Do Your Daycare Parents...

[Unregistered]

Coming into the home

If a parent is trusting their child to you in your home why is it a problem for the parent to come in and see what's going on. They don't wait at the doorway of a daycare center so why should they wait in the doorway of a home.
I wouldn't let any of you keep my children if I wasn't allowed to come past the doorway.
Just for thought...
A Mom

[daycarediva]

If a parent is trusting their child to you in your home why is it a problem for the parent to come in and see what's going on. They don't wait at the doorway of a daycare center so why should they wait in the doorway of a home.
I wouldn't let any of you keep my children if I wasn't allowed to come past the doorway.
Just for thought...
A Mom

I don't because we don't allow shoes in the house, my daycare space IS my front entry area & if a parent came through that, they would be going past where their children are allowed to go, which is pretty invasive and rude. Just because I care for children, doesn't mean my privacy has the right to be invaded.

I have had children TELL their parents "no shoes in the house, Mom" but the parent has still walked all the way in, PAST my daycare area, and INTO my formal dining area to look for a blanket AFTER I told her that the daycare kids aren't allowed to play in that area. My husband was like at the dinner table.

[allsmiles]

If a parent is trusting their child to you in your home why is it a problem for the parent to come in and see what's going on. They don't wait at the doorway of a daycare center so why should they wait in the doorway of a home.
I wouldn't let any of you keep my children if I wasn't allowed to come past the doorway.
Just for thought...
A Mom

i know this may seem harsh mom, but i think you are taking it the wrong way.. we are not saying dont come in, I am saying, if your child is prepared for pick up, what is the reasoning for LINGERING.. I have a parent that stays 30 minutes -1 hour after she arrives and im sorry, that is not normal to me.
i know that daycare centers are different but i have never walked around the day care center.. i wait till they bring my child or go to my child class and get her and go back out.. not go sit at a desk and talk to the teacher for 20 minutes while she is tending to the other children.

[Unregistered]

If a parent is trusting their child to you in your home why is it a problem for the parent to come in and see what's going on. They don't wait at the doorway of a daycare center so why should they wait in the doorway of a home.
I wouldn't let any of you keep my children if I wasn't allowed to come past the doorway.
Just for thought...
A Mom

For one it's someone's home and I don't let the public tour my home. It's not a daycare center, and many centers do not allow the parents to continually disrupt their day. In fact, they have rules also. I've had rude parents bring up to 3 older siblings that would run amok in my home. Aside from that they had drinks, ****ers, etc. And there is no reason to have that amount of traffic in the home. I've had parents track in mud, dirt, leaves, staples...you name it and had the nerve to walk on my carpet like that. Now they don't get past the foyer, if past the front door for pick up and drop off, and I have everything gated for those rude people. Another reason parents/siblings don't get to hang around is because I do not allow strangers around the children. So don't compare a center with someone's home.
You show the same decorum as anyone's home you would visit.

[Sunnyyy1]

In the beginning they did but now, they barley get out of the car.

[intothewoods]

I don't mind parents coming in but please remember this is my home too and please take off your shoes. I work really hard to keep outside dirt and contaminants off my floors so we can play on them.
I only have an issue when a parent goes into my home when I am outside with the kids. That makes me uncomfortable with a few of my parents. I accually asked a parent not to do that and they got into a screaming fit and I almost had to call the police it got so verbally abusive. Needless to say that parent is not allow in my home anymore period.
I do have one grandparent that likes to use my bathroom and that bothers me but what can you say when you got to go you got to go and he does my a big favor by picking up his granddaughter at the bus stop and bringing her here for me so I don't have to walk out with the little ones in the cold.
All in all as long as I have rescpect come in and see what we are up to but please leave in a timely manner. We are trying to start our day at it puts us behind or if ended our day it makes me late for my events..

[Meeko]

If a parent is trusting their child to you in your home why is it a problem for the parent to come in and see what's going on. They don't wait at the doorway of a daycare center so why should they wait in the doorway of a home.
I wouldn't let any of you keep my children if I wasn't allowed to come past the doorway.
Just for thought...
A Mom

As a mom, I am sure your child has had friends over to play at your home. Maybe the mother of the little friend had dropped off or picked up. How would you feel if she walked through your home uninvited, checked out your kitchen, used the bathroom and peeked in your bedroom all without asking?

Providers are no different. It's still our HOME first and a daycare second. Parents should never be rude enough to wander through the house. They were formally shown around at interview. That doesn't give them license to be as nosey as they'd like after that.

Licensing rules say that a parent should have access to areas used by their child. That doesn't mean all areas of the house. It also doesn't mean that they can go wherever they like at any time. They should ASK if they want to see another room and wait to be escorted there. They should ASK if they should remove their shoes etc. It's called common courtesy.

I would be offended even if FRIENDS just marched through my home uninvited, let alone clients.

Paying a provider does not buy their privacy.

