Opening Early

[Unregistered]

I'm trying to talk myself into opening early.I know we (daycare providers) usually say that no amount of money is worth opening earlier or later.This may be an exception
My hours now are 7a.m.-5:30p.m. Although I am usually off a couple days by 4:30p.m.,which is super nice.
If I took this family back after maternity leave they would need daycare from 6:30a.m.-5:30p.m. That just seems like such a long day for the kids but she has a long commute and lives an hour away so her husband can't pick up.
I don't know if I want to but the pay is sooooo good.I might have to make a sacrifice and just work extra hours. It's an extra $20,000 a year.How can I turn that down? Any suggestions?
I'm leaning towards yes but I just don't know?

[crazydaycarelady]

I recently started for a family that needed to come at 6:30 even though I don't open until 7:30am. It is only 2-3 days per week. They ended up being my favorite family. I answer the door in my jammies, the baby goes back to sleep, and the 3yo watches tv while I get ready and get quite a bit done. Then I officially start my day at 7:30 like always.

[EntropyControlSpecialist]

We used to open at 8:00. Now, we open at 7:00 for a few families. They have between 7:00-7:25 to drop their children off (after that we do not answer the door until 8:00). The children rest on their cots until breakfast and we just go about our morning. No sweat off our backs. We don't charge more for the early drop off, but it has allowed some clients to attend that wouldn't have been able to otherwise.

If you think you can make it work, I would. We have a child who is here for 11 hours and he is fine. Just asks for mama a lot the last 45 minutes.

[sharlan]

I open at 6, but have one that comes at 5AM 3 days a week. The rest all come between 7 and 8.

The one that comes at 5 goes back to bed and I chill out until 6:40, then take a shower and get moving.

[cheerfuldom]

do you have a trial basis outlined in your contract? i do not take kids out of my normal business hours but if a really really good pay increase came up, i would take it and then let go of other kids to keep the workload manageable.

[seebachers]

wow....how many kids is she bringing to make you $20,000 extra a year???? I probably would consider it, but parents just don't pay $385 a week here. I won't even make $20,000 for the entire year, but that's ok - I like my hours and I am ok with my pay.

Good luck to you.

[DaisyMamma]

If I were you I would do a two week trial period to make sure its not too much.

Then I would hire someone for $100/week to come in and sub for you from 3:30-5:30 everyday so you can clean or go out with your own kids.

It's only a half hour. Be clear that they cannot come even one minute early or pickup late.