There
are many excuses that people give for not paying childcare tuition on time. However, as long as everyone is still alive,
there is generally no good excuse for not paying your childcare provider on
time. We will address some common excuses along with
how childcare providers perceive these excuses and solutions to some situations
that can arise.
I forgot payment was due today.
This excuse is unacceptable. This sends the message that your childcare provider is so insignificant that you forgot to pay for services you feel entitled to receive. You did not forget to drop off your child, because that was important to you. So do not forget to pay your childcare provider.
I forgot my purse and or wallet.
Although with busy schedules it is understandable that one might forget a purse, wallet, ATM card, etc., if you pay early or pay upon drop off rather than pick up, this will never be an issue.
I forgot payment was due today.
This excuse is unacceptable. This sends the message that your childcare provider is so insignificant that you forgot to pay for services you feel entitled to receive. You did not forget to drop off your child, because that was important to you. So do not forget to pay your childcare provider.
I forgot my purse and or wallet.
Although with busy schedules it is understandable that one might forget a purse, wallet, ATM card, etc., if you pay early or pay upon drop off rather than pick up, this will never be an issue.
I
know payment is due on Friday but I do not get my paycheck until Saturday so can
I pay you on Saturday?
Make two
payments when you first start, that way you will always be one payment ahead. It is not the provider’s responsibility to accommodate
when your boss decides to pay you, it is
the parent’s responsibility to make sure the childcare payment is made on-time
every time without excuses. You know how
much and when the payment is due well in advance, plan according.
This
translates to your provider as, I chose not to pay you on time. If you
pay early or pay upon drop-off rather than pick up, this will never be an
issue.
Can I drop it off to you over the weekend?
No, the daycare center will be closed and no individual provider wants their private time imposed upon because a parent chose not to pay on time. Just be prepared to pay the late fee. This excuse not only conveys the message that you don’t deem your childcare provider important enough to pay on time, you further devalue their time by thinking they should be available to you after business hours
Can I drop it off to you over the weekend?
No, the daycare center will be closed and no individual provider wants their private time imposed upon because a parent chose not to pay on time. Just be prepared to pay the late fee. This excuse not only conveys the message that you don’t deem your childcare provider important enough to pay on time, you further devalue their time by thinking they should be available to you after business hours
Can
I drop it off after the close of business day?
No, the
daycare center will be closed and no individual provider wants their private
time imposed upon because a parent chose not to pay on time. Just be prepared to pay the late fee. This again conveys that the childcare
provider is not important enough to pay on time and you could care less about their
personal time.
Times are hard right now and I just don’t have the money. Can I pay some now and some later?
No, make
cuts somewhere else. I am sure childcare
is more important than cable TV. The other alternative is to find cheaper
childcare but remember, you generally get what you pay for.
I know I did not pay on Friday and it is Monday morning. I only have a partial payment, can I give you this and then give you the rest when I pick up?
I must
say, this is one of the more irritating ones for me. Just be prepared to pay the late fee for not
paying on time on Friday and an additional late fee for not paying in full upon
dropping off of your child. This shows
the provider that you do not care about paying them at all and you feel that
they should be satisfied with getting paid whenever you get around to it. This type of behavior can quickly lead to
contract termination.
Childcare providers work very hard and do not want to deal with excuses when payment is due. What if you childcare provider “forgot” that you wanted to drop off on Monday morning or “forgot” to feed your child lunch would you be understanding? How would you feel if your boss forgot that it was payday? Would it rest well with you if your boss said that he/she could not pay you on payday but offered to bring your payment to you during your off time? If you answered honestly, I am sure that the answer is NO! So do not expect it to be accepted, understood, or allowed by your childcare provider.
Contact us with questions or comments via www.theexperteducator.com or you can email smiller@theexperteducator.com.
