Visits from family members

[Unregistered]

A little background: I am not licensed but am allowed to watch up to 3 kids in my home legally, but I am not held to any "regulations or rules" since I am not licensed.

Well, this morning DCM forgot DCB(8 months) bottles. I texted her and she informed me DCD would drop off the bottles. Well, she could not get in touch with her husband so she said her mother would drop off a bottle. I said, "Great! Thank you!" and didn't think anything of it.

Well, when she came she stayed for over an hour!!! I was doing everything I could to give her the hint to leave- she didn't get it.

I was very uncomfortable with her here and since I am pretty friendly with DCM, I didn't want to be rude. I didn't mind that she wanted to come in and say hello to her grandchildren, but geez, I still have a job to do!

I was clearly not prepared for this situation and I didn't really know how to handle it.

I want to be prepared in the future, so do any of you have any ideas on nice ways to get someone out of your house! LOL

Thank you in advance for any help/advice!

[wdmmom]

If a family forgets supplies, they are required to either leave them outside the door when they drop them off or I secure them all in the playroom, answer the door and don't allow for the opportunity to come in.

I run a tight ship around here and a visit or a knock at the door can send everything into a tailspin.

[daycare]

I do the same as the above...

My rule is that anyone in your family is always welcome to come and visit throughout the day. Please keep your visit brief as not to disrupt our day and when you leave, you will have to take your child with you. There is nothing worse and confusing for a child to have to say good bye more than once a day.

I ask that they leave it on my door step, text or call me and let me know it is there. I don't even want to open the door.

[MarinaVanessa]

From my experience, nice and passive aggressive in this situation doesn't get you anything. You tried nice remember? Grandma didn't get the hint. By no means does that mean that you have to be rude or anything, just that you need to be direct.

"Gma I really appreciate that you came by to drop the bottles off and I understand that you want to spend some time with little Johnny and Suzie Q but I really must get some things done and I really shouldn't have other adults here other than parents. Would you like to take little Johnny and Suzie Q with you to the park for a bit and bring them back later? I'm sure that Susan probably wouldn't mind. I'd just have to check with her first."

She will then directly get the point that either she needs to leave and take the kids with her or she needs to leave and the kids stay with you. Either way she needs to leave .

[Blackcat31]

This is a very common problem for family child care providers since they work in their homes.

What I would do is simply say something like,

"Boy, grandma it was sure nice to meet you and as much as I would love to hang out and chat, I have work to do so we will have to do this later." then usher her to the door with a big smile on your face.

or something like "It was nice to meet you grandma, but unfortunately I can't allow you to hang out and chat/observe your grandkids/play with them etc because I must respect the privacy of others. Thanks for understanding."


...again, usher her to the door with a smile.