For those who drive with the kids?

[busymommy0420]

Do you ever run errands like to the bank? grocery store? I have and had one parent ask me not to run errands. It was not often that I did, but I don't see harm in the children seeing "real" life experiences. It is hard to balance sometimes considering I close at 6pm and the bank is only open until 4pm. My DH took a new job in August so has no time off yet.

[Zoe]

I drive my DD to school and pick her up from school every day. The dck's love it and it doesn't interfere with the parent's pick up/drop off schedules. I also go to the drive-thru teller bank every Tuesday after dropping off my daughter. if I've only got one dck, yes I may go do errands! It all depends on how your daycare is set up and if parents are ok with you transporting their children.

Now if you were doing errands/getting your nails done/whatever every day and ignoring the kids, then that's not great. But an occasional errand is fine IMHO.

[sharlan]

I take the kids with me to run errands, go out to lunch, take field trips, etc.

I always let the parents know up front that we go places.

[Nickel]

I try my hardest not to run errands while I have dck. It is also one of my selling points during an interview. I do however pick up and drop off my child at the school and I make that clear. I also tell them that if there pick up time is around 3pm that they must pick up before 2:45 or after 3:15. I will not wait for them to show up... I have parents sign a general transportation form.

The only errands I run is for school events such as parent conferences, etc or doctor appointments. They get an option. Either I take their child with or they have to pick up early. .... Usually they opt to let me take them with.

For other things like going to the library, park, etc I consider those field trips and schedule those in advance. For these I send home a permission slip with the same stipulation. If you don't want your child to participate then parents must find alternate care.

I've had no problems so far. As for banking, I do all of my banking either online or using the atm. I can deposit checks and cash through the atm at one bank and my other bank I can upload a photo of the check and cash it digitally.

I don't think running errands is necessarily a bad thing, but I would make it clear during the interview process that you DO run errands occasionally. When my oldest dd was an infant I was dead set against my sitter leaving the home unless she notified me first. With my youngest dd (who was older when she started dc) I knew her provider well and didn't have an issue with her taking my daughter somewhere. Just my opinion/experience

[bgmeyers]

I do take the kids places. It's very clearly spelled out in my policy book. We could go to the bank and then we might go to the park. Or I will drop my son off at football and then we go to the beach. I supply all carseats except for infants and the children all learn how to be safe and follow my rules EXACTLY. No problems ever, and they kids are so good.

[daycare]

I never run errands, but I do have my husband as my backup. SO if I do need to run errands, I will leave during nap time to take care of whatever is needed.

When my husband worked two jobs, he was not around, but I have electronic banking, meaning I don't need to go inside the bank, it does not matter what time I get there. I do only atm and on-line

Is it possible for you to find a bank that you can do electronic banking? Or maybe a day where you can have someone come into relive you?

I do a ton of field trips, but they are planned and the parents always know where we are. What time we leave, I let everyone know when we arrive and I let everyone know when we get back. This way they know where their child is at, at all times.

Also, since I do so many outings, if a family told me they did not want their child to go outside the home, then I would have to let them go. We leave the house at least 2-4 days out of the week.
Or they can choose to keep their child home and still pay for care that day...

[kathiemarie]

We go everywhere! Target, food shopping, out to lunch, field trips, my kids sporting events, etc. That is part of my program. I am a home daycare provider. I do things with the kids that the parents would do with them if they were home. The kids also help fold towels, wipe down the walls and chairs, pull weeds and water the plants, etc. If the parents don't like it... to bad they can find other care.

[Blackcat31]

Do you ever run errands like to the bank? grocery store? I have and had one parent ask me not to run errands. It was not often that I did, but I don't see harm in the children seeing "real" life experiences. It is hard to balance sometimes considering I close at 6pm and the bank is only open until 4pm. My DH took a new job in August so has no time off yet.

If you have in your contract that you transport children whenever needed, I would continue to do as you do.

Kids SHOULD see real life experiences and a DCD telling me what to do would probably set me off (IF he knew when signing on that I take kids in my car)

I do not transport children and never will. Too much liability and not something I really want to do as I have no small children of my own, like my car clean as it is and I have 12 DCK's so I would have to own a small bus! LOL!

[saved4always]

I used to pick my kids up from school or go to the bank drive through but that was about all the travelling we did.

[MarinaVanessa]

Up front during the first initial call I let families know that I drive and take the kids out. I remind them again during interviews and again at sign-up. It's in my handbook and contract.

I take and pick up my DD from school everyday as well as pick a pre-schooler up and a kindy kid so parents know up front that if they want a provider that doesn't go anywhere ... I am not the right person for them.

Sometimes we leave 30 minutes earlier than usual to pick up my DD and I take the daycare kids to the park adjacent to the school. We play there for those 30 minutes and we sometimes stay 30 minutes after (1 hour total). I sometimes take them to the grocery store, craft store, library etc. with me (all 7) and never when I need a lot of items ... only when I know it'll be short but it's part of learning to use our "manners". The kids practice not asking for anything, staying close, using their inside voices etc. I never tell my parents when we're leaving, they pretty much give me free reign but they know that I'll be back in time to be picked up. BUT my DCK's are well behaved and they know the routine and rules. If one acts up they all lose the privelege of going again until they can all follow the rules etc. I also stop taking the kids to stores if we get a new child in the group until we practice the rules on short walks and the child gets the concept.

I think that if you've already been able to go on errands and the parents all knew about it beforehand and just now the DCP has told you she doesn't want you doing so then it's up to you whether to just not go on errands or let her know that you will continue to do so. If you don't want to make waves maybe you can just limit the errands to only the bank on your paydays or something when you absolutely have to if that's possible. Most banks allow you to deposit checks and cash at their branch ATMs now at any time so is that a possibility?

[Sunchimes]

I do. We live in a small town. I tell them at the start that I run my daycare like the kids are my grandkids. If I need to go to the bank, park, library, or post office (pretty much our only options here), we put the kids in the car and go. Oh, and garage sales too. I don't like to drive, so we only go when hubby is home. Before I got the infant, we went more than we have the last few months. He's no trouble, except it's hard to carry him around. He weighs 25 pounds at 7 months old. He isn't old enough to know how to hang on when you carry him, so it's like carrying around a huge sack of potatoes. :: Once he learns to hold on so that he's easy to carry, we will hit the road more.

There are times we need to make the trip to the bigger towns 35 and 55 miles away. If we are staying in town, I don't tell them in advance. But, if we go out of town, I let them know that morning or as soon as I know. Last year, we took two 14 month olds 75 miles to the State Fair! All parents have signed a release and I have car seats bought new last year.

I wouldn't do it any other way.

[BABYLUVER]

I ran a family daycare. Therefore, we did the same things we'd do in my family, but with added learning activities and a structured schedule. That said, the parents rarely wanted to or could take time off. I worked very long hours (5am-past 6:30pm). I explained to my dcp's that I would be p/u & d/o kids to/from school, that I would have dr. appts from time to time, I would go grocery shopping, to the bank, to shop at the mall and all kinds of stuff.

I incorporated any of these trips into learning experiences. For example, when we went to the bank, I'd let the kids count change. If we went to Safeway, they could pay for one of their own items (of course I gave them the money). If we went to the mall, we'd all look at the animals and window shop and get ice cream. I never limited myself because other children were there. Each of my parents signed a transportation form giving me blanket permission to take the children anywhere I needed to. If they didn't want to take the time off, then they didn't get to dictate my schedule.