Staying Later Then Scheduled Time

[professionalmom]

Second and totally off of the subject and random. Am I the only one that gets irritated when I am referred to as a "sitter" or "babysitter"? One of my DC littles was playing pretend that she was a babysitter "Look Vanessa, I'm a babysitter like you!" and I smiled of course, but I couldn't help but correct her "I'm not a babysitter silly, I'm a childcare provider" and then we went into what the differences between the two are . I'm sorry, I just can't help it. I read a great passage somewhere and included that in my policy book also. It reads like this:

"One of the important elements in home childcare is mutual respect between the parent and the provider. We both have a great responsibility for the health, care and the teaching of your child. You of course are the primary nurturer for your child but during the times your child is in my care I will love, nurture and protect your child. Therefore it is only reasonable that you respect me as more than just a “babysitter”. If you promise not to refer to me as a babysitter I promise not to sit on your baby."

First, YES, it does bother me to be called a sitter or babysitter. ANYONE can be a babysitter. That's what you call the teenager from across the street that comes over for 2-4 hours on a Friday evening. She has no experience, no training, no agency inspecting her, often no CPR or First Aid certification, etc. I am an educated, trained, very experienced PROFESSIONAL. I don't just sit there and keep the kids alive. I work with them, teach them, guide them, direct them, plan and serve nutritious meals based on the training I have received in childhood nutritional needs, etc. There is a BIG difference.

I equally dislike being treated like THEIR child is the only child I have, that THEY are my bosses and will dictate how care is given (requests are appreciated, but not orders), and that they are to be given special treatment over the other children (including my own!). That would describe a NANNY.

As for the bolded part - that HAS to be the quote of the day! ::I laughed out loud and my DC kids who are trying to go to sleep heard me! ::Plus, I almost peed my pants (but, that's not hard to do since I'm pregnant). I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE that quote. May I steal it?

[MarinaVanessa]

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE that quote. May I steal it?

By all means, it's not my quote anyway. I read it somewhere and I stole it also. It has got to be one of the greatest things I had ever heard.

[laundryduchess@yahoo.com]

Thanks Marinavanessa,.. =-) I wrote it about 14 years ago.
still to this day when someone calls for information they say,.. Im calling about babysitting,.. I answer with, Oh Im not a baby sitter, Im a childcare provider, I stopped sitting on them when I was 4.

[professionalmom]

Thanks Marinavanessa,.. =-) I wrote it about 14 years ago.
still to this day when someone calls for information they say,.. Im calling about babysitting,.. I answer with, Oh Im not a baby sitter, Im a childcare provider, I stopped sitting on them when I was 4.

::::::::::

[MarinaVanessa]

Thanks Marinavanessa,.. =-) I wrote it about 14 years ago.
still to this day when someone calls for information they say,.. Im calling about babysitting,.. I answer with, Oh Im not a baby sitter, Im a childcare provider, I stopped sitting on them when I was 4.

Lol, I love it. I think I found it when I was googling around for ideas on a parent handbook. It was probably from your contract or handbook if you have it posted online. Thanks for letting me steal it .

[momma2girls]

that's why I don't have open/closed hours anymore. I only do the client's contracted hours. I have a form that is filled in showing the days of the week & the hours the client needs care. Then below that it is written that anything before or after the contracted hours will be charged an extra fee per hour or half hour or whatever. You based your fees on what hours she needed I assume so it is unfair for her to tack on extra hours. I'd strongly encourage you to write up a new contract regarding this client's hours & re-word it so you don't have the open/closing timeframes, just the client's work hours with 1/2 hr tacked on on each end for commute times.

I totally agree, I had to change mine about 4 yrs. ago, due to everyone abusing the hrs. drop off and pick up times, then it made me open 1- 1 1/2 hrs. more than my hrs. I was so tired of everyone either dropping off early or picking up late!! One parent sees the other child still here, then they come later, then one sees someone drop off earlier, so then everyone thought I was a 24 hr. Walmart, which totally ****ed for us!!! We weren't on time to important things, senior things, ballgames,dinners, parties, practices, swimming lessons,girl scouts, the list goes on and on..... It ****ed!!! I would suggest everyone adopt this- work and commute times only!!!! Anything over this will be considered OT, and make your rate- I have $5.00 PER 15 MIN.

[professionalmom]

Anything over this will be considered OT, and make your rate- I have $5.00 PER 15 MIN.

I have $5 for every 10 minutes or part thereof.

That's a good phrase to add "or part thereof". It means 1-10 min late = $5. 11-20 minutes late = $10. And so on. Otherwise, they will push it and say, "well, I was only 9 minutes late and your contract says PER 10 MIN and I wasn't 10 minutes late. So you can't charge UNTIL I'm 10 minutes late." Trust me, some people know how to twist and turn every little thing around and make it seem vague and open to interpretation.

[alyssyn]

I have $5 for every 10 minutes or part thereof.

That's a good phrase to add "or part thereof". It means 1-10 min late = $5. 11-20 minutes late = $10. And so on. Otherwise, they will push it and say, "well, I was only 9 minutes late and your contract says PER 10 MIN and I wasn't 10 minutes late. So you can't charge UNTIL I'm 10 minutes late." Trust me, some people know how to twist and turn every little thing around and make it seem vague and open to interpretation.

That is a good phrase to add! I'm gonna add it to my contract also.

[Unregistered]

I also have contracted hours 1 parent drops off at 7:30 and picks up at 5:30 and the other parent drops off at 8am and picks up at 5:30pm I would never open earlier then 7am and close later then 5:30pm if someone asked me to close later or stay open later they would be told to find another daycare as I have a family too.

[MARSTELAC]

Can someone help me with contracted hours? I have several families who have kids from split families, alternating homes, parents have have different work schedules...one mom has two different jobs with varying daily hours, the dad is a farmer and his hours vary, another family has a mom that her job location changes daily as does commute time....am I out of luck on contracted hours then?

[marniewon]

Not sure about many of them, but for the mom who has a different commute time, you can see how long it takes her to get to/from her farthest job and add that amount to the hours of care for her contracted hours.

For the split families, I'm assuming you mean there are different kids that come different days/times? On my contract I have a different section for each child in the family and have each child's contracted hours depending on their need.

Hopefully someone else can help you with the other ones.

[MARSTELAC]

thank you....the split families...sorry...parents are split and spend some days with mom, some with dad and they both have funky work schedules...and one parent pays one week, the other the next. it gets totally confusing :-(

[MyAngels]

I suppose I would just give them a range, from the earliest drop off time to the latest pick up time, and that would be their hours. I don't do contracted hours, I'm just open 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., and my families have always been really good at sticking to their work hours for the most part, anyway. Sorry, I'm not much help, am I?

[Unregistered]

Wording is very important

What worked for me was changing the wording in my contract and instead of having set hours that I offer, I have the parents set contracted hours. I have them provide arrival and departure times for each day of the week and I tell them to make sure that they factor in driving time.

[nannyde]

Second and totally off of the subject and random. Am I the only one that gets irritated when I am referred to as a "sitter" or "babysitter"?

Nope it doesn't bother me at all. All my parents call me the babysitter.
I am a babysitter. I've never had aspirations of being a professional childcare provider. I've built my business on babysitting.

It's simple and I like simple.