What Would you Charge in this Situation?

[safechner]

That's the thing. It's not about policy..it's about the fees. His job is currently a beck and call type of job. He works a very abnormal schedule and half of it he doesn't get paid for...but that's OK because he's "helping out the family farm". He stays up till 3 or 4 in the morning running from our house to the farm to check on things but will only get paid for 1/3 of that time he had to keep himself awake for. He will then get calls at 7am from work, and go in again about 9 or 10am until 6pm. His pay certainly doesn't reflect the hours he puts in, and he simply doesn't care. He thinks not having a backbone in regards to what his time is worth is a GOOD thing....regardless of how much his immediate family suffers for it.

He thinks 30/day with 25% off the rate for additional siblings is too much...even if the SA boys are rarely here. I would only charge that rate IF they have to be cared for on a non-school day. Summers I will be willing to re-consider..but to me my summers are priceless, and I didn't get a summer this year due to her kids here 40-50 hours a week.

Honestly he thinks I should charge 30/day TOTAL for all 3 ...so basically charge for the baby and let the SA's stay free when they are here. He even thinks my 45/day rate currently (1 FT slot, 2 SA slots) is too much.

I knew he liked to be in control (hence why he has a car and I do not), but I didn't realize HOW much control he really likes to have over me. This is turning out to be a MUCH bigger situation that I realized.

I'm going to hold off on giving her the contract today, mull things over and give it to her Wed at pick-up. Maybe I am being unfair. Maybe I am charging too much.

No, you are not charging too much. You are doing right thing to do to charge them. If I were you, I will charge extra no matter what your husband said. He shouldn't treat you like this because he should be on your side, not his friends or whatever. My husband won't let anyone take adventure of me and he always stand up by them for me. I really appreciate what he has done for me but I have to stand up myself. Right now I don't have any problems with my two new families since February of 2010. One of my daycare mom and I are friends (my husband and her husband are very good friends for a long time) and she respects my policy and signed my contract with no problems. She knows my business and personal dont mix. I am sure they will do the same things with you if they are your truly friends. I am so sorry about your husband. Hope everything will work something out.. Good Luck!

[GretasLittleFriends]

I don't know what the rates are for your area but it might be worth it to you to call licensing and ask what the average rates are, then you can see where you rate.

What your DH wants you to charge:
$30 a day for all three (10 hours for the baby, 2 hours for each SA = 14 hours (just for the sake of the math) $30/14 hours= $2.14 hour per child.

I'm assuming that you feed them?? That's probably not enough to even cover their meals. In essence yes you'd be watching them but your hubby would be helping the family by paying out of his pocket for their meals, the utilities they use etc. That's awsome of your husband to want to help them out, not so awsome that he thinks your time is only worth $2 an hour.

Sorry your husband isn't very supportive of you. If it were me, I'd find something in writing to show him what rates in your area are for licensed providers to show him you're not being unreasonable. You could also try to find out what the county covers for assistance (usually less than dc rates) and use that to show him too, assuming you're numbers aren't out of line.

I'm in east central Minnesota and the rates in my area work out to between $2 and $2.50 an hour. I choose to charge hourly as opposed to daily or weekly. It works better for me.

Personally in this situation I would charge $2.50 an hour for the infant and $2.00 an hour for the two school aged children. That is a slight break since it's a friend, but it matches some of my dc parents' contracts. I recently gave myself a raise to my incoming families. I have two families who pay $2.50/hr regardless of age.

[daysofelijah]

http://www.c2r2.org/images/uploads/2010%20Average%20Rates%20for%20Family%20Child%20Care.pdf

I found that for you since I noticed you are in MN, maybe that will help. Your rate does seem a little high for average, but you could also make the case that you are offering part time/drop in care and I do charge more than average for part time/ drop in care.

[MN Mom]

Thanks ladies for all your help! Husband and I talked again last night. He reminded me about KISS (Keep it Simple Stupid). It's commonly used in my field of work/study which is programming.

He just felt the more complicated I make the contract, the more confusing it would be for mom. He helped me write out something that was fair and simple.

I've decided to do $45.00 / day for a normal day with the baby and SA's, And $65.00 / day on days where I have all 3.

~MN Mom