Doorbell Rings...

[WImom]

Four minutes? That was a big deal?

Yep, if she opened it this time. The next time it would be 6 minutes early, then 10. It's just how it is with this business! You give an inch they take a mile!

My daycare is in the front of the house so most parents stay in the driveway until I turn on the lights in the daycare. So far I haven't had a problem.

[Laurel]

[QUOTE=SSWonders;390355]Maybe traffic was lighter? Maybe their watch was a few minutes off? Maybe they just might have their act together a tiny bit earlier today? If it was just a one time thing, and not a constant thing, I would not leave a parent and child on the doorstep for the sake of 4 minutes. I prefer to be a little bit flexible to help make things a tad bit smoother for parents in the morning. Getting kids out to daycare is a stressful enough situation without me adding to it for I what I see as a miniscule amount of time. Why stress a parent out more? I am not a restaurant or a typical type business. I prefer to work with parents, again within reason, and not on a constant basis. That's just me.[/QUOTE

[caregiver]

[QUOTE=Laurel;390402][QUOTE=SSWonders;390355]Maybe traffic was lighter? Maybe their watch was a few minutes off? Maybe they just might have their act together a tiny bit earlier today? If it was just a one time thing, and not a constant thing, I would not leave a parent and child on the doorstep for the sake of 4 minutes. I prefer to be a little bit flexible to help make things a tad bit smoother for parents in the morning. Getting kids out to daycare is a stressful enough situation without me adding to it for I what I see as a miniscule amount of time. Why stress a parent out more? I am not a restaurant or a typical type business. I prefer to work with parents, again within reason, and not on a constant basis. That's just me.[/QUOTE

[Laurel]

Yep, if she opened it this time. The next time it would be 6 minutes early, then 10. It's just how it is with this business! You give an inch they take a mile!

My daycare is in the front of the house so most parents stay in the driveway until I turn on the lights in the daycare. So far I haven't had a problem.

I haven't had that experience. I walk in the a.m. and have arrived with a parent waiting for me a time or two. They don't flip out on me as I don't if they are a few minutes early. The key here though is as long as it RARELY happens.

[daycarediva]

Of course it's a big deal! 4 min a day X 20 care days a month X 12 months = 16 HOURS of extra care per year.

For free, and out of our own personal time.

For me, that 4 minutes does make a difference. I have my own two children that I need to get ready for school. Lunches are being packed, kids dressed, breakfast started, etc. I'll have up to 6 kids coming in from the time I open until the bus comes half an hour later. Time is tight and if I don't have things set in motion before opening, I'm sunk. That 4 minutes is crucial for me and it's the last few minutes I have with my own kids.

This, exactly.

[momofsix]

Wouldn't have been a big deal for me. There's so much that can happen in a parent's morning that can make things early/late buy a few minutes. For ME it's not a big deal at all. I would have opened the door and not said anything at all. I try to remain pretty flexible in things-and my parents are pretty flexible with me when needed. I haven't had someone take advantage of it-if they did then I would say something.
That's how I do things and what's comfortable for me-the cool thing about having our own businesses

[Unregistered]

Good Job!!!

[caregiver]

For free, and out of our own personal time.



This, exactly.

I guess ladies, I am a more laid back person where 4 or 5 minutes is really not that big of a deal to me. Maybe everyone's clocks are not saying all the same time and what one person thinks is early, might just be just on time for the other. I know not all my clocks in my house say the same time,one might be a few minutes fast and the other slow, but sometimes that is just the way clocks work. Maybe you should have your parents set their clocks to yours so that they say the same time if that maybe is the problem.

[Leigh]

Do you really get up only 8 minutes before you open? You must be a very good morning person. I'm not, I get up at 5:45 am to wake up,shower and be ready by 7:30, I really need that time to fully wake up.
I used to be a morning person, but the older I get, the more time I seem to need to wake up. More power to you if you can be ready for the day like that.

I do, and it's because I am NOT a good morning person-I hate getting out of bed! My snooze button gets me through til 7:22, then I jump out of bed, throw on my clothes, and run around to get ready. I shower before bed, and set things out that I need to have ready, sometimes even make up breakfast for the kids the night before, so I can just throw it in the oven. I still hate getting up before 8:30 AM (that seems to be when my body is set to want to awaken!), but I used to get up at 4AM and drive 65 miles one way to work, so this is easy!

