Changing Contract to Incl. Only Working Hours

[daycare]

Where did I say they go out for the day? The families I have now are very nice and very reliable. I have no beef with any of them. A majority of them live farther away and work nearby. I really dont seethem driving to me if theyre not going to work. And, if theyre home sick, they always tell me theyll be home and to contact them if dck shows symptoms. 85% of the time if a parent is sick, the kids stay home with them.

I dont chase families around. I also dont get overly involved. Ive termed ONE family for multiple violations. This happened to be one.

The dcm I termed lied. Lied about being at work, lied about being late (45 minutes beyond closing time and had been at a pub drinking!! She didnt have a sales job and I called work after she didnt answer her cell. They told me she hadnt been in that day.

If families can't be honest with me, I just dont want to work for them. To me its accepting dirty money.

not that I want to argure about it....but in your first post you mention this

I wanted to get dinner started at home first' and 'had a great day at the spa...I was almost bored!'. At first I wasn't bothered, but now it's becoming a normal thing and I'm finding that I'm becoming upset with them, especially when they arrive late when I know they have the day off.


then you said.....
Yes, I really do think they tell me the truth! I work for families that enjoy their children and want to spend as much time with them as possible.

and you also said you termed a mom for taking the day off work to go out drinking??


I do have a hard time understanding english so it could be me....Like I said I am just confused to what you mean

[Blackcat31]

not that I want to argure about it....but in your first post you mention this

I wanted to get dinner started at home first' and 'had a great day at the spa...I was almost bored!'. At first I wasn't bothered, but now it's becoming a normal thing and I'm finding that I'm becoming upset with them, especially when they arrive late when I know they have the day off.

I think you are misunderstanding....those words (above) were what the OP, which is Mom&Provider, said in her first post not wdmmom's post.

I think you might be merging two different posters into one.

then you said.....
Yes, I really do think they tell me the truth! I work for families that enjoy their children and want to spend as much time with them as possible.

and you also said you termed a mom for taking the day off work to go out drinking??

She did say those things, but in response to you.

[daycare]

now you know why I don't understand half the stuff I read.....

[Starburst]

It's all your choice... but some may still try to sneek around

If it really bothers you that much I would put something like this in the contract(you can reword it if you want):
"Due to the high demand of affordable child care with a flexabile schedule and the importance of family involvement in a child's life, I try to make it a point that children are only in my care when their parents are at work/ in school.Parents are encouraged to tell me if their work/school/ or child care needs schedules change." then add that to your new policy and have them sign and date it.

This part is optional if you want to add it and you can change whatever you want:
"... as a (wife and/or parent) myself I do understand that it is important to have some alone time to have fun or work on your marraige. I may occationally offer date nights or slumber parties outside of regular daycare hours they are not requested only days that I agree to and only if enough sign ups (at least 3-5 people) for a small addintional fee (cheaper than a babysitter rate: like $15 per child/family for 3 or 4 hours); I will/will not except infants/toddler or children under 3. If you pick up your child later than the agreed time you will be subject to an aditional fee of ($5 every 15/30 minutes) doors will close at (9pm, 10pm-whatever you want). If your child/ren spends the night it is $25 per child/family, if you did not pay this before it will be added to your next bill and is subject to late fees. I {do/do not} offer sibling discounts.

[Blackcat31]

now you know why I don't understand half the stuff I read.....

Don't feel bad....it happens to me too and I was born and raised here

[snips&snails]

I charge for the scheduled days regardless of whether they work or not - if you want them to keep their children with them when they aren't working, are you going to deduct this from their tuition? I do write specific hours in each contract & I would certainly be ticked off if they were late for these reasons!!

[Kim]

I switched this fall to contracted hours and it's been so much better for me. I also shortened my hours and close at 5 now since I started noticing that my latest pick ups were the parents that were running errands after work. They didn't NEED care past 5. I now have certain hours I am available to provide care but each family has contracted hours within those available hours. This is what I have in my handbook: Care is available Monday through Friday between the hours of 6:30am and 5:00pm. Each child’s days and hours of care are determined with each family to accommodate the hours needed for work and commute times.

I personally don't care what my parents do while their kids are here BUT I think it's unfair to the child to be left in care for 10-11 hours when it's not necessary. And I also notice that my worst behaved kids are those left in care the longest. Their behavior is definitely effected when they aren't getting the attention they need from their parents. I don't care if they don't go to work or if they leave work early to run errands. I make it very clear that parents need to be honest about not being at work for the day. In an emergency I don't want to waste time calling two or three phone numbers to reach them. I've had parents drop off their kids and go play golf. Makes no difference to me as long as they return by their contracted pick up time.

[cheerfuldom]

I havent had a huge issue with this particular scenario. I actually have the opposite issue where parents rush in to snatch little angel like i am the devil that keeps them away from their child.

anyway, I dont care what they do with the time I provide daycare, as long as I get paid. I offer 10 hours max but there is only on family that takes that and they do work that whole time.

[CozyHome]

Wow, I don't personally care if my dcparents are at work or at home or whatever. But if I call their cell phone when I need them if their child vomits, etc. they had better answer pronto! I do my dcparents the courtesy of always telling them where we are going every morning, to the park or library or staying in or playing outsid on my property. I expect them to tell me where they will be as well. This is for safety or emergency reasons only. I don't care what the parents are doing.

