CM CLUB:Am i wasting my breath? and how can i get my point across?

[PinkChick]

one of my mindees parents is forever ringing me last minute to change day they come our hours etc..so i sent out news letter 2 weeks ago saying any changes need to be with 48 hours notice and i MUST have each childs requested hours/days 2 weeks prior...child came, they gave me the days for next 2 weeks, meaning at the end of his first week, i needed the next weeks hours(IYSWIM?)..oh i dont have them with me!..ok can you ring me with them over weekend..yeah..weekend came nothing..text monday saying can i have hours please..nothing..text yesterday to say i have two new children next week, i have waited to give them houras i can do around you LO but as havent heard i have given them x &y, you lo can now have x,y &z, can you please let me know asap which you would like to bring mindee..nothing!...am getting very annoyed at this now..i have things to plan/groups and even stuff to get for hol a week on sat when im not working, but may have to as she hasnt come back yet..its EVERY time

i would just carry on with my plans and if your too full one day your too full parent has the opp to let you know the childs days/hours and if she doesnt let you know well thats her bad luck.

I have the same problem too. Some parents seem to think we are just sitting in the house waiting for thier children, and have nothing else to do and no other children to plan for.
They expect us to be available at any time without notice. One of my parents often texts at 10pm the night before to change plans. I keep explaining why I need to know, but its like banging my head against a brick wall.
I sympathise with you, but can't offer any ideas to help. Sorry

i know and thats what dp has been saying, and he aslo says if she doesnt like it and leaves then so be it!..but dont like upsetting people, but dont like being totally disregarded either!..thing is child is adorable and a wonderful mindee..they pay on time..but i can always rely on not knowing what day hours i be working, even if theyve given me them!

well i'm just mean then cause i wont take a child who isnt booked in
if they turn up at the door i just say sorry i'm full today (just did it the once) and it has never happened since

Just say firmly that from now on unless she does as you have asked and sticks to it then you cannot change plans as have others to think of and is she misses out its tough, i know its not nice to upset people but honestly she clearly doesnt care about your feelings/ stress levels/ the fact you need to be organised/ the fact you have other famillies to consider who do not mess you about etc etc tbh if you don't really really need the money i would consider giving her a warning and then notice as she sounds like more hassle than shes worth (the mother not the child!)

You do not want a reputation as someone who can be messed about or this will continue.

i know what you mean!..shes just text me with next weeks and two weeks after(im on hol the one in between) and said will text rest at weekend?..wait and see suppose!

instead of saying "let me know over the weekend", always give a time/day deadline. Eg, you must let me know by 10 am Saturday. Even if you're not busy or going out, they need to know your time is your own outside of childminding hours. One cm's husband would tell all callers that the cm was busy reading her own children a story regardless of the time of day. She never answered the phone in the evening and didn't return the calls either.

For flexible arrangements I charge 1/2 fees for the days/hours they want to reserve, with the bill upped to full fees for the hours/days actually booked. I put in my contract that if they don't let me know which days/hours they DONT want by the agreed day/time then they agree to pay full fees for the whole of the reserved time period. Requests for hours/days received after the agreed day/time cannot usually be accommodated.

If the parent changes days eg they book a wed then want to come tue instead or book a mon morning then change it to Mon pm then they pay full fees for the original time booked and the new time booked. I've also said that if I book another child in for when they've told me i'm not needed then I'll not charge both sets of parents for the same place - so its in their interests to let me know asap what hours they need.

i have said i need to know byx the last few times but even then nothing has come of it, im sick of sitting here wondering if to text again for clirification!, but i think i should just forget about it until she asks and if she doesnt give notice as requested she can have whats left/when im free.

prob got worse recently when i wasnt workng full weeks will full timer(shifts) so had a good 2or3 days to myself which could have been free if this mother had botherd to ring and speak to me, i could have then said i can only have them x...but as you can guess i ended up missing out on my free time to accomodate!

Iused to give out a time sheet on a thursday night to be returned on friday morning for a family I had like this, if it wasnt returned filled, they didnt get any care, could you do anything like that?

Iused to give out a time sheet on a thursday night to be returned on friday morning for a family I had like this, if it wasnt returned filled, they didnt get any care, could you do anything like that?

OK I'm now posting twice, I'm not insistent really