[caregiver]

I do, and it's because I am NOT a good morning person-I hate getting out of bed! My snooze button gets me through til 7:22, then I jump out of bed, throw on my clothes, and run around to get ready. I shower before bed, and set things out that I need to have ready, sometimes even make up breakfast for the kids the night before, so I can just throw it in the oven. I still hate getting up before 8:30 AM (that seems to be when my body is set to want to awaken!), but I used to get up at 4AM and drive 65 miles one way to work, so this is easy!

Wow, Wish I had your energy in the morning! Want to send some my way! happyface

[Shell]

It's up to us to MAKE them understand. If not.....you send the message that anything goes. If four minutes is OK today....then ten minutes is OK tomorrow.

I used to have a parent that would arrive anywhere from 15-30 mins early, park in my driveway, and wait for any sign of movement. We have huge, long windows, so when myself or ds would walk by one, dcm would instantly be at my door, ringing the bell. I would answer, and make comments like, "wow- you are early" or " my phone isn't showing 7:30 yet", but it made no difference, and dcm would do it the next day.

Turns out, dcm let it slip that dcg wakes up at 5 a.m. and she doesn't know what to do with her in the a.m. since all she did was make a mess in the house She never needed an earlier drop off- she would just rather strap dcg in the car seat where she was contained.

A few times of standing at the door, ringing the bell to no avail finally made dcm learn to wait until her contracted time!

[daycarediva]

I guess ladies, I am a more laid back person where 4 or 5 minutes is really not that big of a deal to me. Maybe everyone's clocks are not saying all the same time and what one person thinks is early, might just be just on time for the other. I know not all my clocks in my house say the same time,one might be a few minutes fast and the other slow, but sometimes that is just the way clocks work. Maybe you should have your parents set their clocks to yours so that they say the same time if that maybe is the problem.

Would you donate an additional 16+ hours per year to a traditional job? I think not.

Are you still flexible when it happens at drop off by a few minutes and then at pick up by a few minutes? That is a LOT of free daycare and a LOT of lost family/personal time. 5 minutes every morning and 5 minutes every evening adds up to working almost an entire work week (40+ hours!)

I also have a contract, contracted hours and late fees for a reason, to discourage this sort of thing.

[Familycare71]

I do, and it's because I am NOT a good morning person-I hate getting out of bed! My snooze button gets me through til 7:22, then I jump out of bed, throw on my clothes, and run around to get ready. I shower before bed, and set things out that I need to have ready, sometimes even make up breakfast for the kids the night before, so I can just throw it in the oven. I still hate getting up before 8:30 AM (that seems to be when my body is set to want to awaken!), but I used to get up at 4AM and drive 65 miles one way to work, so this is easy!

This is me too!! 5 min would mean a lot to me! I am not a morning person and am not willing to deal with anyone before I have to!

[SunshineMama]

I had a parent come 10 mins early as the first drop off of the day. I ignored it, and they starting making a habit out of it. 4 days later, I handed them a contract that said if they wanted to come early, they owe an additional $15 per day. They were irritated, but didnt come early ever again.

I'm more tolerant of later arrivals coming early, but the first drop off of the day, which is already an ungodly hour, doesn't need to come early at all.

[WImom]

I had a parent come 10 mins early as the first drop off of the day. I ignored it, and they starting making a habit out of it. 4 days later, I handed them a contract that said if they wanted to come early, they owe an additional $15 per day. They were irritated, but didnt come early ever again.

I'm more tolerant of later arrivals coming early, but the first drop off of the day, which is already an ungodly hour, doesn't need to come early at all..

I'm more tolerant too if I already have kids here. If that starts to be a pattern I will say something. It really just bugs me when it's the first one. I open at 6:45am and my kids sleep until 7am before they get up for school. I open my inside door at 6:45 so they can just come in. If a parent came ringing my bell early waking up my dogs and kids I'd be MAD! They are always welcome to come early at pick up!