Ringing My Doorbell....

[youretooloud]

I have a father of two kids. He can't handle the kids at all...they are nice boys, I don't have any problems with them. But, for him, they are more than he can deal with. (it's his own fault, I'm not making excuses)

Anyway... the three year old will ring and ring my doorbell every few days. Dad always says "He seems to have a need to ring doorbells". I am very firm with him... "You can ring your doorbell at home, but not at my house". But, a few days later, there he is, ringing it again.

He has apparently fried his own doorbell by ringing it so much.

I do not use time outs or punishment here. But, I'm thinking of implimenting a new timeout policy for him when he does this. He can come inside and sit down for X amount of minutes when he does this. I know he can control himself, but, mostly, I expect dad to say "nope! Not ringing the bell".

Everybody just walks in the house. The door doesn't get locked until the last child is here, so there's no reason to ring the door unless I've forgotten to unlock it.

[crazydaycarelady]

I'd tell him not to ring the doorbell and that if he does it again he is going to get a time out. Then give him a time out if he does it. He is old enough to learn this lesson. You can't rely on dcd obviously.

I have the same thing with my flower garden. I tell the kids not to go into it but when their parents are getting them in and out of the car they are picking flowers, stealing engraved rocks, walking over plants, playing in the bird bath. The parents have NO control over their kids for the 2 minutes they are getting in/out of the car.

[Blackcat31]

Normally, I agree that children should be responsible for their own behaviors and I have had a kid sit in time-out for a few minutes due to behaviors at drop off or pick up times but in this case, I would absolutely INSIST that the dad control his own child.

He CAN say no and he CAN enforce it. He just doesn't want to or doesn't HAVE to...kwim?

Why not charge dad a "bell fee" every time his kid rings the bell?

$10 per ring should do it.

Seriously I will NEVER understand why people cannot manage their children :confused:

[Willow]

Can you just unhook the bell for awhile so it looses it's appeal? When it doesn't make the sound anymore let him know he must have worn it out so now it's too tired to ding anymore.

Hook it back up only after the appeal has passed and then don't tell him that you did.

[Country Kids]

Here's what I would say and say it in front of the dad:

Everytime dad lets you ring the doorbell, dad will come in and put you in timeout. Put everything back on the dad-the act/the punishment.

If that doesn't work, then put a huge sign over the doorbell that reads: *** (dads name) please do not let *** (childs name) ring the doorbell-thanks!

[melilley]

Normally, I agree that children should be responsible for their own behaviors and I have had a kid sit in time-out for a few minutes due to behaviors at drop off or pick up times but in this case, I would absolutely INSIST that the dad control his own child.

He CAN say no and he CAN enforce it. He just doesn't want to or doesn't HAVE to...kwim?

Why not charge dad a "bell fee" every time his kid rings the bell?

$10 per ring should do it.

Seriously I will NEVER understand why people cannot manage their children :confused:

:: $10 per ring! You crack me up!!

[bunnyslippers]

Oh for pete's sake! I would totally lose my mind over this. Without a doubt, you need to call the dad out on letting this happen over and over again. I am not even sure I would be able to let them keep coming...but I have no patience for stupid behavior from parents.

[AnneCordelia]

"John, please don't let Bobby ring the doorbell. I really need you to be in control of him."

If it happens again then I would tape a sign over the bell. I have done this in the past for a family who let their 2.5yo ring and ring my bell.

[Blackcat31]

"John, please don't let Bobby ring the doorbell. I really need you to be in control of him."

If it happens again then I would tape a sign over the bell. I have done this in the past for a family who let their 2.5yo ring and ring my bell.

I have a cover over my light switch that goes to my outside light.

There is also a sign stating "Do NOT touch!"

One of my DCM's said to me...."Why do you have a sign posted here? None of the kids can read"

I said "I know. But parents can."

[My Daycare]

Before I read your post, I only noticed your title and your username. I could not stop laughing. It put a little more laughter in my day. Ty!

[My3cents]

I have a cover over my light switch that goes to my outside light.

There is also a sign stating "Do NOT touch!"

One of my DCM's said to me...."Why do you have a sign posted here? None of the kids can read"

I said "I know. But parents can."

How does your light cover work? I don't want a big hassle myself to turn on my lights. I have a parent that thinks it is neat to let her kiddo, turn the light on and off because the child is tall enough to reach it. Seemed annoyed when I said (child's name) please don't play with my lights. Parents seem to think anything is ok to do, and nothing is off limits. I don't get this way of thinking at all-

[EntropyControlSpecialist]

You have the opposite prob of me! LOL! I have a sign up TO ring the bell and then come in. Some families cannot read or handle following the rules...

[Blackcat31]

How does your light cover work? I don't want a big hassle myself to turn on my lights. I have a parent that thinks it is neat to let her kiddo, turn the light on and off because the child is tall enough to reach it. Seemed annoyed when I said (child's name) please don't play with my lights. Parents seem to think anything is ok to do, and nothing is off limits. I don't get this way of thinking at all-

It covers the switch but still allows you to be able to access it if you need to.

[itlw8]

I like the bell fee idea. dcd be a parent or I will charge for every ring. Ding.$5 dong$5 keep doing it I am going shopping and you will be looking for new childcare.

[daycarediva]

Can you just unhook the bell for awhile so it looses it's appeal? When it doesn't make the sound anymore let him know he must have worn it out so now it's too tired to ding anymore.

Hook it back up only after the appeal has passed and then don't tell him that you did.

I did this for one daycare family. They dropped off first thing in the morning and would ring the bell UNTIL I ANSWERED. It was the rudest thing, and it was the MOM! I would ask her repeatedly to NOT ring the bell, I put a sign up, I put tape over it. I found out from my neighbors that she was still ringing it, even after I unhooked it. LOL! ::