daycare ? - WDYT?

mdotm0904

so ladies, question for you. I go back to work on Monday (give me a moment to cry....k i'm back). Well my Godmother runs a licensed day care from her home and has for almost 20 years. She's so great with kids so i know that DD will be in great hands and i love her house (it's baby proof, very clean, and has plenty of toys + a pack & play so that DD can nap & play safely if needed). At the moment she doesn't have as many kids as she usually does because she's planning to retire completely from babysitting soon. I'm not sure of the exact number but a couple of kids she only has a couple of times a week and not for a whole day (they go to Headstart.) The only child she has all day long is her granddaughter who is 1. 

she's already agreed to watch DD when I go back to work & every time we've discussed her fee (which for an infant is usually close to if not over $200 a week) she always says "i won't charge you much". So the other day I went to her house to get a concrete fee & let her visit with DD because she hadn't seen her in a while, and she said "whatever you can afford, I know what it's like." And she's also aware of the situation with my ex.

I really can't afford much/anything at all, but i'll make a way to pay her $50-75 a week, but i just feel like that's taking advantage. I've already cut costs as much as i can in other areas, so short of taking a second job, there's not much else i can do at the moment. (i plan to get a 2nd job but not until DD is a little older.)

the only other alternative is my grandmother (who also agreed) but grandma is getting kinda old & I feel like she won't interact with DD much. and i don't trust her to drive anywhere with DD (Yeah my grandma is one of those old ladies w/a huge vehicle that straddles the line)

so......WDYT since she said "whatever you can afford", it's not taking advantage rights? and it'd only be temporary until the situation with my ex is resolved

JellymanKelly

I know it's really uncomfortable to discuss money with someone who is like family. I would just say, "I am not sure I can pay more than $75" and see what she says. Since she has been doing this for a long time, I don't think she'd agree to do it if she didn't know what she was getting herself into. Plus, since she is your godmother, I wouldn't consider it taking advantage, especially since she's the one who told you to pay whatever you could afford rather than you asking her to do it as a favor.

 

Good luck - I hope your situation with your ex gets sorted out soon. Make sure you get a number of what she'd normally charge you so that you can put that into the child support paperwork if needed. 

Markie0486

My mom watches DD during the week and we figured out what I can afford (which isn't much more than you, about $100 a week). What I would do is tell her that you can only afford $75 until your situation gets worked out, and then when you get things worked out, any extra you have (above and beyond normal comfortable living expenses) goes straight to her until you feel you've paid enough. So if you'd prefer to be paying her $150, and you can only pay $75 for 6 weeks or whatever (this is all just an estimate), but then you end up getting child support or something (a cash bonus from work or something you'd be willing to part with), give her $450 right off the top (providing theres enough) and then start paying the normal $150 or whatever she would usually charge. Does that make sense?

I plan to buy my mom a punch card or something for massages when I can finally afford it. ;-) 

Snowypumpkinqueen

Sounds like a tough situation. I would offer her the $50-75 and see what she thinks. If she's a close friend, she'll understand and take it.