Anyone Open 'til 7 or Later? HELP ME!

[nannyde]

Thank you very much for the advice nanny. I think I am going to print this whole thread out and study it! I have ZERO backbone and I NEED to grow one.

SO, my question now is: Am I sh** out of luck now because I already agreed to $125/week for these hours? And I am talking $125/week for both kids, not PER kid. So thats $500/month. (slaps forehead- STUPID STUPID ME). Or since we are in our 14 day probation period can I let them know this isn't working at this rate and if they want to stay with me here is the rate increase ____?

:/

Yikes
that's really low pay

2.08 per hour per kid

You have to decide for yourself if you can get by with raising it. I doubt VERY much that they can get someone else to do that. It's the HARDEST shift of all. When I did 24 hour care I wouldn't even INTERVIEW with a family with those hours because they took up a full day and a full evening slot and both shifts hit prime time awake time.

There was no way to make money on it because you are giving them the full evening slot ... work wise... but not making money when they are sleeping on the evening shift.

I wanted two shifts of pay for this shift and no one would want to pay that.

You really would be better off to just DO an evening shift if you are willing to work until 7:30 p.m. You could have a family coming IN at 2:30 and the kids going to bed at 7 p.m. and all you would have to do is get up at eleven to let them out the door. Think about that...

It would mean NOT having them from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and making the same amount of money... but having to get up at eleven or eleven thirty to scoot them out the door.

You are basically exchanging sleeping hours on the evening shift for awake hours on the day shift. I would rather do the evening shift if I'm going to have kids up till 7:30 p.m. I want the PAY from 7"30 p.m. to eleven when they are SLEEPING...

the only thing you are missing in their deal is the PAY from bedtime till they get picked up at eleven p.m. Do you see that?

I think you should consider just trying to fill a day slot for 125 and being done with your day at a reasonable hour. One kid on the day slot would pay the same as two kids three days a week until seven thirty p.m. I would rather have one on the same shift as the other kids then two three days a week SO late in the evening.

One thing too to consider is that they have most likely had a TON of people say NO to their shift. It has to be tough finding someone to do those hours and to do it SOOOOOOOOOOOOO CHEAP. They struck a heck of a deal with you. The thing about DEALS like this tho is that the provider figures out REALLY quickly how HARD it is and most often just gives up as soon as ANY deal even close to the money comes along.

The failure rate on these hours is super high. Especially if the parents are doing the "put to bed" right when they get home. The kids act terribly because they don't have any face awake time with the kids and the parents become disenfranchised from the care of their own kids if they have someone else doing nearly every waking minute. It is TERRIBLE for the parents and the kids. You can't be close to your kid if the only time you are with them is when they are asleep.

When you have a parent on this shift and they put the kids to bed right away then they SHOULD have some time in the morning BUT if the kids are getting up SUPER early in the morning then you are going to have them ready for an afternoon nap when they arrive at 9:30.

It's a tough shift to manage because the parental alienation deal can make for alot of problems with parents and kids. Even though their total hours are within the norm... the TIME that they actually come makes them feel they have the pass to just put their kids to bed right after day care. If you THINK about what a kid would do who was there from seven a.m. to five and went to bed at 5:30 p.m. ... imagine what THAT kid would be like. That's what kids on THIS shift look like after some time.

[lpperry]

$125 total per week sounds really low for 3 days a week, especially for those hours. They are at your house for 10 hour days!

What do you charge per day for part-time? I charge $50 a day for part-time (open 9 hours a day). If I was doing the shift you are talking about (which I personally wouldn't), I would charge $50 per child per day, plus extra for the evening hours and the extra 1 hour over my total open hours per day. So I would charge at least $300 per week, plus a little extra--so probably $330.

It still wouldn't be worth it to me at all to watch kids until 7:30 for any amount of money. Also, you are going to have a crabby 6 month old in the evenings. Bedtime after 7:30 for an infant is really late.

