Rushing Kids Out The Door..

[DanceMom]

Another topic somewhere got me curious...when you close and have parents picking up right at the closing bell. Do you pretty much have the kids ready and open the door for them to let them out ?

Wednesdays I asked the parents to be here BY 5:00 and NO later as my daughter has dance and I have to leave immediately. Well , some still continue to pick up at right at 5:00 /5:03 / and one even at 5:05 - so yesterday when this happened I had these last kids in their shoes and coats and when I saw moms walking up the driveway I opened the door and practically threw their kids out the door..:: Im sure they didnt like it but I had to get going and your still not respecting my wishes of being on time. Even if it is less than 5 minutes..

[AmandasFCC]

I've done that when people have been late. Once I had dcb sitting on my step as I got my dd into the car. We had an appointment, I'd made it perfectly clear that she needed to pick him up early and she forgot. When she pulled up I said, there he is, got in my car and sped off . Yes, I felt bad, but seriously ...

[DCMomOf3]

If I have somewhere to be, yes, I push them out the door. I have been known to have my kids in their seats in my van, garage open and me in the driveway with little one that's still waiting for a dcp. If we are not in a hurry, then no.

[marniewon]

Always. I don't mean that they are bundled up in coats and boots and such, but anything that came with them is in diaper bags and if they wore shoes, they are on. Toys are picked up and when mom/dad walk through the door, I usher child to them. I do not encourage lingering......

[Former Teacher]

Always. I don't mean that they are bundled up in coats and boots and such, but anything that came with them is in diaper bags and if they wore shoes, they are on. Toys are picked up and when mom/dad walk through the door, I usher child to them. I do not encourage lingering......

When I was at my former center I always did the same thing! Once we had 1 child/family, we waited in the office by the front door. No matter if it was 15 mins or 5 mins. Then of course certain parents would be all embarrassed because they knew then that their child/family was the last one ::

[Live and Learn]

My kids are always ready for home,bags packed shoes and jacket on. I have a life too!! I have been known to be waiting in my driveway with purse, dck and sour face if parents are late. One Dad was once so late that we missed my own child's music lesson. It was the music center's policy to charge for missed lessons so...I charged dc dad. I would like to say that was the last time he was late but NO! That family is no longer with me but that is a whole other kettle of fish!

[Former Teacher]

My kids are always ready for home,bags packed shoes and jacket on. I have a life too!! I have been known to be waiting in my driveway with purse, dck and sour face if parents are late. One Dad was once so late that we missed my own child's music lesson. It was the music center's policy to charge for missed lessons so...I charged dc dad. I would like to say that was the last time he was late but NO! That family is no longer with me but that is a whole other kettle of fish!

Yeah you would think if you charge these *ahem* parents..a massive late fee they would wise up!

This one family was late DAILY practically. 2 mins, 3 mins. etc..I finally had enough when the fool was 30 mins late! It was 7:00 when he casually drove into the driveway!!!!! And it was a FRIDAY! I was SO furious! He had 3 kids and I told him that the late fee was $60. It would have been $90 but even I thought that was a bit overboard. He paid it. Sure enough come the following Tues..5 mins late again! GRR!

[Unregistered]

I have it in my contract-close at 5pm, if you are not here-and my child has an after school activity-your child will be with us where ever that may be and you are responsible to pick them up with late charges included! Never had a problem where i have had to take them unannounced but its in my contract if need be! We as providers have to cover every single itty bitty detail cause some parents just use us to the fullest!

[Lucy]

When I was new at this and had less of a backbone, I had one dad who would come very late... like 15 minutes to an hour. One time it was getting late and I had to be somewhere (don't remember where - it was like 15 yrs ago) so my husband told me to go ahead and go and he would watch the brother & sister. Well, as it turns out, the guy ended up being over an hour late and claimed that there was a wreck on the fwy. We knew for a fact it was a lie because other parents came home on that same fwy.

Next day I asked the older sibling if her dad was surprised when he came to pick them up and I wasn't there. I just wanted to see if she'd repeat a comment her dad may have made. Well, she did. She said her dad asked her if my husband had "done anything wrong" to her. I think that's how she worded it. Well, needless to say, I terminated them. As I said, I had no backbone then, so I made up some story about going to part-time hours or days or something like that.

That was before I had any kind of real contract. I just had more of a questionnaire about the child. No policies and procedures type of thing like I do now. Live and learn, right?

[MarinaVanessa]

When I have something to do and if I have a parent that constantly arrives late I just take the DC child with me. I'm tired of missing appointments, arrive late to family dinners, sitting down to a cold dinner, arriving late to my DD's swim classes etc. I take the child with me and the parent can either wait for me to come back home when I'm done or come to me to get their child, either way I keep track of the time when they actually get their child and charge the late fee.

I'm notorious for all of a sudden having "important" errands to do and taking off exactly at 6pm like going to Target for supplies that "I just can't live without", getting the "where are you, ok i'll be right there" phone call, "accidentally" putting my phone on silent and then running around in the store dodging the DCP. Okay I've only done this a couple of times and she was related but I was fed up.

[DancingQueen]

The parents I have right now are really very good.
I do have one set of parents that are supposed to pick up at 4:30. But when I spoke to them on enrollment they said they were worried about making it at 4:30.. that it might sometimes be closer to 4:40 and I was OK with that as long as they consistantly spoke to me.
I want to know if you are going to be 4:40. Your dd will be ready to go at 4:30. I don't charge him if he is 4:40 - but he HAS to tell me on a daily basis that he will be running late.
I mentioned in another post that I have a lot of activities right after school. This parent has been known to have to wait for me to come back. They've gotten MUCH better at a remembering to call.

But to the original question. I often have their child ready adn mine buckled in my van as they pull into my driveway.

[kendallina]

I had a parent 10 minutes late the other day (I run a preschool that ends promptly at 11:30) and I called him and he casually said that he was just about 1-2 minutes away. When he got here, I had her shoes on, coat on, and we were walking out the door as he drove up. He looked surprised and said, "uhh...do I owe you anything for being late?"