Every parent that works knows that child care costs are just a part of life. Our sister has been going to school full time from home and was laid off from her job in the fall. She decided to try to open a Child Care business in her home so that she could continue going to school and spend more time with our darling niece.

She has had a difficult time with a mother that brings her precious little girl and school age son to her house for child care. This woman for whatever reason is not paying our sister, she even had help from the state in the beginning. This woman actually had the audacity to cash one of the child care checks the state sent her for our sister and keep the money! Yes, she cashed the check, failed to tell our sister and kept the money! The next week she failed to pay again. When our sister said that she must pay every week, the woman complained that the price was too high, but continued to bring the kids. Last week after writing a check for her child care costs, she called our sister and told her not to deposit the check because it was no good. Then on Monday morning her check from the previous week was returned to the bank unpaid.

Now that the money she owes for child care is piling up, I suggested to our sister to put her foot down. I understand that this woman has bills to pay, but so does our sister who is now working literally for free. A document was typed up stating the exact amounts that were owed and also stated that this woman must pay in cash from that point forward. She freaked, this woman was actually upset and asked our sister how she could do this to her.

Are you kidding me? Our sister cares for these children like they are her own and she has even bought them clothes to keep at her house, since the mother never brings any. After receiving the document and throwing a fit the woman never brought the kids back, telling our sister she found someone to watch them for free. I would have to say she has had free child care for over a month since she has paid with bad checks. She promises to pay when she gets her stimulus check….but we’ll see.

I understand that everyone is having a difficult time financially, especially in the area where we live, but paying for child care is just a part of life if you need to work.

Remember that person that is caring for your children during the day has bills to pay too.