Why Don’t People Listen?

[mrsp'slilpeeps]

A lady called me on Tuesday and wanted to come by my daycare to see if it was a good fit for her child.

I said you can come on the weekend, as I don't do interviews during childcare hours for the safety and security of the kids. She said that makes sence but she wanted to see how I interact with her child and the other kids. I said sorry not during daycare hours.

She said she would talk to her husband and call me back to come by on Saturday.

She Just called me today and wants to come by right now.

Umm NOOO, for one its NAP time, and didn't I just explain this the other day?

I don't get it.

[LittleD]

Did you schedule a time for the week-end?

[mrsp'slilpeeps]

No, she said she would call me back. She just called me back today.

I have already made plans for the weekend, and Im not canceling them either.

[LittleD]

No, she said she would call me back. She just called me back today.

I have already made plans for the weekend, and Im not canceling them either.

Good for you! Some people think that we are just at their beck and call

[Starburst]

Man, they are clueless or just do not take others into consideration.

Next time someone requests that try to give them multiple reasons so they can see how it makes sense in everyway:

1. The safety for the children and yourself (you can say that licensing wont allow adults who are not background checked or current daycare parents on the property while the children are there; should be the only important reason but apparently she doesn't understand that)
2. Privacy of the children and families (the families have a right to know when someone who they are not familiar with will be in the daycare home when their child is present)
3. You run a structured program where you are not only supervising the children but leading them as well (This is your job and your HOME, not just a park where people can come and go as they please)
4. Having unfamiliar visitors could disrupt normal daily routines that are important in a daycare setting
5. Some children may also be frighten by unfamiliar adults observing them (Some CD student got in trouble a lot at my school's CD center during class observations because the teachers said that we were making the children nervous by being to obvious in observing them)
6. Having to do a tour during daycare is distracting and can effect your ability to focus on your most important job- supervising the children (If it's just you, who will watch the kids and help in their regular routines while you give the tour or try to talk to potential clients?)
7. Doing an initial interview after hours helps you to focus on that family and answer any questions they may have without interruptions (having kids play and actually trying to interact with the kids when trying to do an interview is not as easy as it looks- they may see this as a benefit to themselves).

*Maybe if you have a website you can put this list (minus what's in the parentheses, and reworded to make it more personal) on it under Policies/interviews/FAQs or have its own link "Why I only do first interviews after business hours"

You can also say that you only set up non-enrolled families for appointment observations after an initial interview that is after hours. I would say that after the initial interview if they want to observe they need to make an appointment for a time that 1) is most convenient for you and less disruptive to your daycare kids, 2) you can prepare the kids so they are not afraid or so they don't act crazier than usual and understand what you expect from them, 3) you can let the other daycare parents know ahead of time so they wont get mad if DCK mentions it at pick up or they can choose to find alternative care for the day if they are truly uncomfortable with it, 4) if they bring their child with them you will not be over capacity at that time they will be there, incase licensing shows up.

After all, they can like how you interact with the daycare kids and everything but still choose another daycare because they don't like your rules, your home, or your rates. Plus if it is just you and the kids during the day you need to weed out the crazies (or people who are lying about being prospective parents). I'm sure your current families will appreciate your safety measures.

Honestly after that I probably wouldn't even want to interview them because it seems like they think they can make up the rules- possible red flag. I understand they want to see how you interact with the kids and that is good that they are interested in that but do they understand that it is difficult to have an informative interview and interact with a group of kids at the same time? Especially if it is only you. IMHO it seems like they don't take daycare seriously and don't realize that this is still a business and that there is a lot more to running a daycare then interaction with the kids (though that is big part of it). If they want to see how you interact with kids they can bring their kids to the after hours interview because every kid is different and just because you have a good/bad interaction with one child doesn't mean you will have a good/bad interaction with their child. There is always a chance you can have a friendly chemistry with your current DCKs but not with their kids.

[EntropyControlSpecialist]

Wow. Hopefully you get some better people interested soon!

[CrackerJacks]

I don't do interviews during Childcare hours as well. When people ask "why?" I simply tell them it's a disruption to all the children here to have strangers in and out all the time. If they are interested in my program they will visit me on the one weekend day I open for interviews. When i have new families enroll I will allow them to come over 1x for a quick 10min walk around during Childcare hours.