A young mother from Indiana has shared her shock after reaching out to a daycare provider who sent her a written contract, she described as “unprofessional.”
The 22-year-old mom from Salem, Indiana, who asked to remain anonymous, said she initially contacted an in-home daycare provider to ask about availability. Instead of receiving basic information, she was sent a document outlining fees, house rules and disciplinary policies.
“At first I just thought it was a very poorly written and unprofessional contract,” she told Newsweek. “But by the end I could see my son was not going to be staying with this woman.”
Fees and paid time off
The two-page document, sent by the unnamed babysitter, set out charges of $25 per child, per day, additional fees for siblings, late-pickup penalties and mandatory weekly payments.
It also required families to continue paying during the provider’s two weeks of paid vacation, 10 personal days and several federal holidays.
While the mother said she recognized some conditions, such as keeping sick children at home, were standard, she felt the contract went too far. “The paid time off, extra 10 days and paid holidays are a close second,” she said. “For the most part a lot of what she asks for is pretty standard, just unprofessional in the way she communicated. The rest was just flat out ridiculous.”
Discipline policy shocks mom
One clause stated that discipline could include tapping hands or placing children in a corner, with the provider adding that, if necessary, she would “pop them on the butt.” The mother said she was shocked to see such a measure in writing. “I can’t believe some people do that, let alone daycare providers,” she said.
In Indiana and across the U.S., corporal punishment is prohibited in licensed childcare centers and family childcare homes under state regulations designed to protect children’s safety. While parents may legally use “reasonable” physical discipline in private homes, non-parents, such as daycare providers, are barred from doing so.
Finding reliable childcare is already a major challenge for families, from finding the right placement to the costs. According to the Bipartisan Policy Center, nearly 23 million children under the age of 5 live in the U.S., and 71% live in households where all parents work. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that in 2024, 78% of mothers with children aged 6 to 17 were working or looking for work, compared with 92.5% of fathers.
After reading the contract, the mom chose not to sign the agreement and has not communicated further with the provider. “I just haven’t replied to her,” she said. “She sent me this ‘contract’ that I’m not signing so I don’t see any reason for further communication with her.”
Internet reacts
The mom later posted the document to Reddit‘s Am I Overreacting? forum, where it gained widespread attention before being deleted.
Reddit users quickly weighed in. One commenter wrote: “This is the worst and most poorly written ‘contract’ I’ve ever seen.” Another added: “This document looks like it was typed 49 years ago. Obviously lots of red flags.”
The paid vacation time was a recurrent subject among the comments, as one said: “Maybe I’m personally overreacting, but an independent babysitter demanding that you pay her vacation time off is insane to me lmao.”
While another said: “2 weeks paid vacation? Lets be clear, you are a small business owner. You provide your own paid vacation. Next she’s gonna ask for health insurance.”
Some commenters were more sympathetic to the provider. “Most of this is common for an actual daycare center, even having to pay while you are on vacation. However, the paid vacation and personal days are something she could expect if she worked for a center, but she doesn’t,” said one user.
Another wrote: “I actually think this is fine as a contract for babysitting until you get to the discipline part.”
The mom explained that she shared the contract online “because I thought Reddit would have fun with it,” adding: “For the most part it looks like most everyone else agreed with what I thought, but of course it’s the internet so even though I shared very little information about the issue you still have those trolls jumping to conclusions. But I don’t know any of these people so it doesn’t really bother me.”
Newsweek could not verify the details of this story.
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