If you decide not to, I'd give them the 12 day period and then tell them that it is not working out. And if you do keep them, definitely raise the rate and let them take it or leave it.

For the food situation--3 year old eats what your family is eating or gets nothing if it were my house.

[daycare]

I originally said $150/week for the two kids. And they said $125 so it wouldn't be a stretch. I agreed if they brought snacks every day for the 3 yr old... Now, I feel like I am at the point where since I agreed to that I must be a push over in their eyes....

Does anyone have a rough estimate of the amount of money I should be charging weekly for these two kids being an unlicensed provider?

being that you are in a different area, its hard to help you with rates. My rates here where I live I am sure are much different where you live.

I would call around your area and see what others are charging. maybe take a look on craigs list and see what others are charging.

[MarinaVanessa]

I have a family that does drop-in care and I occasionally take care of dcb 1 day a week from 4:45 to 7:45 p.m. while she is in her late class. To me it's no biggie and no trouble at all. I charge her time-and-a-half what I would charge for drop in for hours after 6pm so I get $20 for those 3 hours which makes it worth it for me.

I serve him whatever we eat for dinner and because he's a VERY picky eater and sometimes wouldn't eat what I served him dcm brings him a packaged dinner that I just have to warm up for him. I also make it clear that my normal daycare hours are until 6pm and so any time after that dcb will do whatever my family and I does and that includes TV time. He doesn't get "daycare" activities after 6pm, more like free play. It works for the both of us and has turned out very well.

Of course it has worked out well for me because I prepared for any type of situation beforehand. I had already planned out what I was going to charge for regular FT, PT and drop-in rates and then figured out what I would charge for evening and weekends. The difference is that I WANT to care for children on evenings and weekends because I WANT to make extra money. I make it affordable enough that parents want to use this service but I also make it worth my while. I set the price beforehand and that's the price, no bargaining or haggling. You take it or you don't.

[Breezy]

Yikes
that's really low pay

2.08 per hour per kid

You have to decide for yourself if you can get by with raising it. I doubt VERY much that they can get someone else to do that. It's the HARDEST shift of all. When I did 24 hour care I wouldn't even INTERVIEW with a family with those hours because they took up a full day and a full evening slot and both shifts hit prime time awake time.

There was no way to make money on it because you are giving them the full evening slot ... work wise... but not making money when they are sleeping on the evening shift.

I wanted two shifts of pay for this shift and no one would want to pay that.

You really would be better off to just DO an evening shift if you are willing to work until 7:30 p.m. You could have a family coming IN at 2:30 and the kids going to bed at 7 p.m. and all you would have to do is get up at eleven to let them out the door. Think about that...

It would mean NOT having them from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and making the same amount of money... but having to get up at eleven or eleven thirty to scoot them out the door.

You are basically exchanging sleeping hours on the evening shift for awake hours on the day shift. I would rather do the evening shift if I'm going to have kids up till 7:30 p.m. I want the PAY from 7"30 p.m. to eleven when they are SLEEPING...

the only thing you are missing in their deal is the PAY from bedtime till they get picked up at eleven p.m. Do you see that?

I think you should consider just trying to fill a day slot for 125 and being done with your day at a reasonable hour. One kid on the day slot would pay the same as two kids three days a week until seven thirty p.m. I would rather have one on the same shift as the other kids then two three days a week SO late in the evening.

One thing too to consider is that they have most likely had a TON of people say NO to their shift. It has to be tough finding someone to do those hours and to do it SOOOOOOOOOOOOO CHEAP. They struck a heck of a deal with you. The thing about DEALS like this tho is that the provider figures out REALLY quickly how HARD it is and most often just gives up as soon as ANY deal even close to the money comes along.

The failure rate on these hours is super high. Especially if the parents are doing the "put to bed" right when they get home. The kids act terribly because they don't have any face awake time with the kids and the parents become disenfranchised from the care of their own kids if they have someone else doing nearly every waking minute. It is TERRIBLE for the parents and the kids. You can't be close to your kid if the only time you are with them is when they are asleep.

