Late Drop Off..

[nanglgrl]

Thank you everyone for the responses! I hate having so many rules and sometimes question if I'm too strict. I've never had a parent complain about the rules but by nature I'm easy going so having to tell people they can't drop off late unless it has been arranged is hard. For years it worked for me to not have contracts. People paid on Monday before care so that was never an issue and during the interviews I would tell them that our situation was based on a mutual respect for each other, that my rules were pretty simple..stick to your contracted hours, pay on time, have your child ready for daycare each morning, don't bring a sick child and if you question the care I provide find a new daycare arrangement as soon as possible. I also said that if you can't follow the very basic rules that are really just common sense that I would terminate their contract. It worked for so long and I rarely if ever had problems. Now it seems I have to make a rule about everything. It seems silly to me that I should have to have a rule about changing your child out of their morning diaper before they come in the morning but that's where I am. Is this everywhere? Are parent's just becoming more and more lazy and entitled feeling?

[Unregistered]

Calm down daycare workers over kids being literally 2 min late!

I'm not talking about a parent dropping off 5 minutes late, I'm talking about 10 minutes or more late.

Does it bother you?
If so, why?
What does your contract say about it?
If they call ahead of the regular drop off time to arrange a late drop off do you allow it? Is there a certain time they HAVE to arrive by or you will turn them away? What if they did this often?
What if they don't call at all do you call them? Do you allow them to still drop the child off?

Hopefully someone can help me out here. Dropping a child off late does bother me. I find it disruptive to our routine.
If they call me ahead of time I don't have a problem with it as long as it is not a regular thing and also as long as the reason for the late drop off wasn't that the child was sleeping in because then the child is not ready for a nap so they keep the other children up and they NEED their sleep. If they often arrive late I would insist they either show up on time or change their scheduled drop off time. I insist that children arrive no later than 9 a.m. if they are not able to be there until after 9 then they are not allowed to come until 3:00 p.m. the same applies if they don't call. If they don't call I call them but I then warn them that if they forget to call ahead of time on a regular basis they will have to change their drop off time.

I am always on time with my baby to daycare and today I was 2 min late!! And the daycare made a big stink out of it. Things happen and I even called way ahead of time to let them know I was running late. As a parent that pays a lot of money for daycare and the one time I am 2 min late dropping off my son and they almost deny him entrance is a dang SHAME!! your getting paid a lot money for these kids and I haven’t been late not one time! So I personally think that daycare workers need to chill as long as it isn’t more then 5 min! Life happens sometimes and if parents have to pay 300 or more a WEEK let us be late a few stupid minutes once a bluemoon! And don’t get your undies in a wad over it.

[Cat Herder]

I am always on time with my baby to daycare and today I was 2 min late!! And the daycare made a big stink out of it. Things happen and I even called way ahead of time to let them know I was running late. As a parent that pays a lot of money for daycare and the one time I am 2 min late dropping off my son and they almost deny him entrance is a dang SHAME!! your getting paid a lot money for these kids and I haven’t been late not one time! So I personally think that daycare workers need to chill as long as it isn’t more then 5 min! Life happens sometimes and if parents have to pay 300 or more a WEEK let us be late a few stupid minutes once a bluemoon! And don’t get your undies in a wad over it.

As a daycare owner I think parents should follow the policies of the contract they sign. If they cannot, they should find another daycare with policies that meet their needs. I will gladly get my "lot of money" from another parent who respects and follows my policy's. You are 100% replaceable and 100% unoriginal.

Good luck in your search for care that meets your families needs.

[Blackcat31]

I am always on time with my baby to daycare and today I was 2 min late!! And the daycare made a big stink out of it. Things happen and I even called way ahead of time to let them know I was running late. As a parent that pays a lot of money for daycare and the one time I am 2 min late dropping off my son and they almost deny him entrance is a dang SHAME!! your getting paid a lot money for these kids and I haven’t been late not one time! So I personally think that daycare workers need to chill as long as it isn’t more then 5 min! Life happens sometimes and if parents have to pay 300 or more a WEEK let us be late a few stupid minutes once a bluemoon! And don’t get your undies in a wad over it.

From my personal experience I am betting it was a whole lot more than 2 minutes if it is this upsetting.

I am also venturing to say that you've had other issues with the provider if they are willing to deny your child entry due to a mere 2 minutes.

Reading between the lines here is easy if you've been in the business long enough.

I wonder how many places of business would mind if you clocked in 2 minutes late all the time and then acted like it was no big deal. 2 minutes add up and if you have even a half a dozen kids that's 10-15 minutes of the day.

[Sunshine69]

I don’t require a fee for late drop-off but I do for late pick-up.

I understand that they sometimes have appointments and I work with them as long as they don’t abuse my flexibility. Most of my clients drop off by 8am. If they arrive later than 8:30, they’d better have been fed breakfast because I’m done serving breakfast by then. If all expected dc kids aren’t here by the time we leave for our walk, I leave a note on the door that we’ll be back.

I did have one child with divorced parents on a 2/2/3 schedule. I only contracted with the dad and mom was uncooperative. She was supposed to drop the child off at 9am on the days she exchanged custody with dad. She would show up anytime between 9:30 and 11:30am, sometimes with happy meal in hand for her child, saying he didn’t want to go. She wouldn’t communicate with the dad or myself about her arrival time. The child demanded undivided attention upon his arrival and usually wouldn’t sleep at nap time because he’d been allowed to sleep in so late. It was just easier to stop accepting the child. Stinks for the dad but he didn’t do anything about it.