Apparently I am free daycare

[i_forget]

REALLY irritated.

At any given time, I have between 3 and 15 kids in my house. The kids are having a lot of fun this summer and playing with their friends, and my house seems to be the house to be at this summer. When the kids are here, I let them have drinks and fruit and freezies and such to keep them going. It is all part of having kids and summer as far as I am concerned.

About 30 minutes ago, one of the kids friends shows up. Comes over to me and says she is hungry and her mom is not home and asks if I can make her some lunch. WTF. This kid is 7!!! I have no issues feeding her, but what is going on here? Her mom takes off and leaves her on her own with her 10 year old brother without feeding them....or what I think is that she sent the kid over for lunch then took off. Either or, doesn't matter. Last night BOTH of her kids showed up here at dinner time, hungry, and I ended up feeding them then as well.

I just want to go over and wait for her to get home and give this woman a piece of my mind. Sending her kid over at 8am on a Sunday is bad enough, but now this. B!tch!!!

[Frugalbigmama]

I know all about this. I feed kids (teens) all weekend long, all meals and they sleepover from Friday till Sunday. Never met the parents. Who are these people? I'm just happy my kid is home

[Natalka]

Oh, I understand.

But you need to go talk with that mom - it won't be easy, but you need to do it for the kids' sake.

[Lyssia510]

That would annoy me too. Do you think the mom is just being lazy, or is there maybe something else going on(like maybe she can't afford to feed them, and knows that you'll will feed them so they won't go hungry)?
It's a hard conversation to have because you don't want to attack her but at the same time you aren't her personal babysitter. Maybe tell her that you've noticed she's been leaving when her kids are at your place and if she needs help with child care, you could help out provided there's notice and a set date/time? And if she's gets defensive then lay into her.

[toronto166]

What I don't understand is what mother leaves her 7 and 10 year old unattended? Clearly she assumed that you would take care of her kids. What if you had plans to go out? Sorry you have to talk to this woman for several reasons. I truly feel sorry for the kids as they are so innocent.

[torontogal12]

Yikes. I wonder if there are money issues behind it. But that doesn't make it ok. I think you need to talk to the mother. But take a deep breath and maybe a nice relaxing bath before you do

[MommyMelanie2007]

I have had this happen to me and the mom had gone out and my other child had to go to walk in clinic. Really urked me. I had to take all 3 kids to the walk in with me . I guess you have to decide what is more important that you kids have friends or making a bit of extra food at meal time

[luckbealady]

First of all, kudos to you for having the patience to watch all those kids, and make sure they are taken care of.


Second, I agree with the other posters that you need to have a chat with the mom. If she's leaving her kids alone and hungry, that sounds like neglect. It shouldn't matter that you're around - she's not taking care of HER children.

[i_forget]

I have calmed down now. Thankfully. I am going to go over and tell her that when the kids come over, that she needs to tell me if she needs to go out somewhere and her kids are in my care. It is not about money, it is the lack of supervision. I do have plans to go out, so hopefully she is home because if she is not when I go over there, the note on her door is not going to be very kind because there is no way that I am going to just leave this kid alone and unsupervised.

And thank you for the moral support. I appreciate it.

[OgresWife]

Wow, I'll be checking back to see how this conversation went. Being the hangout house is one thing, mine was when I was growing up, but sending her kids over at 8am on a Sunday? Theres something else going on here, either shes neglectful or can't feed her kids.

[walkonby]

waiting to see how well this goes, wishing you all the diplomacy in the world when you inquire about her expectations to have you as an unpaid sitter.

[greeny]

Where is the father? I feel bad for these kids. It's like they're being told to go "beg for food". The mother must be eating...when and where does she eat? This is neglect. Not only that, but how are you supposed to know if these kids have any food allergies or medical conditions? Not only that, but what if one of these kids gets hurt while in your care? You're pretty much being forced to feed and watch them. That's really unfair and you should go talk to the mother and find out what her deal is.

[Frugalbigmama]

I had a neighbour kid show up Christmas morning to play for the day. His father went home to sleep and relax.

[Darth Penguin]

While I'm not trying to excuse the parents, is there anyway that a vague invitation by one of the OP's children could have been read as a "Hey come over anytime you like"??

II had that a few years back, the parents thought I was happy to have thier son as a guest since the invite was child to child vocally but they never thought to phone and confirm..Pleasant boy but a handful at times..

[sweetmomma]

This is becoming a more common trend I have noticed unfortunately and kids don't always understand!