When you have a parent on this shift and they put the kids to bed right away then they SHOULD have some time in the morning BUT if the kids are getting up SUPER early in the morning then you are going to have them ready for an afternoon nap when they arrive at 9:30.

It's a tough shift to manage because the parental alienation deal can make for alot of problems with parents and kids. Even though their total hours are within the norm... the TIME that they actually come makes them feel they have the pass to just put their kids to bed right after day care. If you THINK about what a kid would do who was there from seven a.m. to five and went to bed at 5:30 p.m. ... imagine what THAT kid would be like. That's what kids on THIS shift look like after some time.

And here I am thinking I need to be waking them up from their LONG afternoon naps so that they go to bed on time for their parents. Silly me!!!

I would LOVE to do just an evening shift and advertised for both and landed this one and took it right away because I was afraid of how long I would have to wait for something else to come along. I just settled. If I did a REAL evening shift, my husband could change to a 3-midnight swing shift at work and we could have all our family time the first part of the day!

I totally feel like I just settled on this. And I am sure they were hard pressed to find someone that meets their every need and probably are elated they found such a push over in me. They said they were getting so sick all the time in their old daycare and that's why they changed- which yes, I can see that they are both getting over colds right now but I almost bet that their last daycare couldn't accommodate these hours.

I think what I will do, since the 14th day of care falls on the 22nd of November, is to try to get them on a REAL schedule with the evening being very quiet and low key and see how it goes. And see how it goes with their parents as far as payment, drop off/pick up times, etc. And look at my grocery bill for the added meals and then make my decision....

It's hard though to figure out a schedule when you have 2 infants and an older kid because I LOVE my "break time" during nap time- and with this shift I am going to NEED it to regroup. It is nap time right now and the 6 month old went down at 11:30. My son went down at 12 and then the 3y old went down at 1:00 and it is now 2:40 almost and everyone is still napping!

But, I know that they will not always nap at the same time and so I may always have one of them awake depending on the time of day...

Sigh... there are just too many variables in this silly shift.

[Breezy]

Thanks so much to all of you. I am going to print this out and have a real sit down with my husband tonight to figure this all out and figure out what the 500/month is worth to him in the long run for all the hassle this is turning out to be. AND its only day 2!!!!!

I have gotten a lot of insight on how I should be presenting this service and you all have made me feel like my time IS worth something and I should be getting paid something that reflects that.

[MarinaVanessa]

I though about it some more and came back to post. First off many providers charge weekly for 10 hours a day (50 hours a week). That being said think about doing this also. Charge a flat weekly rate for "scheduled hours" and charge for enrollment, not attendance. In other words if they don't come, they still pay.

"Care is charged on a flat weekly rate which is based on enrollment not attendance and so any days a child is absent due to sickness, appointments, etc. will not be deducted. "

I cannot stress how important it is for you to charge them for the week in advance NOT at the end of the week after you've already watched the kids.

Also get them to sign a consent to transport. As I said before when I take care of a kid past 6pm or on weekends they are one of us and do what we do as a family and that includes running errands. If you need to go to the store you should be able to take the DCK's with you. I even provide the carseats.

Make sure you have a contract and policy book. Here are a few things that I recomend you add to their contract. Keep in mind that it is in fact a trial period and that you can always tell them that is it NOT working for you and that in order for it to work out you need to make changes.

*Decide what you want to charge for FT first and put a time cap on it (10 hours a day/50 hours a week) and then charge an hourly rate for any time that they go over 10 hours a day or 50 hours a week. Then decide how many hours/days you consider PT to be and charge slightly more per hour for that. Decide whether you want to do a daily rate or hourly rate and this should be more than PT. Then figure out if you will offer childcare for evenings and weekends and make that rate more than drop-in.

