relax mode to frustrated mode, losing when I don't even gamble

Ask me how fun it is to have this
baby gear litter my family room.

Backing up the bus a bit - once I agreed to babysit for Linda and her brother, I focused on scouring Facebook, Letgo, and Nextdoor for used baby goods to add to my collection.  Additional items would help me care for two infants at once. If mothers of twins could do this on the regular, so couple I, right?  

I added a bouncy seat, 2 exersaucers (I had one that could fold up but since that function failed of late my struggle to set it up was nothing short of frustrating and defeating. We literally kicked it to the curb), a bassinet, two baby monitors, bassinet sheets, and finally the day before her crazy message arrived canceling our agreement: an electric baby swing.  

I now own two of these.  Grrr.

Meanwhile a few people reached out to me to see if I had openings.  One lady asked me if I had openings the Friday before Labor Day. Timing!!! I apologized but I no longer had space for other kids. After an entire spring and summer spent applying, interviewing, and chatting with interested parents (many of them TOTALLY WEIRD) I was finally able to relax.  My in-home daycare was finally filled and I could chill out.  Or so I thought.

This is all rotated wrong, but on the upside
Mikey is a really good baby and so darn easy.
  His folks are delightful and very easy going/grateful
 that I am caring for him.  I just need
to clone them a few times.

After I hung up the phone with Jackie, I sat on my pool chair and wept. I called Coach who lives in fear of the sun. He had already gone home. He COULD NOT believe that these people would cancel on me the day before they were supposed to start.

I fled the pool and got home and texted this Jackie robot. I told her that I turned people away because my spots were full. I also informed her that I expected her to pay me two weeks pay and the cost of the additional baby gear that I bought. No response.

A great addition to any dining room.

I do not have her address. Or her last name, but I know what town she lives in. I know that she works downtown as a commercial architect and her husband works locally as an architect. I typically sit for teachers, but her mom is a teacher and she was going to care for the kids in the summer and over holidays. Moving forward I plan to collect a one month deposit for anyone who hires me.

My next move was to contact care.com. I hoped that they would cancel her membership. Ban her from using the site. Guess what is almost as hard as finding normal people to babysit for? Getting a live person to speak to me on care.com. The workers are outsources apparently, and I struggled to understand the thick accent of the woman who answered.

Long story short: she agreed to look into Jackie's membership. In the meantime, she decided that I needed a different kind of membership since I watch kids in MY home. She gave me 5 days and then erased my membership. I can open a new membership under 'family services'. Guess what? That kind of membership is not free. There would be a charge. Mini was like, 'Oh, that did not work out the way you hoped?' Lesson here: only work for teachers who are referred to you.

I recently downloaded Venmo. Jackie's contact showed up on there. Guess who sent her a request for the amount I expect her to pay me? This is not over.

Racking up financial losses lately seems to be my specialty.  I lost 10 grand last year (when Narcey melted down and quit my daycare) and when these people flaked out I lost over 11 grand.  I am back to having openings that I will most likely not fill.  Feeling underemployed, and incredibly frustrated.  

Trust me when I say that I do not gamble.  So why the sudden losses? Simple. People are ass holes.