COMMON GROUND COFFEE HOUSE #62

I thought that was one of those portable "restrooms" on a building site .

 

w00t! We have a tech with the name Johnny. He's a bi-vo charismatic preacher. Whenever he speaks he sounds like a preacher; "I'm going down to Albany Street, Yea! I'm gonna find me a pole, that's right, a pole and I'm gonna grab that pole and climb that pole and when I get to the top of that pole I'm gonna raise my hands and shout, because I will be that much closer my Lord and King. Mmm-Mmm-Mmm, Amen!

Anywho, We call him Mr. Johnny on the spot.

 

It's storming here and Ty got wet coming in so he told me that 'we don't need to go back to sleep today Miss Diane'. So... we didn't. We're watching '10 Years of Thomas the Tank Engine'.

Gib, Jim's day job, he had to work with this one guy for a couple of days that sounded like a Rush Limbaugh wanna be. Jim said he ranted, raved and it was like 'talk radio' non stop as long as they had no customers but as soon as they got a customer, the guy calmed down and was almost quiet!

Jim THINKS he's getting a flu shot today at the VA. He can't go until afternoon so please pray they have some left. Nick and I could have gotten them yesterday but on the FAR side of Atlanta and for $20. each. I had too many children and didn't have $40. to my name.

Psalm 12:5 "Because of the devastation of the afflicted, because of the groaning of the needy, now I will arise," says the Lord; "I will set him in the safety for which he longs."

Diane

 

That's good news Sue about the recheck.

Will Bobby be coming back or has he left for good?

Ty and Nick are playing now. Ty's pretending to be a dog. LOL He'll crash hard this afternoon!

I sewed the 20 puppets this morning. Glad they're finished. I don't like having anything 'hanging over me' with a date nearing....

Diane

 

O.K. I was told to stop by the coffee house, even though the only time I drink the stuff is on cold mornins' on the lake. I'm a Dr. Pepper man myself!
Anywho thought I'd say HELLO & ask if Gina is still around. In case there's more than one nowdays you "oldtimers" will know which one I mean!!

 

LOL, yep he knows. I'm just the referee at Puppets but I volunteered to cut out some felt puppets. I didn't have the money to buy the stuff... but could do the work.

Jim got his flu shot! The VA had some this week. He had to wait until this afternoon to go and I was concerned they'd run out. This is a major praise since he has COPD and me having all these kids coming in and out from Public School and his being my co teacher of 4 year olds in Sunday School. We have about 17 or so each Sunday.

Also, Jim has a second job working for himself ... working for others. He's got his Broadcast Engineers Degree and he's doing mastering of CD's for different church bands and singers for mass production. He's got a recording session this weekend. He got into this by doing some free work for a fella he met through the piano store. Jim also was offered a sales job with a man at our church. It's more than the piano store and will eventually be near home with a company car. It goes to straight commission too, tho, after 3 months but he's been training for it for almost a month and we'll have insurance Dec. 1st. GOOD insurance with NO deductible and no pre-existing disclaimer. Keep praying for us tho. We're behind on the mortgage and other obligations and it really bothers us.

 

JAMES!
I tried to contact you and A..... (not sure if you use her name on here) a while back and was unsuccesful.
How have you guys been? I've missed you so much and think of you often.
Did you stay in the same place and are you settled in and liking it now? How's things with your son?
Welcome back! You'll notice the forum has changed some. We're not allowed to be as mean as we used to be. Isn't that terrible?!
Gina

 

DIANE: Thank you for the confirmation and clarification about how the time thing works. Hmmmm. Sounds like a "we need to talk" session is in order with a client of yours. You seem like such a nice person who is willing to be so gracious, that other people, who are not so nice, find themselves willing to abdicate their responsibility at your expense. I agree with Karen, an understanding needs to be put in place that late pick-up will be compensated. I would not hesitate to lovingly point out that you are already giving them a financial break. Because of this, normal folk would go out of their way to honor you by not taking advantage. If you do not assert yourself in this matter, be prepared to serve the status quo. My guess is it will not change. The key to doing this lovingly is by being truthful now. Later, if resentment builds you will not be able to handle it as well and if they get away with this too long, they also will not handle the change as well. God bless you.

 

Hey, yall. Wise counsel, Fireweed. People do take advantage of kind souls, and that's what's happening to Diane. The feeding, the cutting into family time, that should be bought with a price.

We had a good day down south. Its 53 degrees here, and I cant seem to get warm. (I know, its not REALLY cold, comparatively.)

We were playing outside, and I was putting the girls' Barbie Jeep (thanks, grandma) back in the shed when I smashed my finger in the door. Its like a garage door with those folding sections, and my ring finger got caught in between two. Its all purple and throbbing, but I am hoping it will be much better in the a.m. Had a hard time cracking my crab legs at supper tonight.
Also gave makeup lessons today, but overall, it was a nice, beautiful, leisurely day!!

 

Thank you for concurring Miss Potatuh, I like Diane because she answered my question so quickly about the time thing. She knows the difference between things I say which are just humorous fluff and when I really ask a question which I'd appreciate an answer for. Good discernment. Diane, thats 3 people now who seem to see this the same. I'm praying...

 

Morning All!

