Parent Pick Up Times Question?

[sahm1225]

What do your pick ups/end of days look like? Most of my dcks leave around the same time (between 5-5:30pm) and I swear once one of the parents gets here to pick up, the kids just start acting like maniacs!

Im not exaggerating, they run around, start yelling, and just being rough and crazy. What can I do to control the chaos?

Maybe I am just having a rough week, but just as the kids start acting out the parents seem to want to hang out and chat with me. I dont want the parents to think that the kids are like that all day, because they are for the most part well-behaved. And I am not sure how I can politely tell them "here is your child and his/her belongings and here is their daily sheet telling you about their day, now please leave before they all melt down"..

Am I the only one? How do you control it and make it a smoother process? Thanks everyone!

[QualiTcare]

i don't know how many kids u have, but if you could do it without obviously offending one person - u could put it in a newsletter or an individual note u send home - or put a note on the sign in sheet....something like that.

and just say something like, "if you'd like to speak with me, please call me and/or make an appointment. departure times are very hectic and it's difficult to speak with parents during that time." or however u wanna word it - they'll get the point.

[kendallina]

I put it in my handbook (under a 'Communication' heading) that pick-up and drop of times can be hectic and are not the best times to talk with me, then I listed all the ways that they can communicate with me easily (email, phone times, notes, appointments, etc.). I agree with previous poster, put it in your newsletter. Chances are, the parents have noticed the chaos and will be grateful that you're taking steps to eliminate it. Good luck!

[DanceMom]

I have two parents that like to sit and chit chat at pick up...I am finally going to put it in my newsletter next month telling them I have things after work I am going to start doing and if they need to talk about their childs day to 1) read their notebooks 2) schedule a time to talk or 3) email me anytime.

Sometimes as they talk my dinner is burning, my kids are running around, my phone is ringing..whatever..they dont care..they just still sit and talk.

[DBug]

It may or may not be possible for you, but I changed my outdoor playtime to coincide with the pick-up time of most of my kids. Most of them leave between 4pm and 5pm (one stays til 6pm ...), so that's our afternoon outdoor time. My dc kids are much better behaved when they're outside running around, so I have time to chat with parents. The parents can also stand and watch their child playing for a few minutes, without me feeling like they're invading my space. Usually they let the kids play while they go in and get their craft, communication log, etc., so the kids have a few extra minutes to play too. If they see something on the log that they want to discuss, we usually have time to discuss it right then. But since I head back in at 5, I have an excuse to cut out on any "chatting" that goes beyond that

My biggest problem is figuring out how to get dinner on the table for my own family, since we eat at 5 , but otherwise it works out great!

[melskids]

just like dbug, i also schedule outside time at the end of the day, so most parents pick up then. almost all of the kids get picked up by 5, then i come back in with only 2 siblings left. they get picked up at 5:30, but are very well behaved during pick up time. the rest are absolute monkeys and horrible at pick up times, especially my own son. being outside has helped alot during these times.

[DCMom]

In the summer we are generally outside at pick up, so that works out great.

In the winter it's more difficult. I have two distinct groups, one group is picked up between 4 and 4:30 and the other is around 5-5:30. I try and have the first group semi-ready to go~shoes, socks, papers, etc~and close to the door doing an activity. Usually I have a quick '...so this is how the day went' exchange and that's it. I move back to the 5 o'clock group and that's the signal...they pick up on it pretty quickly that I don't have time to chat.

My chatty moms are in the 5 o'clock group anyway and I don't mind because I like them

[tenderhearts]

My dck do that too, not all of them but a few of them. When I see a parent pull in the driveway I remind the kids what I expect from them and if they misbehave then the next time a parent comes then that child has to come and sit out of the group where I can see them until I'm done. It has worked for me. What is really hard for me is when the child that is being picked up decides to test me and mom and runs out there and starts doing all that yelling, running, screaming, I walk out there and tell them they will sit in time out before they leave if they dont' come. I only have one dcb that does that.

[ninosqueridos]

OMG the same thing happens here!! The wildest one that loses it when someone gets picked up is my own ds. UGH!!