[Meeko]

I personally don't give a hoot what the parent is doing after they drop off.

But heaven help anyone who picks up late.

[Mom&Provider]

Thanks everyone for your responses. I knew it was a hot topic and one we often think about.

I'm definately not the type of provider that cares 100% of the time that parents are at work and not shopping etc. but, my issue was that this family is taking it to new levels and making it a regular thing AND almost rubbing it in my face at pick-up. Also like another person said, it's not that they bring them so they can do whatever, its that they drop them off the second I open and don't pick-up till I close - that's a long day and when DCM isn't around 95% of the time to even get her little one into bed at night due to her job, I'd hope she would show more interest in being in her childs life. Obviously none of my business, but that doesn't mean I have to agree.

Recently what set me off was DCM saying in the morning, 'bye X, Mommy is going to work', only for her to arrive at my place right at closing and say to me during our daily follow-up about her child 'oh, didn't I tell you I was off today?'

I think I will take BC's advice and just talk specifically to this family. I want them to know I am here to take care of their child, but my concern is that I'm turning into a babysitter as someone else mentioned also and not being viewed as a professional or at least I dont feel like I am to them!

[Heidi]

Thanks everyone for your responses. I knew it was a hot topic and one we often think about.

I'm definately not the type of provider that cares 100% of the time that parents are at work and not shopping etc. but, my issue was that this family is taking it to new levels and making it a regular thing AND almost rubbing it in my face at pick-up. Also like another person said, it's not that they bring them so they can do whatever, its that they drop them off the second I open and don't pick-up till I close - that's a long day and when DCM isn't around 95% of the time to even get her little one into bed at night due to her job, I'd hope she would show more interest in being in her childs life. Obviously none of my business, but that doesn't mean I have to agree.

Recently what set me off was DCM saying in the morning, 'bye X, Mommy is going to work', only for her to arrive at my place right at closing and say to me during our daily follow-up about her child 'oh, didn't I tell you I was off today?'

I think I will take BC's advice and just talk specifically to this family. I want them to know I am here to take care of their child, but my concern is that I'm turning into a babysitter as someone else mentioned also and not being viewed as a professional or at least I dont feel like I am to them!

Totally agree, especially about the behavior part. That's been my experience, too. With my termed family, most times the mom spent a maybe a half hour in the morning and a little over an hour in the evening with her kids. Oh, except the 20 minutes they were in the car each way, which was TOTAL CHAOS. Screaming, crying, nashing of teeth the whole way, both ways, each day.

[mbullette]

I honestly would not worry about how they spend their day while you watch their child. You are getting paid so I wouldn't be worried. If they are late then charge a late fee. If its a habit of coming late then charge a higher late fee and they will get the hint. I have a mom who has Monday's off and her child still comes here. She cleans her home, goes shopping and schedules her appointments that day. As long as I am getting paid I dont care what she is doing.

[Hazel]

For me, my house is open. I am available 7:30am to 5:30pm, Monday thru Friday. I don't give a hoot what the parent is doing... I am doing my job. Now, does that mean I don't get irritated when a kid is dropped off at the crack of dawn and then picked up at the last possible second bc the parents went home to nap? Or start dinner? No. But I keep it to myself.
Do I get annoyed that one DCF and I have agreed that since mom gets stuck at work (works locally and lives far) I would be ok with the extra 15 or so mins once or twice a week, yet when DCD (who is a graduate student taking online classes) needs to pick up bc DCM is working really late, HE also waits till the last possible second? Yes! Bc I feel I give them a break by not charging for the extra 15 or so mins then he could give ME a break by coming a bit early..... But they are a great family! Love them to death! Have been with me for a year and a half with 2 kids and have another on the way that is planning to join our group.
Do I get annoyed that one dad works as a bartender and mostly weekends, brings DCG for social interaction, but drops off when I open (right after he drops older son off at school) yet picks up when I close and not when he goes out to get son from school? And has even been 1 hour late bc he fell asleep and didnt answer phone when I called and called? Yes! But again, awesome family! Sweet kid!
My point is, everyone has their way of doing things. If you feel they are taking advance of you, then you need to change your policies. I think, for me, I would loose business if I worked it that way. Plus, they would probably just lie!
I personally hate to go shopping and have to listen to other peoples kids screaming and crying and often think "good lord! Leave them home!" bc my kids are big now and I have enough of toddlers during the 50 hours I care for them. Does that mean I don't LOVE kids? Heck no! Just that I understand why parents do what they do! Lol

[Hazel]

I honestly would not worry about how they spend their day while you watch their child. You are getting paid so I wouldn't be worried. If they are late then charge a late fee. If its a habit of coming late then charge a higher late fee and they will get the hint. I have a mom who has Monday's off and her child still comes here. She cleans her home, goes shopping and schedules her appointments that day. As long as I am getting paid I dont care what she is doing.

I had the same thing. When they signed up with 2 kids, dad was deployed and mom off Fridays. They contracted 5 days bc this gives mom a day to get her stuff done and be able to spend quality time with her kids on the weekend. She comes later in the mornings (later than when she's working) and picks up earlier than normal. Sometimes she gets called into work as well, so it just made sense to reserve those 2 spots bc she could need them at any time. I'm happy to hear about her day when she picks up!