Childcare

[snookie]

My old childcare provider is taking me to small claims court for $53.24. I removed the children after I found out she was putting them in timeout standing for a long time, she would yell at them 12 inches from their ears, she made my son clean up his own vomit when he missed the toilet and was still sick, she smoked in the van while the chilldren were in the van, she raised her rates and then broke her own contract when she did not give us 2 weeks notice. Her rates were very confusing. We agreed I would not pay if the boys were not under her care. She overcharged us many times. She never gave me a copy of the original contract. Those are the main reasons I could go on and on. She lied to the daycare licensing department about the smoking and her punishment. In June I received a letter from her stating I owed her $325.42. I paid her $275. Hoping that would suffice. According to my math. Even if I did owe her that, the difference is $50.42. I sent her a letter stating all the reasons I removed the children from the daycare. I think this is ridiculous. I wanted to just put it to rest and go on with life. Now I'm wondering should I counter-sue, on what grounds and for how much? This has gotten me all a bundle of nerves. I have never been to court before. I'm going to have to take my child who witnessed all this. He told me she said she was the adult so he was to listen to her and he was afraid to tell us and he would get in trouble. It makes me angry just to tell this story.
Thanks for any advice,
snookie

 

[wtd]

By your own figures you owe her $325.42, yet you paid her only $275.00, saying that you thought that would be enough(?).
By your own admission, and using your own figures that you still owe her $50.00.
She claims that you owe $53.24.
This whole thing boils down to the $3.24 that your figures miss by.

Solution: Pay the woman $53.24 and move on.

wtd

 

[snookie]

wtd,
In reponse to your reply, I am not agreeing with her that I owed her the amount she stated. I owed her $245 and probably less, because she overcharged us many times and charged us for times when my child was not under her care. The money is not the bottom line, the safety of my children is the bottom line. Did you not read the way she treated my children. I see that as abuse. My oldest child has a shunt, due to head trauma from birth. She made him clean up his own vomit, while he was still sick. He said she told him he did it on purpose. He could have been having a shunt malfunction and has no control over his vomitting reflex. Yelling at him hurt his ears. My son was sick on and off with headaches, vomitting, and stomach aches. All symptoms of a shunt malfunction, but we had CAT scans and MRI's done and his shunt was found to be working fine. Since he has not been at her house he has not had any major episodes. I'm wondering if it could have been from all the trauma she put him through and he was afraid to say anything. My 5 year old continues to wet the bed, could be from all the trauma she put them through. And smoking around the children is against the law here in Nebraska. She lied to the licensing department.
Now if I pay her the $, then it is like saying she was right and I was wrong. I am not going to let her have that satisfaction. And what if another child under her care doesn't survive because of the way she treats them. If she can't control her yelling and emotions, what's next? Why wait for a dead child. I am going to represent myself, but I still wonder if I should counter sue. Put yourself in my shoes, if this had been your situation and your children what would you do?
snookie in Nebraska

 

[wtd]

.

My apologies. I just went back and re-read your post and I find that I misread it.

I retract my reply, yet can't produce a suitable new one - regarding the viability of a lawsuit/counteruit regarding the payment - sorry.

However -
I fully agree with you that you children should have been removed from that environment.

>>And what if another child under her care doesn't survive
>>because of the way she treats them.
The lines from your post (above) are quite true, possibly you should do what you can with whatever government agency in your area that licenses daycare facilites to have this woman's operation looked into and have some action taken on her license.
If all that you say is true, this woman should find another type of business to be in.

Please accept my apology for misreading your intial post.
Good luck with this,
wtd

 

[JETX]

My old childcare provider is taking me to small claims court for $53.24. I removed the children after I found out she was putting them in timeout standing for a long time, she would yell at them 12 inches from their ears, she made my son clean up his own vomit when he missed the toilet and was still sick, she smoked in the van while the chilldren were in the van, she raised her rates and then broke her own contract when she did not give us 2 weeks notice. Her rates were very confusing. We agreed I would not pay if the boys were not under her care. She overcharged us many times. She never gave me a copy of the original contract. Those are the main reasons I could go on and on. She lied to the daycare licensing department about the smoking and her punishment. In June I received a letter from her stating I owed her $325.42. I paid her $275. Hoping that would suffice. According to my math. Even if I did owe her that, the difference is $50.42. I sent her a letter stating all the reasons I removed the children from the daycare. I think this is ridiculous. I wanted to just put it to rest and go on with life. Now I'm wondering should I counter-sue, on what grounds and for how much? This has gotten me all a bundle of nerves. I have never been to court before. I'm going to have to take my child who witnessed all this. He told me she said she was the adult so he was to listen to her and he was afraid to tell us and he would get in trouble. It makes me angry just to tell this story.
Thanks for any advice,
snookie

My $0.02 worth....
In reading your original post, it is obvious that you had concerns about the treatment your children received and that was the reason for your making other arrangements. However, it is also clear that your main concern here is the monetary dispute.

When you get a valid response that the money is relatively a small amount and that you really have NO case of a cross-complaint, you then 'change horses' and the welfare of all the children is the most important issue.

Seems somewhat strange....

1) As for the money, put all the 'other' ego and hurt feelings aside and pay it. The small amount isn't worth fighting over.
2) As for the child 'abuse' concerns, call your local CPS (child protective services or equivalent) in your area and make them aware of your facts. Then, let them handle it.