First One In The Morning Always Late..

[Jewels]

See now I understand being really frustrated with someone arriving early, Or late in picking up their child.......But if its within your contracted hours, and their supposed to be here at 7am, And don't show up til 7:30 am..........Thats 30 extra minutes without the child........I love it when their late in bringing their kids!! I understand you opened early for them, So I say like everyone else, Tell them your going to have to stop it, If they are going to continue to get here later, Me personally I love waking up an hour before anyone gets here, I love at least 30 minutes to wake up with no children around, and mine still peacefully sleeping in their beds, I can have a cup of coffee, and watch some news, And really wake up, before having children crying all around me....so the later the are in dropping off........the more Quiet time I get.

[Lucy]

No,I wouldnt mind if they left but I'm pretty sure they wouldn't.

I try and not let it bother me but it does..I think because my #1 biggest pet peeve is people that are late .. I think its rude and very selfish. ( AND I LOVE my sleep... )

I TOTALLY agree with you on people being rude and selfish when they are late. And I LOVE my sleep also!! I stay in bed until the last possible second.

If they have been late for a couple YEARS, I would just start planning on them at 7:00. Leave your lights off and door locked until 7. Sit and watch tv - either in the dark, or in a room that isn't in the front of the house. IF, IF, IF they come before 7, just take a LOT of time to get to the door, then say "oh, I didn't expect you so early." If they go, say, a month without coming before 7, then just assume this is their new time. Then if they ever do come prior to that, you can honestly say you DIDN'T EXPECT them that early. I've answered the door in my bathrobe for parents who have come prior to their expected time. Yes, I was up, but it's just a way to show them that you really aren't ready for them till 7 (or whatever time). They'll get the hint. I have a mother who normally comes between 7:30 and 7:45. Sometimes she's my first, sometimes I have kids about 7:15. She never knows if she's going to be first or not. So she used to show up randomly, unexpectedly, at 7:10 - 7:20. Well, if it was a day I started at 7:15 anyway - fine. But at times, it was a day when she was going to be my first at 7:30 or later! Needless to say, most of the time I was just stepping out of the shower, or not quite dressed, or whatever. After a few times of answering the door in a bathrobe with wet hair, she got the hint and would let me know the night before if she was to be early the next day. I know your situation is kind of the opposite of this, but I'm just showing that if you make them uncomfortable, they get the hint!!!

I understand that it ticks you off - it would me too. If I'm used to starting at 7:30, getting up 45 min earlier would be misery to me. Then to get up just to have them be 20 min late would really irritate me. I'm with ya on this one!!

[DanceMom]

I TOTALLY agree with you on people being rude and selfish when they are late. And I LOVE my sleep also!! I stay in bed until the last possible second.

If they have been late for a couple YEARS, I would just start planning on them at 7:00. Leave your lights off and door locked until 7. Sit and watch tv - either in the dark, or in a room that isn't in the front of the house. IF, IF, IF they come before 7, just take a LOT of time to get to the door, then say "oh, I didn't expect you so early." If they go, say, a month without coming before 7, then just assume this is their new time. Then if they ever do come prior to that, you can honestly say you DIDN'T EXPECT them that early. I've answered the door in my bathrobe for parents who have come prior to their expected time. Yes, I was up, but it's just a way to show them that you really aren't ready for them till 7 (or whatever time). They'll get the hint. I have a mother who normally comes between 7:30 and 7:45. Sometimes she's my first, sometimes I have kids about 7:15. She never knows if she's going to be first or not. So she used to show up randomly, unexpectedly, at 7:10 - 7:20. Well, if it was a day I started at 7:15 anyway - fine. But at times, it was a day when she was going to be my first at 7:30 or later! Needless to say, most of the time I was just stepping out of the shower, or not quite dressed, or whatever. After a few times of answering the door in a bathrobe with wet hair, she got the hint and would let me know the night before if she was to be early the next day. I know your situation is kind of the opposite of this, but I'm just showing that if you make them uncomfortable, they get the hint!!!

