Ladies!
I got in strange situation yesterday. I decided to stay at home with my children and do some babysitting to get extra money for us.
So the story:
One family, no call to my cell phone, no interview with me. They just called to one of my references. They wrote me email, that if I am available, they(father) will drop me their 2 month old child tomorrow. Pay at the end of the week. I called them to talk, but they didn't return call. I can reach just father.. It is a lit strange for me (Maybe That I am not american).
What do you think , will you drop your child to anyone, who you even not spoke?
I was babysitting for more then 2 years and never got this situation....
Thank you ladies!
That family didn't come to my place, not even called me back. As I didn't agreed to be paid at the end of the week (I even suggested to be paid each day, but they were not able to do this, so how they may pay me at the end of the week?). I suspected that they (as was mentioned by one lady) are thinking not to pay me .... I cannot say anything about that family as I had no chance to meet them, but felt not respect for me. I always request to meet at least mother of the children, before taking care of their children to see who may come to my house, to be sure that my family is safe.
And as a mother I WOULD NEVER LEAVE MY CHILDREN WITH PERSON WHO I DON'T KNOW.
So THANK you all for your replays.
I wouldn't... but then I started interviewing childcare providers before I even got pregnant lol :)
I was in this situation once before when doing childcare in Indiana. I agree with Kate G. These parents just didn't care. They didn't ever pick up on time (I'm talking 6hrs late one day without a call and dodged mine) and never paid for a full week. I would insist on referances from them and check them. They need to have at least one previous provider as a referance. (The family was in collections from a previous provider) It sounds to me like they are irresponcible and running from something.
I took the child because I felt sorry for the kid, but the child had so many problems, rightfully so, but I drove myself and my family crazy trying to deal with them. They pushed me over the edge and I had to quit the business for my own sanity. I would refuse this family. I could be wrong, but there are too many red flags for me. Best of luck.
I could never leave my child with a stranger so I find that odd, I do want to add though that when I worked at a daycare one day I went into work and there was a new infant which we all found strange because usually when we were expecting a new baby we would see then a few times before. Turns out that they had just gotten custody of the baby (cps was involved) so they probably had to scramble to find childcare. So maybe there is special circumstances. Is the mother involved? Maybe she has depression or an illness leaving the dad to care for baby.
most parents will say that they are going to just drop off the kids but usually they will thake the time to talk and look at your house first. Some parents are more trusting relaying on your references. Try to call them again and ask if they have any questions or ask if they can talk with you about the care for their children. And let them know that you should get paid upfront for watching their children. Tell them that they have to be apart of this because you dont feel comfortable not knowing anything about the child your about to watch or anything about them.
You need family history, medical release form so if something bad happens you are able to take the child to the hospital, emergeny contacts, release form that releases you from any damage that may happen, etc. you can go to a daycare place and pick up these forms so you can have a good idea of what you need.
Yes, very strange and you should be concerned. If they can't return your calls now, are they going to return your calls (or be responsive) when there is an issue with their child that needs attention? Makes you wonder.
That is definitely strange! I would never drop my child off with someone who I've never directly spoken with. In addition to a lengthy conversation, I would also want to check out the sitter's home and how she handled her own children to get an idea of how clean her home was and the type of personality that she had. I would also drop in unexpectedly while she was caring for my child to see how she was taking care of my precious little one.
On the other hand, at least they contacted one of your references! That shows some they had some concern. You may want to give them the benefit of the doubt. Maybe something catastophic happened and the mother is not able to take care of her child and the father is doing the best he can to work and make arrangements. I had a friend once who had a two year old and a one month old who was killed in a car accident. It was very hard on the family to say the least. Maybe they are lucky to have found you instead of someone who is not so caring and concerned to take care of their child!
Good luck and God bless!
Wow that is an interesting situation. My lil one is not here yet and i'm already setting up interviews with babysitters and daycares! You could suggest meeting with them first that not only for them but for you as well. it's nice to at least talk to the parents before watching their child. not only that but parents sometimes have their babies on certain schedules feeding..etc.. and those are things that you would need to know!
Well, one thing this family has going for them is that they at least contacted one of your references. Beyond that, the whole situation is odd. I would never drop off any of my children to someone I haven't interviewed extensively first.
That is weird. I wouldn't drop off my 2 month old on the basis of one good reference alone.
Maybe they are desperate instead of clueless (or really good friends with your reference?).
You could tell them you would like to get to know them better first (maybe meet in a public place?) And hopefully they were planning to show up with backup emergency contact numbers tommorrow, but if they haven't even talked to you how do you know?
That is strange, HOWEVER, I worked at a day care here in San Antonio and at the end of the day there would be messages by the time clock asking if someone could take home their child and watch them till they came home. These were BABIES!!!!! I guess some people are just very trustworthy and desperate for child care! Good luck!
