6 pm means 6 pm! (kinda long)

[erasily_ani]

Hi! First real post here, so be nice. (also, sorry I'm a little long winded)

A little background: I used to be a bartender, but my boyfriend and I moved in May and are trying to start a family and now I'm staying home and taking care of the house while he works. I do some work remotely (telecommuting) for my uncle's company. I also take care of a lot of the kids in our apartment group while their parents are working this summer (7 kids, between the ages of 2 and 8).

Well, I "start" at 7:30 in the morning and all the parents are usually back by 6 in the evening. It's really not that big a deal if someone is a little late, as we're usually just home at night, but yesterday was my boyfriend's birthday. We had dinner reservations at his favorite restaurant downtown with some of our friends and his parents (who had driven 4 hours to come see him) at 8:30 pm. It's a nice restaurant so I wanted time to get ready, right?

Well, I told all the parents last Monday, as in like July 7th, when they came to bring me kids that I would need to be sure they were home by 6 pm on July 15th (yesterday). They all said that would be no problem at all in any way.

Well, yesterday comes and by 5:30, 3 of the 4 families had gotten home to take their kids. I still had 2, a 2 year old little girl and a 5 year old boy. My boyfriend gets home at 6 and we want to start getting ready, but the kids parents aren't home yet. He watches them so I can shower and then I move to the living room to do my hair and such, while he goes to take a shower.

7:00, still no parents. I can't reach them on their cell phones, on their work phones or any other number I have for them.

Boyfriend's parents get to the house at 7:30. Kids are still there. Driving downtown and finding parking would take at LEAST half an hour. That would probably actually be pushing it.

8:00. Still no parents. I send boyfriend and his parents on ahead and tell them I'll meet them at the restaurant.

8:30. Our dinner reservations. Still no parents.

When do they show up? 9:15. With no apologies, no explanations, no nothing. I hand the kids off and run out the door.

I managed to get to the restaurant just as they were getting dessert.

I mean really. I told you and reminded you over and over that just this one day I needed you home by 6. Even if you were running a few minutes late I would have been fine. But over three hours? With no call, no nothing?

That's just rude.

[Ree]

I hope you are going to charge them a double rate for the 3-1/2 hours of overtime.

Some people assume, because you're doing childcare in your home, that they can just show up when they feel like it. If they were using a daycare facility or professional babysitting business, they wouldn't get away with it.

[Pedersen]

I'm more vindictive, personally. I'd refuse to watch their kids for a week. And every time they asked about it, I would specifically point out why, and how if it ever happens again, I'd never watch the kids again.

But that's me, the vindictive one.

[Kyree]

I'm more vindictive, personally. I'd refuse to watch their kids for a week.

If someone did that to me, I'd charge them for that time they were late, and never watch their kids. Ever again. >.>

[ebonyknight]

I assume you are not going to watch them again, right? If not, you are just going to encourage them to do it again. You will be feeding the entitlement that everyone here complains about.

A good customer is not a customer that screws you over with not so much as a kind word. Those are the customers you can do without.

[powerboy]

That is because you are not suppose to have a life outside of work. Didn't you get the memo? It should have been in your work folder.

But seriously, they are assholes.

[tropicsgoddess]

Some people assume, because you're doing childcare in your home, that they can just show up when they feel like it. If they were using a daycare facility or professional babysitting business, they wouldn't get away with it.

When it's family, it's worse....when we were kids, my mom would sometimes help my watch my Aunt C's son, my cousin G (who is 2 1/2 years younger than me). She would tell my mom she'll come back to pick up G at ___ but not show until way later or until the next day. After that, my mom refused to watch him again.

If that was me,I would not watch them again and ban them. People who do that sort of thing once will do it again.

[rerant]

I would have never made it to dessert. I'd have spent the night tearing the parents a new one.
For all the times SCs throw out the "You ruined (insert holiday or event)!!!" over something stupid, this time it was very, very true.
You should talk to the parents and explain to them that you are not their work monkey and you do have a life, and if they want to continue using your daycare services they either respect that, fork over more cash, or go pound sand.

