Choosing My Hours For Next Fall- 6:45am OR 5:30pm

[GoMontessori]

In some areas around Maryland area where traffic is really bad some of the day cares stay late till 6:30PM. It really helps some of the parents but at the end of the day you will have a longer day. All the best.

[bice99]

I personally find it hard to have early drop offs when I have to get my own kids up and ready for school. My hours tend to be 8/8:30-5:30/6 and they aren't even ideal for me, but most people around here do work from 9-5, so it turned out that the 3 families I got needed those times.

But if you only need to choose one family go with what you and your family are comfortable with.

It's not a bad idea to charge more for the early hour or for the late hour.
You can also go by which family you like more, or which one is willing to pay more.

This is why I only take families who can fit within the hours I want to work. I tell them that my girls get mommy all to themselves until 7:15 every morning. Sorry. I don't do earlier than that. My DH wanted me to take back my neighbors (I had had older boy before maternity leave of a year), but they wanted to change to a 6 AM drop off. That's when I get up! I asked DH, do you want students in your room 1 1/4 hours before your school day starts? Sometimes they only see $$$ signs.

[AmyLeigh]

In some areas around Maryland area where traffic is really bad some of the day cares stay late till 6:30PM. It really helps some of the parents but at the end of the day you will have a longer day. All the best.

I have a single dcm works til 6:30pm 3x a week. Retail is tough, because they have to be open later. The plus side is her boys are here later, 9:30 for the preschooler, after school only for the older. Starting in the fall, I will have both of them after school and on holidays. Dh doesn't get home from work until 6:30-7:00 anyway, so I figured, why not?
I get the early morning hours to spend with my own children. We have evening activities only on the days that I don't have dcb's late. It's been like this for over a year, so we all have gotten used to it.
You will have to decide which is better for you and your family.

[Jenniferdawn]

I'd definitely take the early hours over the later. I have a few different pick-up times and when I only care for the child with the 4:30 pick-up, my day is Heaven. I don't have to rush and I get to spend some nice time with my family before rushing into dinner and bed routine.

[Sunchimes]

I've done..and do both. I started doing odd hours care, and so I try to be fairly flexible. I much prefer early arrival/early pickup for a couple of reasons.

One, I'm always up early-no kids this morning and I was up at 5. I like to finish early. I don't have any kids at home, but I like to have time to check my email, watch the news, etc before I start dinner.

Two, I think the kids are easier to deal with in the early morning than they are in the late afternoon. Sometimes they go back to sleep for a couple of hours, sometimes they don't, but they are universally cheerful and happy in the morning. I sometimes have one that doesn't get here until 2 pm and stays until either 7 or 10 pm-still just an 8.5 hour day total. But, the hours after dinner are miserable. She gets cranky and restless. Even though she takes 2 naps here most days, she doesn't like sleeping here when it's dark, so she resists bedtime. (She used to stay until 1 am now and then.)

When her mom changed jobs, she begged for the 6 am to 2 pm shift, but I don't think she's going to get it-which is why we have the 7 or 10 pm days.

[3girls]

Are all other things equal about these families? Since you aren't crazy about changing either way, I'd pick the one who has been at their job longest and seems like they would pay on time.

My hours are 7:30-5:30 but have one family that needs to come earlier and they pay more for that

[cheerfuldom]

Early drop off and stick the kiddos right down for nap.