Saturday, March 7, 2009

Babysitting Fiasco

Yesterday was a crazy day and a crazy night on top of that. Have I told you all that I babysit 2 other kids in the home in order to help bring in some extra money? Well, I only have one of the children on Friday which is a nice relief to say the least. Well, this little girls Mom called at 5:25 pm to tell me that she was running a "little" behind. I told her yesterday morning that we were planning on going to a basketball game for my DH's high school kids that he teaches so she was well aware that we needed to leave at exactly 5:30 or shortly after. I don't mind if these parents are a few minutes late. I know that work can sometimes keep you a little late, but 6:30 rolled around and her Mom was still not here to pick her up. At this time I was LIVID and I normally don't get all hot and bothered under the collar, but I was pretty upset. I called her Mom and asked her where she was and how long she might be and she told me that she was 15 minutes away. Well, her 15 minutes turned into 30 minutes and her Mom didn't show up until 7 pm. Uh yeah, her normal pickup time is 5:30 and to make it all better she dropped her off earlier then normal this morning. I guess it was a good thing that I was ready. I would've thought that she would've paid more because of her inconveniencing us, but get this......she didn't even pay me my normal pay!?! What the heck? I just get tired of being taken advantage of and then for us to miss the game when we already paid for tickets. Uh yeah, I wasn't too happy and my husband was even more distraught. Isn't a few minutes - like 10-15 minutes? I am going to make arrangements to make a few changes regarding their pay that they owe me and if they are late then of course they are going to have to pay the extra money. I guess some of these parents must just think we don't have a life and don't have plans to do anything even though I told her about it. It is just very irritating and to be quite honest...... it ticks me off. Well, I will have to keep you all posted on what they have to say when I make changes to the amount that they owe me. Part of me thinks that the one mother won't even care. Here is to hoping that next week is better.

15 comments:

Amy B said...

Well that was really rude of her huh?
You just been nice but firm . Think of it like this Lisa..if you have a movie out longer you pay..if you have a library book out longer you pay..
You keep your kid at Lisa's longer YOU PAY.
Do you want me to explain it to her? Cause you know I will...lol

Carly Marie said...

Lisa - THAT IS THE HEIGHT OF RUDENESS!

I am so angry for you! I am so sorry that your evening was wrecked.

All my love to you.

P.S I can't stop looking at your cake maker post LOL! I love it!

Brandi, Dan, L and B said...

How annoying. Most daycare places charge extra when late. Most say if your more then fifteen minutes they add a dollar for every fifteen minutes more you are late.

Jen said...

I think that is just awful of that parent.

I been an Assistant Director if two different child care centers. In our handbook we had a policy about late pick ups and a "penalty fee" for such a thing. I would for sure look into doing something similar so this hopefully doesn't happen to you again.

Good luck!

Aspiemom said...

That is so RUDE! It sounds like they totally don't think you have a life and are taking advantage of you.

To not only not get paid for the time, then to lose the money on the tickets. Did you tell her that? I would! And it's not like you hadn't told her in advance.

Now, I'm ticked!

Elaine at Matters of the Heart) said...

Wow, that is crazy. You should have a late fee. If we are late to the pre-school they charge. I never have been, but it is in the contract. She should have offered to pay.

Praying you have a better week.

Jennifer | GraceLikeRainBlog said...

Oh Wow I would be upset too. It's especially bad when it starts affecting the rest of your family too. How can ya be running THAT late? Sounds more like a deliberate choice than some accident.

Candi said...

aww...i'm sorry she ruined your night. what a pain in the butt. want me to beat her up for you???

McCrakensx4 said...

What a terrible thing to happen. i used to babysit in my home before moving to AZ, but I was very specific about certain things, like sick days and being late. I actually wrote up a parent handbook with a fee schedule and they had to sign it. It was a binding contract that way. Once I had a check bounced, so from then on, they had to pay cash. I hope that things get better for you and if you would like any helpful hints, let me know!

He & Me + 3 said...

I am sure she wouldn't pull that kind of stuff with a daycare. They charge big bucks and by the minute if you are late. That is not right. I feel bad that that happened to you. I hope that you get compensated in some way and that everything works out for everyone.
Have a great week next week:)

Kami said...

Oh honey, I am so sorry for that crapola! She took serious advantage of you. I would definitely change the amount if something like that happens again! Good luck honey.

Kami

Anonymous said...

OMGosh how horrible. I remember those days very well from when I had my in-home daycare before college. There are so many people that try to take advantage.
I would add the cost of the tickets from the game you missed to her fee next week.

Anonymous said...

The labels you asked Char about came from a CD from Folk Art From The Harbor on ebay. She chose to give away the graphics without permission or recognition, even though she left ebay feedback.

Stacy said...

Yeah I think you will have to put something charging extra for them being late. My friends daycare charges $5.00 for every 5 minutes your late.

I'm sorry you had to miss the game with your family.

Grace said...

There's late and then there's LATE. She knew better. She should get charged more for every minute late she is. Make an across the board policy of for every x minutes late you are it will cost $Y. And make them pay when they pick up or at the very latest the next time they drop off. If this is her first experience with day care/babysitting she might be unaware... but you are running a business -- treat it like that-- make she (and any others you watch) know the ground rules.

You have other things to do... like what you already had planned saturday AND keeping us bloggers company... right?