[Enjis]

What's the worst part of all this? The fact that the parents were unreachable for all that time! What if there had been (God forbid!) a medical emergency while they were unreachable??
They probably have given you some sort of emergency power/authorization for cases like that, but that kind of rudeness is really just unforgivable!
I would indeed 'have words' with anyone rude enough to do that to me.

[depechemodefan]

I'm interrested in what happened next. It's probably good you didn't say anything right that min., because it would been a lot of yelling, or at least they would notice the negativity and not pay attention. Next day, when you're calmer say something and tell them get a new babysitter.

[air914]

Haven't you heard of the $1 for every minute you're late rule? You could have made what, $180 there - over and beyond what they normally pay you.

I've heard of a lot of daycares doing that - probably for the same reason. $1 a minute past 6:00. I probably would've ended up dragging the kids to the restaurant with me and when the parents show up at the house - no one's there. A little panic would teach them a lesson. Of course, it would still be a hassle to take the kids - or, you could call child services and tell them the kids had been abandoned..... seems harsh, but come on 3 hours and NO call or apology? I don't know what I would have done when they did show up. Well I do, but I don't like it.......

[JLRodgers]

I would've been likely to call child services on them. They weren't answering the phone, yet they knew they needed to get the kids by 6 (and an hour+ had passed) = they myst be dead (or they've abandoned the kids).

If they came by later I'd of been all shocked and said "you're alive!" Then shut the door like I saw a ghost while muttering the kids were taken away by child services.


But I say that mainly since I've known a number of people.... one lady had the kids OVERNIGHT because the parents "forgot" to pick up the kids. I've yet to see an excuse that would be acceptable for being really late to pick up your own kids (shy of an accident [both parents involved, no family knowing where the kids were at]), or death.
I've seen police come to pick up kids before -- because they had arrested the parents.

Of course if I was really generous -- I'd of handed them a bill equilvant for total childcare charges for the number of kids normally watched * 2.5 * hours over (so if you watch 7 kids @ $10/kid/hr or something, I'd of charged them $525 for 3 hours late). If they complained I'd say "next time you'll be picking them up at child services -- if they let you have them back".

[depechemodefan]

Haven't you heard of the $1 for every minute you're late rule? You could have made what, $180 there - over and beyond what they normally pay you.

I've heard of a lot of daycares doing that - probably for the same reason. $1 a minute past 6:00. I probably would've ended up dragging the kids to the restaurant with me and when the parents show up at the house - no one's there. A little panic would teach them a lesson. Of course, it would still be a hassle to take the kids - or, you could call child services and tell them the kids had been abandoned..... seems harsh, but come on 3 hours and NO call or apology? I don't know what I would have done when they did show up. Well I do, but I don't like it.......

I don't know the law, but I imagine if the kids were taken out of the place of business (and it's not to the hospital or police) it would be considered kidnapping.

[freeatlast]

When my daughter was a toddler, I did in-home day care so that she would have other kids to play with. One mother was notorious for never being on time. So for her only, I instituted the $1 a minute rule. The first time it happened, she just paid it without a word. A week or so later, it happed again. Again, she paid it without a word. I realized that the money was not making any kind of impression on her. So I told her that if it happened again, I would stop watching her daughter effective immediately. This got her attention. From then on, either she or her husband would arrive on the stroke of 6:00 to pick up their daughter. Everybody thought I was a hardass, but sometimes these people refuse to believe that you have a life outside of taking care of their kids.

[RichS]

What I'd do? The next time you have an important event to go to, just say that you can't watch kids on that day.

When the parents complain, you say that, well, see, the last time I tried to make arrangements, some people didn't come to pick up their kids on the agreed time.

Yeah, I know it'd be lost money, but if they can't learn to be on time, let them see what it's like to try to find an emergency babysitter.