Finding an acceptable daycare is difficult for many parents and families. So, it’s understandable that once you find one that fits your family’s criteria, you’ll do anything to stay.
That wasn’t the case for Candice Concepcion and her two kids, unfortunately. After the former pro soccer player moved out of state and finally found a daycare for her toddlers, they were, as she described, “terminated” from the program after she questioned the facility’s pay structure in relation to when the daycare was open.
A mom shared that her toddlers were ‘terminated’ from a home daycare after she asked why she needed to pay when the daycare was closed.
After posting a video explaining how her toddlers were “terminated” from home daycare, Candice Concepcion was forced to post several videos explaining what happened after angry commenters and daycare professionals were outraged by her claims.
After a few months of sending her daughters to home daycare, nothing incredibly alarming happened — her toddlers were being taken care of in a safe environment and the entire situation was incredibly reliable. Concepcion was happy, and so were her kids.
However, after learning that the daycare professional’s husband was often home when they’d agreed he would not be, red flags became more apparent.
“We just received a letter from our home daycare provider ‘terminating’ the enrollment of my two toddlers to her daycare center,” she explained in her first video. “For context, I’m a mom of a 4-year-old and a 2-year-old, and I have another baby on the way… My husband and I definitely need childcare as we’re both working full-time.”
Although she’d noticed some ‘red flags’ with the home daycare in the past, nothing was seriously concerning until she was notified of an unexpected closure.
While she’s never noticed any toxic behavior at the home daycare, even from her young daughter’s perspective, she couldn’t help but recall a few red flags she’d noted before being “terminated” by the professional. Not only was the owner “passive-aggressive” over texts, but she’d also noticed the learning curriculum for her daughters had shifted away from the reading, science, and math she’d been promised and taken on a more religious theme.
Growing up Catholic and still being religious, she didn’t immediately have a problem with it but found it concerning that it took up a great deal of their time. “At first, she had a very enriching curriculum,” Concepcion said. “At the beginning, it seemed very well thought out and planned… but after a while, all of it shifted to a very religious theme with stories from the Bible.”
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Most recently, the daycare owner complained to Concepcion that her daughter’s comment about being “the smartest in the class” at school was a violation of the daycare’s “bullying” policy. “It really disturbed me… A part of going to preschool is having your kids be socialized into what things are okay to say. We never compare ourselves… but want to instill a sense of empowerment in them.”
Considering the difficulty and time it takes to switch daycares, Concepcion and her husband decided it’d be best to keep the girls where they were most comfortable, especially since it didn’t seem that the off-hand comments and occasional misunderstandings were jeopardizing their safety, comfort, or happiness.
The home daycare refused to accept a ‘prorated rate’ from the mom despite being unexpectedly closed for a week.
Things came to a head when Concepcion explained that the daycare expected her to pay full tuition for her daughters, even when they were closed unexpectedly.
Most commenters and daycare professionals argued that she had no grounds to be upset over that. “Common practice is that you pay for the spot, not for attendance,” one person wrote. “That includes unexpected closings for homes and centers.”
That’s not entirely true, however. Payment, as it pertains to unexpected closures, is bound by the daycare contract parents sign before enrolling their children. Even then, some states like California have enacted state laws protecting parents from being forced to pay unless their contract explicitly says so.
Just a couple of weeks later, Concepcion got a message from the daycare owner, letting her know that she’d had an unexpected death in the family and would need immediate time away from work. Despite being last-minute, she was happy to take a day off to care for her daughters, giving the childcare provider time to grieve with her family.
“I told her that she was in our thoughts and prayers and sent her the payment,” Concepcion said. “Then she told us that she’d be taking Friday off… I just thought it was logical that we would only pay a prorated payment since I had to accommodate her.”
After several heated messages and discussions about why she’d still need to pay the “full price” despite her children not being there — Concepcion eventually decided to just send over the money. They didn’t have the time to look for another provider, and it seemed like they were making no compromises — but as soon as she sent the payment, she got an email letting her know her toddlers had “been terminated” from the daycare.
“If you need 100% reliability, you need to go to a larger daycare where they have subs,” one commenter added, supporting the daycare owner. “You will always have to pay for a spot and unexpected days off.”
On top of being a time-consuming and expensive process, many parents are often left to deal with the “unfair” nature of finding daycare for their children — in this mom’s case, even on unexpected days. It might be unfortunate, but it is the unfair and sad reality parents have to come to terms with until more flexibility is permitted in schools and workplaces.
Zayda Slabbekoorn is a News & Entertainment Writer at YourTango who focuses on health & wellness, social policy, and human interest stories.
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