Furious Friday – Child Care Crisis
Fri, May 2, 2008
This post is for all the Child Care Providers out there mainly our sister who has a very difficult time with one mother.
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.
momofjhrazk says:
May. 2, 2008
She needs to report her for nonpayment. If she is being issued a check to give the the Child Care Provider, then they probably won’t be too happy to find out that it went else where. Just a thought.
anon123 says:
May. 2, 2008
That is true. If the check is deemed for CHILD CARE, then the proper agency should be notified of non-payment.
Keep us posted!
DruU says:
May. 5, 2008
As a Single father I can fully understand that it is hard to pay Child Care cost from time to time. I have been Late on many occations but I have always paid within a week. The most important bill I pay is Child Care – MUST have to be able to work. I can lose my car and try to find a carpool to join. I can move out of my house and rent a 1 bedroom apt. I can live with Candles instead of lights. I can eat ramien noodles… But I can not do anything without Child Care. Your sister needs to stop allowing the child there, That sucks for the child but there is always a parent looking for care that will pay. She also needs to let the State know the Status… I am not sure about your state but NY will actually allow it to be sent directly to the daycare provider.
Let your sister know that she is a Business owner and she needs to show a little greed. Run it as a business and once its just her and the kids – She can switch to Play time… But would you go to the Cashier in Walmart and say – I can’t pay for this bread today so I will bring you money next week… Don’t think so.
unknown says:
May. 5, 2008
druU you said it all. she should of stop awhile back . it is a business. once ok after that got to play a little hard ball.
Chad & Stacey says:
May. 9, 2008
Update on our sister.
She did receive her money this week when “the woman” got her rebate check. Although she is no longer providing care for the kids. Their mother has found “free” child care.
Thank you all for commenting and showing your support. I don’t understand how the state can send a child care check in the name of the parent only, just doesn’t make sense.
Dru – You always have the most relevant comments. Thank you! You’re a great dad.
Amanda says:
May. 15, 2008
Another update from the sister 😉
Thank you all for your comments. It has been a struggle with this mother and now I am in search of more kids to continue to go to school and be home for my daughter. I am grateful that I did put my foot down because helping someone out is completly different from being taken advantage of. I of course, as you have read do not provide care for the children in question anymore, and it hurts my heart to hear what they are going through now as a reslut. These poor kids are being pushed from one person to the next, not ever having any real stability in thier lives now. I am saddend to see all of the progress that I made with my little angel that I was watching slip into a downward spiral because of her mothers eagerness to get free childcare. I am a mother, and watching a child regress should be something that brings attention and focus to the environment that your child is in, yet this mother doesn’t even seem to notice as she runs back and forth between boyfriends and now leaving the kids with whoever will watch them for free. I am a sigle mother, I know how hard it is to pay childcare, having had to do so many years. However ths women lives between the father of her children and her boyfriend. Are you telling me that none of them help her with childcare and bills? She pays no house paymemt or household bills, the men that she bounces back and forth from have thier own homes and pay all of the household bills, so that is not a worry for her. The thing that upsets me the most is what is happening to the well being of these children, and the inconsistancy in thier lives. Children need stability, and although she does not neglect her children or abuse them, this is unfair for them also. It breaks my heart to see the little girl that I had potty trained completly wearing a diaper because no one wants to deal with the “accidents” that are now happening or take the time to help her feel secure with her environment by adding a sense of consistancy. She is a beautiful and smart girl, that is now a product of her surroundings, that is what hurts the most, for me to see something so obvious to me, and her mother not evem notice, because she is too worried about the two men in her life that she can’t decide between and now her children inadvertantly have taken a backseat to her dedication as she deals with the chaos she is creating in thier lives. Her son is also acting out, which he did not do at my house, taking his confusion and aggression out in anger.