Weekend Holiday Care?

[Nickel]

I know someone had posted awhile back about offering child care on the weekends for parents to shop or whatever. I thought it was an excellent idea, so I went ahead and posted my ad on CL.

So I was hoping you all could let me know what you thought before too many people see it.

So here is the link. Please be brutally honest!!! Thanks in advance!!!

http://sanangelo.craigslist.org/kid/3444497609.html

[Meeko]

Looks good to me. I like the fact you have limited them to three hours.

I always plan for the worst....for example....what will you do if a parent signs up for 9-12 on Saturday morning and then doesn't show up until almost 1PM with no call....won't answer phone etc. You may try and call them, but get the "my phone never rang!" excuse. They won't be bothered about upsetting you as they don't plan on being back.

I would charge the $15 and also get a $20 refundable deposit. If they pick up on time, they get that back. If they are more than 10 minutes late, you keep it. Require them to sign in and out.

Maybe write up a short "contract" that they must sign at drop off. They must agree to payment requirements, agree to answer their phone immediately and stop shopping and come pick up their child if you needed them to. They must agree to be on time etc. Let them know ahead of time that they must bring all supplies (diapers/wipes etc) at drop off or they cannot stay.

There are always the parents out there who make us wonder why we bother to offer services. Cover your bases and I think you will make some extra SSS for yourself for Christmas!!!

[melilley]

I agree with Meeko, make sure you make a contract so that if something does happen, you are covered. I also like the idea of the deposit. I also like the idea of the time slots, but I personally would have a hard time shopping in 3 hours. Maybe you could be open for a certain time on Sat. and charge per hour? It's the holidays, lines are long and it takes time to drive to different places.
Great Idea though!
I did something of the sort for Black Friday, but had 0 responses, but I only advertised of Facebook..I only wanted people I knew or referrals of people that I knew.

[Mommy2One]

Looks great! I would edit this sentence: "I run a family-style home daycare and am opening up my weekend Holiday hours to the Public." to read "I run a family-style home daycare during the week, and during the month of December I am opening to the public during select weekend hours."

I also like the idea of the time slots, but I personally would have a hard time shopping in 3 hours. Maybe you could be open for a certain time on Sat. and charge per hour? It's the holidays, lines are long and it takes time to drive to different places.

I agree with this! Holiday crowds are already stressful and knowing that I had to be back within a set time would make it a miserable day for me. The stores are crowded, the lines are long, traffic (at least in my city) can be very unpredictable, etc. Maybe offer a set rate for a 3 hour time slot and then a higher hourly fee for anything over that? But then you probably could only do one, or maybe two sets of kids per day which might reduce your earnings...