I understand that it ticks you off - it would me too. If I'm used to starting at 7:30, getting up 45 min earlier would be misery to me. Then to get up just to have them be 20 min late would really irritate me. I'm with ya on this one!!

Ahhh good !! I have been laying on the couch and stumble getting up when she has came, I should totally do the wet hair bathrobe thing !! That would be hilarious !

I'm not one that needs to sit and have an hour before kids come, I dont sit and have my coffee and watch the news. Even working outside of the home..I wake up go straight to the shower, get ready and go straight to work. I NEED MY SLEEP. I have two small kids of my own so I am going 16 hours a day...that extra HALF HOUR I could sleep is Major to me !!! She was late Monday, and has been either on time or 5 minutes late the rest of the week..I am just keeping a log of when she arrives so I can have it in writing..because she is one that likes to debate me...so I will have to show her.

[Unregistered]

This is not exactly the same, this family did not make me get up early, but this is my story, and how I handled it. I had a family (one 20month old) who started out 3 days a week, then after a few months, they stopped coming because they couldn't afford daycare (parents didn't work). Then mom asked if he could come 1-2 days a week. She kept changing the hours on me, usually at the last minute. I told her she needed to pick a start/end time and stick to it. That worked for a few weeks, and then one day she didn't show up, didn't call. Two hours after she was supposed to be here, she texted me to tell me they were just waking up, but they were heading out then. Then after another hour, I texted her and she replied that N was still sleeping (at noon!!) and wanted to know if I wanted her to bring him after lunch. I told her no, he wasn't going to come right at nap time if he slept all morning, he wouldn't nap at all. I had to tell her that I was going to start charging a "late fee" for bringing him late, just like I would if she picked him up late. I charged the same fee for late drop-off as I did for late pick up. She did move him to another daycare, which was fine, but I didn't think it was fair to the others to sit inside the house and not go anywhere because N "might" show up!

Currently, my first family who is contracted for a 7:45 drop off, doesn't usually show until 7:55. Only 10 minutes late, and I never know if they will be on time or late so I still have to get up on time, but I do enjoy that extra 10 minutes only because I usually don't get everything done the night before, so I do it then.

However, if you've made special allowances for this family, and have been getting up early to open before your hours say you are open, and they are still coming late, I would definitely put a stop to that. Personally, I would do what most on this board have suggested - send out a newsletter saying that you are reverting back to your original hours, and will be opening at 7. Make sure your doors are locked until exactly 7. If this family complains, tell them that you would be willing to keep their 6:45am drop-off, but from now on it will cost X amount of dollars extra. And charge them that extra whether they show up at 6:45 or 7. Make sure it's an amount that will make it worth your while to get up 15 minutes earlier, and that way if they don't show, it won't be such a hardship to be up early because you'll be making so much more money just sitting there.

I feel your pain - I LOVE my sleep too, and I'm so not a morning person!! That has to be the only negative in this business for me anyway! Before I did daycare, I was just a SAHM, and usually slept until 10 or 11am (in my defense, my kids are teens and can fend for themselves!)!!

[countrymom]

I would not turn on the lights till 7am or even the door, if she says anything just tell her that because she was coming late all the time that you figured that she didn't need you at an earlier hour. She will get the hint. And I love my sleep too, I wait till the last second to get up.

[Preschool/daycare teacher]

I find this disrespectful of her. She's the same as saying she doesn't appreciate what you're doing for her. You made special accomodations for her because she needed care before your actual opening hours. Now she's coming later than she said she needed. I would definitely say something to her about the late arrival and remind her that you are opening early, for HER. Tell her that you will be going back to the 7am opening time starting on x date. When she's late dropping her kids off, that means she's late getting to work. If she can be late at work this often, then why can't she just PLAN on arriving at your house at 7 am, instead of 6:45? Obviously it doesn't matter too much at her job if she's late or she wouldn't allow herself to be late.
If you find yourself arriving places late often, don't you just allow for more time than you think you need to get ready? It is possible to be on time, even when the unexpected happens (like lost keys).