Babysitters Get Laid Off Too

I have a lot on my mind today. I need to decompress and unwind and try to get the thoughts in my head organized and less cluttered. I am having a mild breakdown.

The major source of stress today is my status as a babysitter and income earner. Rose's mom told me yesterday that Rose was coming today, but it's 1:00pm now and she isn't here, and I haven't gotten a text or a phone call from her today. Rose was supposed to be here 5 days last week but was sick M - W, so I missed out on 3 days of work ($90) and I understand that Rose was sick and that Rose's mom wanted to keep Rose home with her, but I am still out $90 for last week. And then Rose was supposed to be here yesterday and today, but as of 11:00am yesterday Rose still wasn't here, and I couldn't get through on Rose's mom's phone ("The number you are trying to reach is temporarily not in service...") Then at 11:15am yesterday I got a text from Rose's mom saying, "Hi sorry im out of min. Rose will be w me today." So I am out another $30, which is now $120 total, and so I texted her back and asked "what about the rest of the week?" and she replied, "You will have her tomorrow then im not sure. Im not working at schwans anymore so i have to figure something out." Now today I planned on her being here, but it is nearly 1:00pm, and still no sign of them. I tried calling again, and I sent her a text, but as of yet, no reply. I also called Rose's mom's mom (who is the one who arranged for me to babysit in the first place a year ago since she and my mom work together) and left her a voice mail asking her to have Rose's mom call me if she talks to her. So today is another lost $30, for a grand total of $150 lost between last week and this week. I am frustrated, sad, worried, angry. And I have really grown attached to Rose, and I just made plans for several things we were going to do this spring and summer. Now I don't have a clue what the spring holds.

I am going to have to move forward thinking that the text about not having a job means that she will no longer need me. So I have just been "laid off" from her job as babysitter of a 2-year-old... or at least I assume so since Rose's mom is now among Wisconsin's 8.8% who are unemployed.
So not only am I out the $150 that I was counting on having budget wise from last week and this week (Easter baskets) but now I may also be out of a job altogether, meaning I have no money for anything ever (currently paying off a few debts, need clothes and underwear, was going to buy the family membership to the Eau Claire Children's Museum, just registered Desi and Rose for a learn & play group weekly starting in April, had plans to go to the flea market in April with J-love and wanted a lot of cash for that...) I turned down two other babysitting jobs for them since I took on Rose. I am sort of pissed. Fuck that, I totally AM pissed.

I had a conversation with my mom about it asking her advice, and from the sounds of her most recent conversation with her co-worker (Rose's grandma) it seems as if Rose's mom (let's call her Jada) is just completely irresponsible. Last Wednesday, Rose's grandma (let's call her Bev) went to Rose's mom's house because she couldn't get a hold of Jada, and when Bev got there in the afternoon, Jada was still in bed and Rose was at Rose's dad's house. I was told that Rose was sick and that Jada was keeping Rose home with her. To make matters worse, Bev asked Jada what was going on, and apparently Jada called her employer on Wednesday and told them "it's not working out." She just got a new apartment in the last couple months so I assume she has a fairly new lease, and she has a 2-year-old daughter, and now she has no job. And it wasn't like she got laid off or even fired -- she called and quit! Wtf? Anyway, my mom's advice is to try to find a new babysitting job and to forget about Rose, and she also said that I have every right to ask to get paid for yesterday and today even though Jada never showed up. I have a hard time asking for things like that and standing up for myself, but after talking to Mom, I did call Jada, but I got that "temporarily out of service" message again so I couldn't talk to her. I did leave a message for Jada's mom though, and apologized for bothering her at work, and asked her to have Jada call me once Bev talks to her. She said she will do that and apologized for her daughter's behavior. She also said that if Jada doesn't pay me for today and yesterday that she will. If it came down to it and Bev got custody of Rose, I would gladly deal with Bev from now on and continue to babysit Rose. I am going to miss Rose.