[dEHmom]

It takes my families a while to feel comfortable enough to just walk in the door without knocking. Here, in my home, this is how i prefer it. But many times they've had to leave and come back after hours for something, and they always knock at that time. If they are here at their usual pickup/drop off time they know to just walk in. I personally hate knocking, and it freaks me out when someone knocks on my door, we all go into hiding and be as quiet as we can be.

On occassion my parents will tip toe into the living room to spy on their kids, because most of my parents never get to see their child having fun, being independant and without mom/dad around. I encourage them to do so. But if a daycare parent just wandered through my house that's a different story. There is never any reason with the layout of my house, that they ever have to leave my kitchen. A few times I've had parents use my bathroom for their little ones or if their office bathroom was out of order, but they've all asked before leaving the door mat.

I think it comes down to what you are comfortable with in your home, and they should respect boundaries unless you've told them otherwise.

[KnoxMom]

Obviously we all have different ways of handling this according to our layout. I'm fortunate to have a very large split level so the entire lower level is the daycare with its own bathroom and kitchen. Parents will see my home from the foyer but never have a reason to go up the stairs. I maintain an open door policy and encourage the parents to see what the children are doing. Once they've gotten comfortable, they won't feel a reason to snoop or spy. Someone mentioned that it is not our job to cater to the parent and our only concern is the child-I completely disagree with this. We are partners in raising their children. I don't want my children in any home where I am unwelcome. I think what the OPs mean is that they don't want private areas being navigated and want their homes respected (i.e. removal of shoes, respect of time, etc). I'm sure we can all agree here.

[Unregistered]

I am a provider and I EXPECT that my families come in and see what their children have been doing, that the environment is safe and clean and that they are being offered activities and materials that encourage their growth and development.

As a parent I would NEVER leave my child in a program that did not allow me to come into the play/daycare environment. I would not expect to see "other parts" of the home, but I would fully expect to be able to come into any area my child might spend even 1 minute of their day. Any responsible parent would.

[blessed mom]

I am a provider and I EXPECT that my families come in and see what their children have been doing, that the environment is safe and clean and that they are being offered activities and materials that encourage their growth and development.

As a parent I would NEVER leave my child in a program that did not allow me to come into the play/daycare environment. I would not expect to see "other parts" of the home, but I would fully expect to be able to come into any area my child might spend even 1 minute of their day. Any responsible parent would.

I fully agree!!

[Meeko]

I am a provider and I EXPECT that my families come in and see what their children have been doing, that the environment is safe and clean and that they are being offered activities and materials that encourage their growth and development.

As a parent I would NEVER leave my child in a program that did not allow me to come into the play/daycare environment. I would not expect to see "other parts" of the home, but I would fully expect to be able to come into any area my child might spend even 1 minute of their day. Any responsible parent would.

According to regulations, a parent must be able to see any place their child is going to be during the day. I am happy to show those areas to a parent if they want to see. (Within reason.....if a person doesn't trust me and feels they need to constantly check up, then they need to find other care as I will not work with people who do not trust me)

HOWEVER....they cannot just march in like they own they place and wander around at will. This is my HOME, first and foremost.

As a parent, I would want to see where my child was playing each day. But I would ask the provider if it was OK to go there. (Now if she said no, I would be concerned) But I would never, ever, just walk through somebody's home without asking. That would be unbelievably rude and sadly there are a lot of unbelievably rude people out there.....

[itlw8]

I think a parent SHOULD be able to walk into the childcare area. If you have a no show rule they need to follow it.

When ds was little the lady insisted on taking him at the door. I should have looked further. I had NO idea she napped them in the basement until he got hurt when he climbed out of his playpen and broke a soda bottle. Or when I found he had burned his hand on her dd curling iron and she had no idea. We were moving. I was glad to go. She never told me about the basement and it was not a walk out one either.

I made sure my childcare is more open to parents.

[MarinaVanessa]

I have a keyless entry system on my front door and my door is locked the majority of the time. To enter you can use a key if you want but access is mainly gained by entering a code into the keypad. I pay for the monthly subscription to the system which allows me to add extra codes by person and even set a schedule that they are able to gain access.

All of my regular FT and PT clients have a code to get in that works with their contracted schedules. They come in and are welcome in any part of the daycare space. I would not feel comfortable taking my child to a daycare that did not allow me full access to my child. In my state (CA) we are required to have an "open door policy" and although I do limit the time that each parent is allowed to stay to 15 minutes I do not by any means restrict them from coming in at any time. I do however make sure that they understand that if they should drop in unexpectedly to check in on us and their child has a hard time dealing with them leaving without them then they must then take their child with them.

[nannyde]

I don't allow parents past the front door for drop off and pick ups. I have 13 daycare parents total. It would be too much of a liability to have them free ranging my house. It would be too much wear and tear and it would take too much of my time. If I could figure out a way to get their kids in and out of my house without them coming on my property at all I would ban that too.