I am just too easy going and have a hard time standing up for myself. PLUS... I feel, that since I didn't expect to be 'used' and set strict guidelines when I first agreed to keep these kids that I cannot 'change the rules' now. Mom HAD given me a list of her work hours tho and I could refer to that piece of paper (which I saved). Jim (hubby) has said I should just mention the upcoming holidays and say 'Do you have an idea already which days and hours you'll be needing me so I can figure out what to charge you?' That's pretty clear.

So, I've got these almost water blisters on my hands. They look like poison ivy. One is very tender but it's in a tender area already and it's twice as big as the others. It's sort of spread. Dries up in one spot and breaks out in another. I use a LOT of antibacterial soap and am wondering if I'm not rinsing it all off good enough. I tried one day of a steriod cream I have for allergic skin reactions but the one spot seemed to spread while others dried up. Suggestions? Guess I could have gotten poison ivy off the kids clothes when they came in from outside. Someone is always climbing up on my lap or me putting Nick's clothes in the washer....

Diane

 

It wouldn't be changing the rules. It would be enforcing them. Don't try to do it in one day, necessarily. Give them notice.
The daycare at my son's school charges $2 per hour extra per child after the normal pickup time.

Is there a nutritionist friend in your church?
Or maybe the county home extension agent?
Sit down with them and figure out more closely what it should cost you to feed kids.
Factor regular costs into your fees.
Then charge extra per meal for meals above the regular schedule. For example, factor snacks into the regular fee. Then charge say $2.50 or $3 per meal extra when they stay late. And you need notice of late staying unless it is an emergency. If your clients don't shape up, give them notice and get others.
After all, one of the main points of you doing this is to have a home business to make money.

Karen

 

Exactly Karen! One night this week I had a nice meal planned for our family. (Hard when you're on such a tight budget). I had to take our steak, cut it into stir fry size and make a completely different meal because instead of feeding 3 of us... I had to feed 7 without notice. I've resorted to Kool -Aid but the store brands. Cookies instead of Debbie Snacks. One almost 12 year old complained to her mom that she wants Kudoo's and I don't have them. I looked at the store and it's $3.00 for a box of 10! This girl will eat a large bag of potato chips if I allow it.

The good thing is that Jim gets home not long after I have them settled at the table. Yesterday one girl heard the garage door opener, jumped up and got her shoes, bookbag and sweater that she had left at the top of the stairs and moved them under a desk. They realize Jim is not going to allow them to disobey me or trash our home.

I will be strong, I WILL be strong!

I'm thinking of doing a generic 'UPDATE' for all the parents mentioning that all had offered to supply milk (one child) and snacks. One mom brought milk week one and not since. NO snacks have been brought. Then I could ask them to contact me with the hours they expect to need me during both upcoming holidays so we could discuss my 'all day' fees.

Think that would be okay?

I'm going to hand out some 'Do you need holiday child care for your office parties, school break, Christmas shopping'.... and wonder how much I should charge per hour in my home. I have NO idea. I've been told that babysitters here charge $5.- $7.00 per hour but in the persons home. Suggestions?

Diane

 

Diane:
All at once is the better route, I think, in this case. Currently, their is conflict because "the rules" are not clearly understood or being honored. Whilr the iron is hot and you are still able to assert with a loving spirit do sit down with both the husband and wife and explain the service you CAN provide for the price you charge. Though you provide daycare, you (and Jim) have your own lives and there should be structured and defined boundaries between where the daycare leaves off and your lives begin. As parents, these clients should understand that when they are off work, their role as caretaker for their children becomes paramount, and the next priority is to COME GET THEM at the EXPECTED TIME. If they choose to do other things, it will cost them! Because YOU have provided more than the standard service for the standard price you charge them, which they should be very clear about, is already lower than they would normally pay. Its really quite simple, if daddy wants to turn a 12 mile 20 minute trip into 2-3 hours of stopping at stores or visiting with his friends he is trading something. The exchange is more time away from his children, (sad, huh?) and more money to you! If they cannot afford more money to you, guess what, he does the responsible thing and comes to get his children.

The structure should be that their is a respectful routine to your house. "Children, this is where we hang our coats and put our shoes when we walk in the door." (Not when Jim comes home) If they are undisciplined in their own home, show them a higher way, one of teaching them to be responsible for their actions otherwise these kids will become their parents in every way. Perhaps some organized time of group reading of a story where all the kids sit on the floor and the story commences only when every one is compliant and still.

Please forgive my bold, unsolicited reply. It comes out of a motive to encourage you to not take ownership of responsibility that truly belongs to others. (Sounds like you carry enough of your own.) Blessings!

 

New topic and a question.

Since I am in the company of some very experienced posters here on B.B. as well as some very decent "neigbors", I would like to ask if there is a quicker way to move around the board and topics other than the way I am doing it. I always use the back button to try to get back to the forum page or to the main home menu and sometimes it seems like it doesn't get me there. It also seems time consuming. Is there a tool that allows you to quickly revisit the places where you've posted to see if anyone has replied or commented?

I also found a place where the flags are kept but there are no state flags there. Can a person import things like that?

Lastly, I found a place that lists all the members and it seemed there was no way to quickly scroll through it. The best I could figure out was to keep leaping about 6 pages at a time. Is that just the way it works? I was dismayed to find that though there are 10,000 members, a great deal of them have never made a post, and of those who hold titles such as moderater or webmaster or something like original founder, there were many who don't participate, whats with that? I would find it interesting to converse with some of those folk too who got this thing going. Or are they active in the private discussions where I do not have access?