Doing Well, Full Now... But Frustrated :( Should I Let it Go?

[MrsCoffee]

Okay, I haven't posted here in a long time, so I will recap a few things. Times were tough, families left more came some left more came again. None left because they were unsatisfied.

So I am watching for two families. family of 2 and family of 4. family of 4 comes second have of the day I only charge them part time rates because they are here 5 hours 1230-530. Usually anything over 4 hours is full time but because this is a large family and lets face it a bulk of my income and they are trying to get full time once their schedules at work change I let it go. So 5 hours....

So now they are trying to sneak in early and leave late! It's a little frustrating. I have spoken with the family because 1230 firm and I stand to it. I am tucking in little ones with stories at 12 and my little girl is one of them I make this a special time and I am sorry but when a bunch of rowdy little ones come in in the middle of that it creates chaos in the flow of things. Not to mentions they are usually soiled and a few times hadn't even been fed yet! (They are a large family so I just change them and don't complain, my fault I know that i should say something about that one)

The parents know they are bringing their child in at nap time, they get a story and soother just the same as the other kids but after. They need to be ready to lay down. This routine has worked because they are in different areas of the house. But now the father is inching later and later.... any time past 10 minutes is suppose to be a $15.00 late fee but I haven't charged him because I am trying to be reasonable. I don't close at 530 so I don't know if it would be appropriate? But this families current contract hours are 1230-530. I love them very much and I want this to work out but I don't want to be taken advantage of.

Just wanted to know what you all think. Should I take a deep breath and let it go?

[MommyMuffin]

First off I'm new to daycare but what I would do is ask the father if something has changed at work or is something going on that is making it a later pick up. If you are willing I would then say...If you want to contract your hours to 5:45 we can do that for an extra $__ OR on days that you are late I can charge my late policy.
I know how hard it can be to get to daycare on time after work so I plan on being a little bit flexible with my parents but several times a month or week is to much I would say. As far as the AM I would say mostly the same thing, but first I would see why they are coming early. They may think you just are there anyways so why not bring kids early, but bring up the subject and maybe they will get the hint.

[marniewon]

Definitely talk to them - if you don't, it will just get worse. Parents will think, Oh, I can bring the kids early and she doesn't say anything, so I guess she doesn't care. You are giving them a huge break - don't let them take any more advantage of you.

I had this sort of thing happen this week. Dad drops off a full 20 minutes before he's scheduled to. Walks in and asks, is this the earliest I can bring dcb? I said, actually, you are contracted for 8:15. So he tells me he needs to change the contract. Okay. Apparently his company moved to a different building across town. So I asked him if he needed to change pick up time also. He tells me no, that will stay the same (not sure how that works ?!?). And wouldn't you know, pick up that day and the next was 10 minutes late!! For me, it's not really so much the money (because even with extended hours that he's asking for, he still falls under the 10 hours a day) but I need to know when he's picking up!

So I got off track a little.....sorry

Like PP said, talk to them, ask if they need to change their hours, and if they say no but continue to come early/arrive late, start charging late fees. Sometimes just explaining to the parents WHY you need them to be on time, they will understand and go back to their regular hours.

[momma2girls]

When you contract parents and their children, it is for their contracted times only. If they want more hrs. then they need to pay extra for them! Tell them the hrs. that you have contracted is for _____ amt. of money anything over this is considered extra and you need to charge extra for this. Give them an ultimatem about it.

[grandmom]

I agree, ask them if the hours are working, offer a longer day at a price. And then let them know how it is, trying to squeeze so much into a day. Then thank them for respecting your time and contract.

Good luck.

[Live and Learn]

I hate having conversations with parents about their disrespect for my time.
But hey....your time=$. You need to talk with the parents.

[Lucy]

I have a hard time having a backbone, but I think I would say, "Did you want me to change your contract hours to be noon to 6:00pm?" And see how the conversation goes. Hopefully they'd realize that means more money. If nothing else, they'll realize that you NOTICED they're coming early/picking up late.

[Live and Learn]

The conversation could go something like, " I am reviewing my contracts and I noticed that you are coming at 12:15 and leaving by 5:45 would you like me to adjust the contract?.... the new daily rate will be X. Either that or we can stay with the original plan and the rate will remain the same. What works best for you?"