What will I do now?!!!

[smurfette]

Sorry it's me again you must be sick of me!! You might have seen my other post about getting notice from one of my fav mindees this am, and unbelievably I have had an enquiry and booked a meeting with someone who want the exact same days!!

However.. I have just seen her advertise her position and she says she wants a pet free home which we are definitely aren't! We have a German shepherd who we sometimes walk with the mindees and we also have 2 guinea pigs 2 rabbits and a hamster... She didn't ask me if we had pets and I forgot to mention it... Now what?!! Do I tell her or let her come and hope this isn't an issue if she likes me?! Seems to me that sometimes I tell people about them before they come and they say it's no bother but then use it as a reason not to use me .. Or I don't tell them and drop it in to conversation while they are here and they have gone with me anyways!!! What would you do??!

[cathtee]

Tricky, but she didn't ask and if you hadn't seen her advertisement you wouldn't know about the pets, let her come and meet you and drop it into conversation about pets and look as if you didn't know when she says she wanted pet free and take it from there, she may change her mind when she sees them, fingers crossed for you

[The Juggler]

personally i would ring her and discuss it. I wouldn't want to waste time tidying my home and getting ready for the meeting if then she's gonna say no anyway

[bunyip]

I guess the key thing is, have you ever had someone change their mind about pets whilst they were there?

That's what you're hoping for, so you have to ask yourself, what's the likelihood it will happen?

[Mouse]

personally i would ring her and discuss it. I wouldn't want to waste time tidying my home and getting ready for the meeting if then she's gonna say no anyway

I agree with that. I know what Cathtee is saying about if you hadn't seen her ad you wouldn't have known she wanted somewhere without pets, but as you have seen the ad I would phone and discuss it now. I wouldn't want to waste her (or more importantly!) my time if she was going to say no anyway.

[primula]

I would just let her come and then she can see that pets arent that bad afterall!! you now know that she wants a pet free home but you might show her that pets are fine!! by the way, do you separate the dog from the kids?? that might help if you do! good luck and dont forget you are interviewing her too!

[francinejayne]

I had one mum turn up on my doorstep and when myself and my dog met her at the door the first thing she said was "oh, you've got a dog, I can't send my children here!" (I do clearly state in my advert on childcare (which is where she got my details from) that I have a dog and 2 cats)

I offered her the option of just calling it a day and not wasting both of our time, however she said seeing as she made the effort to come to my house she may as well come in!

She soon realised that my dog is lovely, and she came back the next night with her husband and son who was petrified of dogs - they signed the contract and within 2 weeks of caring for her son he loved my dog!

I guess your decision depends on how much effort you could potentially be putting into the visit for her to just say no based on your animals?

[Ripeberry]

You have to ask yourself.."Why does she need a pet free home?" Is it due to allergies? or is she afraid of cats or dogs hurting her child?
The small animals could be kept upstairs out of the way and the Guinea pigs outside. But if you can demonstrate that your dog is kept seperate then she might change her mind.
Just go ahead and ring her anyway. She may be more annoyed if you don't.

[smurfette]

Thanks guys! In the end I messaged her and told her ... I explained that the small animals are upstairs and outside and the dog lives outside but we do walk her and how good she is with the kids, I also reassured her I was careful and supervised any interaction .: I decided I wouldnt waste my time if she was set on it but also if she isnt ok with it then she isnt right for my setting ... No response though! Have no number for her so I guess ce Sara Sara! We shall see!

[smurfette]

Well here is a lesson to me ,, heard back from mum and little one is on a lot of inhalers and they are lifting her out of crèche (nursery) as she is catching so many bugs. Animal hair sets her off but out of doors is ok, but what they want is a minded with no more than three little ones who stays in the confines of a house and garden, no toddler groups etc or there is no point in taking her out of crèche

Bit confused as my website clearly says that we go to a lot of groups out and about etc but anyways ... My setting isn't right for her either way so glad we didn't waste her or my time!! Thanks ladies!