Would You Ask Them to Pick Up Early?

[small_steps]

I just found out that 2 of my daycare kids are leaving at 12:30...the 3rd is leaving at 3 and the last two (a sibling set) are always here until 5:30 on the dot (closing time). Mom is a teacher and is home this summer however she and dad were out of town the first few days of the week and now she is sick. Kids have been here 3 days this week. They pay for drop in days which is $40 per day per child. Since all of my kids will be gone by 3 except hers I was thinking maybe I should message her and see if she could get the kids by 3 today. I'm even willing to give her the mother's day out rate which is half of what she paid for today. So she would be getting a credit of $40 for next week.

I don't mind staying open with just her two for 2 and a half extra hours and normally wouldn't even consider asking her but I really need to do some shopping and get some housework done for my Mother's Day Out open house tomorrow and my son's bday party this weekend.

What would you do? Ask her to come early? I know she is probably going to be home. We are neighbors so she is home most of the time. Or would you just not ask and keep the kiddos until closing? Keep in mind that I open early often for them and usually don't charge extra just because they are neighbors and it's usually for a good reason like dr visits or something like that.

[Truly Scrumptious]

I changed my contract to include "Off Day" Hours. There is no reason for children to be in care for the same amount of time needed when parents are working.
Now depending on the situation, I might allow early or extended hours for an off day.

[itlw8]

I would ask.

dcm everyone will be leaving by 3 today.If it is possibl could you pick them up by three. I will give you a discount for the day.

If it is not possible don't worry.

[Crazy8]

normally I wouldn't ask, I'm a little passive aggressive that way and usually just mention they are the only ones... but in your case for today, if you are willing to discount her rate I would probably shoot her a message letting her know its an option.

[small_steps]

I would ask.

dcm everyone will be leaving by 3 today.If it is possibl could you pick them up by three. I will give you a discount for the day.

If it is not possible don't worry.

This is what I did. I told her no big deal if she couldn't but that they would be the only ones after 3 and it would help me because I had some errands in another town that could get done today. Been an hour since she read the text and so far no response. So maybe that's a no? Guess we will see later on.

[EchoMom]

I asked once. I usually have six kids including my own but everyone happened to be on vacation or off on Friday. I only had one baby who was here until three, but I know her mom gets off work at noon so I just mentioned that her daughter would be the only one and with a random after noon free I wanted to make an appointment so what time should I expect her? She usually comes anytime from noon to 3 so it was no problem and she got her at one leaving me with most of my friday free.

I don't think it hurts to ask very nicely and not be upset if they say no, that's the hard part.

[small_steps]

Well she text me a couple of hours after I sent her the message and said that should be fine. So yay I have a couple extra hours off and now I'm off to get my sons birthday party supplies in a bigger town that's about a 35 minute drive. I should be home early enough that I still have time to get ready for my mother's day out open house tomorrow.

She didn't seem upset that I asked or anything, plus it saved her $40.

[momma2girls]

I changed my contract to include "Off Day" Hours. There is no reason for children to be in care for the same amount of time needed when parents are working.
Now depending on the situation, I might allow early or extended hours for an off day.

How do you have this worded? I would love to know. My one family is off on vac. all the time, but still bring the children, exactly the same time for drop off and pick up!!

[Truly Scrumptious]

How do you have this worded? I would love to know. My one family is off on vac. all the time, but still bring the children, exactly the same time for drop off and pick up!!

It's just an extra entry line in the contract. My families have contracted hours, so there's a place to list that and then under that it talks about "off hours".

Example:
*Contracted Days and Hours for Work Days ________________________
* Hours for Parent's Off Days: Drop off between 8:30 and 9:00/Pick up between 3:00 and 3:30.

I picked the times for off days because that's what works best for me. That's pretty much when our "school" day starts and ends. I just explain the details in the first interview and we go over it again during the third interview when contracts and policies are signed.