*Set your daycare hours and add a policy about how parent's have to stick to their scheduled hours.
From my handbook: "The daycare’s regular hours are Monday through Friday 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. however, these hours are not necessarily the hours that you are allotted to bring your child. Hours for care will be discussed and a schedule will be set which includes a fair amount of commuting time and this will become your "scheduled hours". Care will be provided for your child only during these contracted hours. Any changes made to your schedule hours must be discussed and re-assessed based on the ability for the childcare provider to meet your new needs"

* Add a policy about dropping off earlier than the parent's scheduled time.
"There is an extra $5.00 fee per child for every fifteen minutes, or portion thereof, that your child is dropped off earlier than the contracted drop-off time without my prior approval. Please ask in advance if you ever need to drop-off earlier than your regular contracted time to make sure that this can be accommodated."

* Add a policy about dropping off late.
"If you are more than 15 minutes late to drop your child off without advance notice it can be assumed that your child will not be coming. At this point the spot can be filled by a drop-in or other client if the opportunity presents itself. If there are no other children contracted at that time the daycare may be closed. Payment is still expected for the day and it will be the parent's responsibility to find and finance alternate care for your child for that day.
Please note that late arrival does not allow for a late pick-up. If you are late in dropping your child off then your contracted pick-up time still applies and your child will still be required to be picked up at that time."

[Unregistered]

what do you charge them?

Hey, I am having the similar issue current with the girl I watch. I have her til 7 and her mom keeps arriving later and later (have discussed late fees, but mom forgets and I hate remnding her constantly).

I was curious what you charge them for the week. I watch the girl 4 days a week, 3 days til 7 and about twice a month on a saturday.

I feel like I should charge them more (currently get $155) - as I do not feel there are really any options open til 7 and on saturdays. Just wanted to see what you charge them, etc.

Thanks!

Ah thank you. That makes me feel better that I don't have to be doing something special while my family is here too.

I think my hubby is going to hate it too BUT it is only 3 days a week. He is the one that wanted me to go for it and not look around more as he was afraid of how we would be financially though. I wish I would have charged them more though..

[Breezy]

Hey, I am having the similar issue current with the girl I watch. I have her til 7 and her mom keeps arriving later and later (have discussed late fees, but mom forgets and I hate remnding her constantly).

I was curious what you charge them for the week. I watch the girl 4 days a week, 3 days til 7 and about twice a month on a saturday.

I feel like I should charge them more (currently get $155) - as I do not feel there are really any options open til 7 and on saturdays. Just wanted to see what you charge them, etc.

Thanks!

I was charging $125/week for two kids from 9:30-7:30 3 days per week. They are no longer in care as it turned out that the kids grandparents moved into town to care for them. I am pretty sure that they were just with me until the move date and that they were being dishonest about their intent for long term care.

Anyhow,$125 was extremely low obviously for the amount of work required and for them cutting into my family time.

I currently have a family in my care that comes anywhere between 1-4 days per week. The child is 6 months old and starts at 7am and is usually here until 2pm though there are days she is here until 8pm. I charge them $120/week for the flexibility to come whichever days they need (with notice). On average she comes 1-2 days though.

I don't know if that really helps you or not! My FT rate is $140/wk.

[momma2girls]

I was charging $125/week for two kids from 9:30-7:30 3 days per week. They are no longer in care as it turned out that the kids grandparents moved into town to care for them. I am pretty sure that they were just with me until the move date and that they were being dishonest about their intent for long term care.

Anyhow,$125 was extremely low obviously for the amount of work required and for them cutting into my family time.

I currently have a family in my care that comes anywhere between 1-4 days per week. The child is 6 months old and starts at 7am and is usually here until 2pm though there are days she is here until 8pm. I charge them $120/week for the flexibility to come whichever days they need (with notice). On average she comes 1-2 days though.

I don't know if that really helps you or not! My FT rate is $140/wk.

I personally would never do 2nd shift daycare!! NO WAY!!! That is my own family time, along with the weekends!! My family is so busy, in the evening, between gymnastics, dance, softball, basketball, swimming lessons, and everything else, you must do in the evenings!!