Recently, I had one that was dropping off too late and the kids would all go nuts (or the one getting dropped off would DRAG out drop-off, parent talking, etc)....I verbally stated a quick drop off is better and re-emphasized that in the notebook, and so far so good. Some people just need to be told directly. Twice.

[Preschool/daycare teacher]

I agree with doing outdoor play to coincide with pick-up time. An extra bonus to that is you can have everyone clean up before you go outside. That way no more toys get drug out, and you don't have a bunch of cleaning to do after everyone leaves. It really gets on my nerves when a child is still playing with things when their parents come in, and they leave without the parents having the child clean up. Once the parent walks in the door, the child should no longer be my responsibility, that includes when they start running wild after their parents come. It's up to the parents to correct the child. Not me. But instead, I have to step in, getting a few dirty looks from mom or dad, as if they can't believe I just got after sweet innocent Johnny, or actually told him to clean up while they have to wait. I couldn't have had the child do it before the parent comes because sometimes the parents arrival time varies by as much as 15 minutes.
So anyway, outdoor play eliminates this problem. Only thing is, I don't have any suggestions for when it's raining or too cold to go outside.

[ninosqueridos]

I agree with doing outdoor play to coincide with pick-up time. An extra bonus to that is you can have everyone clean up before you go outside. That way no more toys get drug out, and you don't have a bunch of cleaning to do after everyone leaves. It really gets on my nerves when a child is still playing with things when their parents come in, and they leave without the parents having the child clean up. Once the parent walks in the door, the child should no longer be my responsibility, that includes when they start running wild after their parents come. It's up to the parents to correct the child. Not me. But instead, I have to step in, getting a few dirty looks from mom or dad, as if they can't believe I just got after sweet innocent Johnny, or actually told him to clean up while they have to wait. I couldn't have had the child do it before the parent comes because sometimes the parents arrival time varies by as much as 15 minutes.
So anyway, outdoor play eliminates this problem. Only thing is, I don't have any suggestions for when it's raining or too cold to go outside.

I tried outdoor play at pick-up a bunch of times, but that only made for MUCH longer, drawn out good-byes, tantrums, screaming, you name it.....the kids don't want to leave when they're playing outside.

[originalkat]

We do not watch TV during the day...but from 5 to 5:30 I put on a 30 min. video. It works out well. No toys to clean up and the kids are pooped and watch nicely. I make sure the parents have our daily schedule so they know that their kids arent in front of the TV all day, but only during pick-up time.

[ninosqueridos]

We do not watch TV during the day...but from 5 to 5:30 I put on a 30 min. video. It works out well. No toys to clean up and the kids are pooped and watch nicely. I make sure the parents have our daily schedule so they know that their kids arent in front of the TV all day, but only during pick-up time.

I love this idea but I have anti-TV dcps

[QualiTcare]

oh yeah - that's another good idea - i didn't think of outdoor play. i used to take the 2 year old class outside at the end of the day but it was because id pick up the room and didn't want it destroyed again. i rarely had parents want to stay and chat. most of them were doing good to show up.

on rainy or cold days, i'd clean up the room and then let them play with play doh at the table. it really wasn't that messy and they LOVED it - plus it was a lot easier to clean up than the whole room again.

[Abigail]

Our pick up times vary from 3:00 to 5:30 pm. Most leave between 5 and 5:30, but they NEVER clean. The problem is that I'm currently just an assistant (until I open my own next year!) so I don't have any say. We have a bucket of about 50 little dollar cars that are thrown everywhere--not really played with nicely. We also have a bucket of 6 or 7 Mr. Potato Heads with tons of accessories where the lid doesn't even fit on the container anymore and the kids just dump it....I don't think they even know how to insert the arms and legs because they don't play with it. Yesterday I collected those two bins and pick up took about 15 minutes. Today I didn't and it took about an hour and still half the kids play. On successful days, we get the kids to clean up by letting them know we're going to do a game or coloring and if one kids wants to then everybody does, so that is the only thing that has partially worked. If you ask me, we have too many toys and it is just a dumping game.