Guests Arrive And The Crazy Comes Out

[jojosmommy]

My licensor came today and was training in a new person so my visit was extra long.... . My kids were off the wall. 2dck cannot function at all when other people are in my house. Is this normal or should I be extra annoyed that these two can not no matter how many reminders behave with others. ??? Wwyd in this case? Dcb is 4 and does fine here with firm reminders and no leash for nonsense. I know he knows the rules so someone here is not a free pass to be intentionally naughty (hurt my son, jump on my off limits couch, stand on kitchen chairs). I'm not talking about getting excited or rambunctious, intentionally naughty.

[Michelle]

yep, they love to do that!!!
I had a 4 year old totally rearrange my Christmas tree when the food program lady was here and when she left he said, "Oh no!"
He earned himself a nice long time out!::::

[EntropyControlSpecialist]

Yikes.

Mine came today as well. But, the kids just wanted to know WHO she was and WHY she was going through my papers. :: "Who your friend is?!" "What she doing over there?!" Circle Time was not as focused as usual, but the questions are completely valid ... there was a stranger in their Preschool!

[Country Kids]

Mine cannot handle anyone besides the everyday people at all in the house. They go into total uncontrollable mode.

In fact last month was a hard month for me health wise. The food lady came one day when I wasn't feeling good and my group was.......well there are no words for it.

I actually heavily considered closing my childcare that day and was very serious about it. My emotions were high, my health not good and this drove me over the edge. Believe me it will not happen again and if it does there will be terming of children. In my eyes there is no excuse for that.

[SunshineMama]

My licensor came today and was training in a new person so my visit was extra long.... . My kids were off the wall. 2dck cannot function at all when other people are in my house. Is this normal or should I be extra annoyed that these two can not no matter how many reminders behave with others. ??? Wwyd in this case? Dcb is 4 and does fine here with firm reminders and no leash for nonsense. I know he knows the rules so someone here is not a free pass to be intentionally naughty (hurt my son, jump on my off limits couch, stand on kitchen chairs). I'm not talking about getting excited or rambunctious, intentionally naughty.

Mine always act up when other people come over, parents, etc.

[kayla]

I have same issues.. Not only with people like licensor, food program worker, but other parents as well. I can't even have an interview with dck's present because they start acting crazy...

[jojosmommy]

Mine cannot handle anyone besides the everyday people at all in the house. They go into total uncontrollable mode.

In fact last month was a hard month for me health wise. The food lady came one day when I wasn't feeling good and my group was.......well there are no words for it.

I actually heavily considered closing my childcare that day and was very serious about it. My emotions were high, my health not good and this drove me over the edge. Believe me it will not happen again and if it does there will be terming of children. In my eyes there is no excuse for that.

These are my thoughts. Don't parents teach their children to behave acceptably with all adults?? These two kids are from one family and completely angered me. Seriously made me mad which is hard to do because I completely understand kids are complex beings with intentions all their own. Do I even mention it to their mother even though I know it doesn't mean anything to her? Do you all do timeouts after the guest leaves then when behavior is unnecessarily naughty? I wasn't sure what to do.

[jojosmommy]

Mine always act up when other people come over, parents, etc.

So do you put up with that constant naughty just for attention behavior everyday? Doesn't that teach them you accept that behavior when others are present? How do you nip it in the bud? I won't allow someone to hold me hostage by their behavior everyday the entire pick up/drop off time. I have to be able to communicate with parents even if someone decides he wants to run the show.

[Hunni Bee]

Who your friend is?!" "What she doing over there?"

::::

[Christian Mother]

These are my thoughts. Don't parents teach their children to behave acceptably with all adults?? These two kids are from one family and completely angered me. Seriously made me mad which is hard to do because I completely understand kids are complex beings with intentions all their own. Do I even mention it to their mother even though I know it doesn't mean anything to her? Do you all do timeouts after the guest leaves then when behavior is unnecessarily naughty? I wasn't sure what to do.

Ohh, I've got to jump in on this one bc a few months ago this was me... Although I don't have the food lady come or lic. It really matter bc even a parent will come for pick up and one child out of the bunch will act totally out of control. Which leads them all to behave the exact same way. So I discipline them right there and then. I have them either sit in time out or have them sit on the couch by them selves and I angle my self right next to them so they aren't bouncing up and down or slamming their backs up against the couch...it drives me batty! I ashually started pushing snack back so that when parents come it is when the kids are sitting down for snack. I make sure all is ready to go for pick up. Kids have their shoes on things ready to go so all they have to do is wash hands quickly and head out the door. The rest are busy with their snack. Mine have started coming right around the same time now which is awesome I absolutely love it!! I will be making sure that when I interview my next kids that all will have the same schedules. Makes it a lot easier to do projects and learning activities.

[Country Kids]

Mine cannot handle anyone besides the everyday people at all in the house. They go into total uncontrollable mode.

In fact last month was a hard month for me health wise. The food lady came one day when I wasn't feeling good and my group was.......well there are no words for it.

I actually heavily considered closing my childcare that day and was very serious about it. My emotions were high, my health not good and this drove me over the edge. Believe me it will not happen again and if it does there will be terming of children. In my eyes there is no excuse for that.

Forgot to add in this post that she came right at naptime-. Mine were all running around yelling, screaming, just plain out of control. I couldn't believe they were acting this way! It was plain ridiculous.

[Heidi]

Yep...this is the main reason I am worried about the star-rating thing. My consultant keeps saying "you know, they DO know you're working with children".


Yeah.....we'll see

[Blackcat31]

Because of the fact that I knew this would be an issue BEFORE I started daycare, I have always taken a pro-active approach to this and regularly discuss with my DCK's that I expect them to behave in a certain way, especially when someone stops over unannounced or unexpectedly.

I have also talked with them right before I know someone is coming over so they know that when that the visitor is here, they need to behave normally.

I haven't done this in a while but a few years ago, I had friend stop over on purpose (although the kids didn't know I had planned it) and used this "unannounced" visit as a practice session so the kids knew how to behave and so that I knew who was going to need a bit more guidance.

I think discussing and practicing behaviors for when a visitor is present to be important as we all know that this kind of thing can and does happen often. It is all part of good social skills IMO.

[quailsgarden]

One of my DC kids who was 4 at the time used to be out of control during drop off. After coutless attempts of trying to curb the behavior I started seatbelting him in a booster seat at the kitchen table (kitchen/living space is open concept) with a puzzle or some other quiet activity. This worked wonders.

[Countrygal]

I have this issue as well. I don't have it too much at pick-up any more. That struggle has been worked through.

However, when there is a visitor here, or even a phone call, it's another matter entirely.

Here's how I do it with some limited success. I say limited because I think with kids and visitors/phone convos you will constantly be interrupting your conversations to deal with the kids in one way or another (EVERYONE has to go potty about the time we get into a good conversation)::::

Phone: if it is a call I have to take then the kids sit at a table near me with coloring. All other calls are made at my convenience.

Visitors: I've resorted to movies. I give up. It works. They get a video (usually something like Sesame Street or Blue's Clues or some such). That way I can carry on most of a conversation and they get a little treat as well, because we don't watch many videos here. Not even one a day.

I also be sure to introduce them and give a short description of who is here and how long we'll be. Then I reinforce how I expect them to behave. Then I put in a video.