things, but that is fodder for another thread. It is not the fault of the individual parents who contract with you, so stop taking it out on them.

Second, to say that daycare providers are not service providers is just untrue. Lots of people are service providers; it's not a derogatory term. I think other service providers might not like this knee-jerk reaction to the term; are daycare providers dissing those workers? Do you think that no one else works hard? Of course you don't.

Third, what one of the previous posters was trying to say was that where some of the confusion comes in is that there are different ways of being paid and those different ways come with different expectations. Some are paid a salary and some are paid hourly. With salaried work, you get a fixed, yearly salary and you are expected to complete whatever you need to do for your job regardless of how long it takes, even if it means working more than the minimum 40 hours a week; you don't necessarily get to go home at 5 pm if that work isn't finished. On the other hand, those who are paid hourly are paid specifically for the hours they work, period. Perhaps many parents think of in-home daycare providers as being in the later category, rightly or wrongly, and so at first-blush, paying the provider during a week when no care is provided seems strange. If we thought instead about the weekly or monthly payments for childcare as installments towards an overall, yearly salary for the provider, it wouldn't seem so strange. Or if daycare providers figured in the amount they would need to cover t hose two weeks and distributed it across the weekly payments when they were providing care, it wouldn’t seem so strange to parents. I don’t think there are any parents out there who are arguing that daycare providers don’t deserve vacation. Everyone deserves vacation.

Finally, I'm sorry but the daycare providers do sound very angry and very bitter. In all these rants about how parents should value your very important service, you don’t sound like people who love children or love your job, you sound like people who hate parents. It is very disheartening.

[Anonymous]

Judy, you sound in your posts like a very bitter, angry woman who cares only about being paid on time (to the exclusion of other things) and shouldn't be caring for children.

You sound in your blog like someone who is bit too big for your britches. Any parent who disagrees with you is naïve? You think you can speak for all daycare providers everywhere? I don't think there is anything you stand to teach me. You think you are funny, but you are not. You think you have wisdom to impart, but you don’t. You clearly have no respect for parents and, considering we make up a huge percentage of the population, that must mean you just don’t think much of other people. Perhaps you need to check your enormous ego, sweetie-pie, and stop looking down your nose at parents, without whom you would have no livelihood.

I think your own words sum it up best: I no longer worry about what I am going to do when situations arise. My answer now is always the same - I will look out for Judy and Judy alone.

Definitely should not be caring for children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Judy, you sound in your posts like a very bitter, angry woman who cares only about being paid on time (to the exclusion of other things) and shouldn't be caring for children.

You sound in your blog like someone who is bit too big for your britches. Any parent who disagrees with you is naïve? You think you can speak for all daycare providers everywhere? I don't think there is anything you stand to teach me. You think you are funny, but you are not. You think you have wisdom to impart, but you don’t. You clearly have no respect for parents and, considering we make up a huge percentage of the population, that must mean you just don’t think much of other people. Perhaps you need to check your enormous ego, sweetie-pie, and stop looking down your nose at parents, without whom you would have no livelihood.

I think your own words sum it up best: I no longer worry about what I am going to do when situations arise. My answer now is always the same - I will look out for Judy and Judy alone.

Definitely should not be caring for children.

Any childcare provider, teacher, preschool teacher, school administrator, principal etc. will tell you. Parents are the WORST aspect of their jobs. Children look up to me, they love me unconditionally, as they would a parent, they laugh and giggle with me, we play.....

Parents? I've had 4 lates in 6 days in my day home.
I've had a parent expect me to extend my hours, just for her, because we were friends (one of those people whom you've know for a while but would only consider you a friend when necessary....) and she expected me to do it unpaid.
I've had parents allow their children to be destructive to my property at pick-up time....with no consequence to the child.
I've had parents tell me they think I should lower my rate *just for them* because they are the type of parent who thinks I am making a killing running a dayhome, that I have no expenses, and that this is "easy work"
Parents "forget" to dress their children appropriately for the weather...ALL.THE.TIME. Foot of snow on the ground? Nope...Johnny doesn't need snowpants and the knitted mittens that won't keep the wind out will be JUST fine

I don't think Judy is a biter angry woman....she's simply telling the truth. A tad sarcastic, but it's the truth. A LOT of parents are disrespectful, and unappreciative of their providers. It's quite sickening. I work harder than most anyone I know. If some think she shouldn't be caring for children? Probably because you are coming to the realization that providers everywhere won't tolerate being called an "employee" by their CLIENTS, we won't tolerate the disrespect, we won't allow you to walk all over us...

Providers have grown backbones these days and you SHOULD be uncomfortable about it.....because the winds are changing

[Anonymous]

Above post by daisysmommy =)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Judy, you sound in your posts like a very bitter, angry woman who cares only about being paid on time (to the exclusion of other things) and shouldn't be caring for children.

You sound in your blog like someone who is bit too big for your britches. Any parent who disagrees with you is naïve? You think you can speak for all daycare providers everywhere? I don't think there is anything you stand to teach me. You think you are funny, but you are not. You think you have wisdom to impart, but you don’t. You clearly have no respect for parents and, considering we make up a huge percentage of the population, that must mean you just don’t think much of other people. Perhaps you need to check your enormous ego, sweetie-pie, and stop looking down your nose at parents, without whom you would have no livelihood.

I think your own words sum it up best: I no longer worry about what I am going to do when situations arise. My answer now is always the same - I will look out for Judy and Judy alone.

Definitely should not be caring for children.

Hehehe..LOVE It! Thanks for that post. It just confirms that the blog is necesary. You really don't "get it". And that's okay. It's a learning curve. One day we can hope you do. But until then I will keep on blogging so other providers can grow backbones so they have the tools to deal with parents like those on this forum who have expressed their ill-conceived notions about their "babysitters". Besides, keep on coming. There is no such thing as bad publicity! I'm not crying myself to sleep at night.

[Anonymous]

Providers have grown backbones these days and you SHOULD be uncomfortable about it.....because the winds are changing

You know it sista!!

Judy Trickett (as well as the previous post)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Wow. Judy. Do the parents who entrust you with their children know you're this angry

?


Those are not all my posts. I signed my name to those I wrote. However, I made a kind comment about the poster who said that she respected her daycare provider and anonymous (whoever you are since you are too scared to use your name) made a rude comment that payment was the only thing that mattered to us as daycare providers.

Well, yeah payment DOES matter. You can be as nice to me as you like, follow my policies, show up on time etc etc but if you don't pay me then all the rest is a mute point. I don't work for free.

And another point is of reference to the quote above. Why is it that in ANY other industry if a person complained or demanded what is duly theirs everyone would stand around and pat them on the back with a big Hurrah....but when it comes to someone who cares for children we are "angry and bitter"? If you didn't notice daycare providers are just people. People like YOU who have feelings and biases and ambitions and mortgages to pay. Just like you there are parts of our jobs that well.....really suck sometimes. There is nothing wrong with that. SO, why the societal double standard? In fact, I would be MORE leary of anyone, provider included, who always had a smile on their face and came off like the world was full of roses and lollipops. Because I can tell you that it isn't true. People like that are the providers who let parents who don't pay get away with it and before long that same provider grows resentful and want to know what happens then? She closes up shop because dealing with parents is too damned difficult and then all those children who have bonded with the provider and their little friends have to start up all over again somewhere else. This business is hard; not because of the kids but because of the few parents who do not understand what it is we do and afford us the consideration they would anyone else in any other business.

So, sorry, I am not angry. But if that is YOUR peception of it then perhaps you should look into yourself and why it is that my desire to defend my right to be treated fairly and equitably bothers you so.

Judy Trickett