I Don't Tell The Parents, But Sometimes...

[Unregistered]

We give baths, cut nails, change socks to clean ones, redo hair (including taking down tight ponytails and putting them back in looser before pickup), take off jewelry and put up until just before pickup, etc. Nothing necessarily secret, but we don't advertise it to parents or note it on the daily sheets, either. Some parents just overlook certain details or are a little less attentive than we are so we fix what needs to be fixed and we keep it moving. Also, we have one little girl who we know doesn't get a whole lot to eat in the evening because mom just doesn't have the resources (but is also too proud to admit it). We feed her dinner before mom picks up and if she has a second dinner at home, great, and if she comes back and reports all she had was a peanut butter sandwich, mayo sandwich, ramen noodles, or dry cereal for dinner, at least we know that she had a full, nutritious meal earlier in the evening. We have never mentioned it to mom, and if DCG has mentioned it I'm sure it was in the context of us serving it to the group (because whomever else is still here will also get a light snack at that time).

[KDC]

I have school agers that I feed breakfast too - mostly cereal. They complained relentlessly about the 'generic' cereal. So, I keep a box from the name brand, and just switch out the bags, they're none the wiser and happily eat it all up.

I sometimes let the baby nap 15 mins past 2 hours (the required scheduled time) to set up a much happier lunch prep. I have a preschooler that leaves for school at noon. Baby wakes up at 9:30, which sets up a nightmare 1/2 hour during lunch prep before baby goes down for second nap. Makes life a LOT easier =)

I finish crafts for the kids that don't - just a little more messy then normal, !

Kids dance they're heads off 1/2 hour before pick up. They're always in a great mood and get most of their sillies out before I send them home

[thetoddlerwhisper]

i have one kid who loves bologna but grandma doesnt want him eating that. she wants baby food instead. hell be 2 next month. i dont give him his baby food. i just write on his paper he eats it.

if a child is sent in a onsie who is over 12-18mnths they wear an extra shirt until right before time to go home. i dont like them they get in the way.

same child as balogna gma says he has to go out everyday. even if the playground is wet. i always say we go out even if we dont and a couple times ive taken his shoes set them in the wet mulch and put them back on him.

i have another parent who insists her child must be awake by 2 or he doesnt sleep at night. he usually sleeps until 230 or 3.

dcbaby mom doesnt want her in bumbo. because she thinks shell flip it. the bumbo is put away by time mom gets there. dcbaby loves the bumbo and is happiest there.

[daycarediva]

I have school agers that I feed breakfast too - mostly cereal. They complained relentlessly about the 'generic' cereal. So, I keep a box from the name brand, and just switch out the bags, they're none the wiser and happily eat it all up.

I sometimes let the baby nap 15 mins past 2 hours (the required scheduled time) to set up a much happier lunch prep. I have a preschooler that leaves for school at noon. Baby wakes up at 9:30, which sets up a nightmare 1/2 hour during lunch prep before baby goes down for second nap. Makes life a LOT easier =)

I finish crafts for the kids that don't - just a little more messy then normal, !

Kids dance they're heads off 1/2 hour before pick up. They're always in a great mood and get most of their sillies out before I send them home

I do this with my own kids!!! My daughter didn't believe me until I actually bought her brand name honey nut cheerios (I buy our grocery store brand for $2/box less) and she said "These taste weird!" ::

[daycarediva]

I don't tell parents about every little issue. For instance today a 3.5yo dcb:

whined because he wasn't chosen first
cried because he was in the back at circle and couldn't see
cried because it was time to come inside (LOVES outdoor play)
whined when his watercolors mixed and his blue was black.


IMHO ALL normal 3.5 yo reactions. His mother will nitpick his days here to death so I say "Joey had a GREAT DAY!" and Joey agrees and his take home sheet says nothing about his behavior and out the door they go.

He doesn't hit, call names, throw temper tantrums. His whines are whimpers and his crying is silent TRULY SAD tears. We resolved his issues together, and we moved on.

His MOm expects PERFECT behavior. When he cries, she won't even acknowledge him until he stops. It drives me CRAZY because he is SO WELL BEHAVED and doesn't do it for attention. He cried ONCE at pick up when she picked up early (unplanned or I would have prepped him and NOT been in the middle of art) and he cried that he didn't want to leave. For almost a MONTH afterwards she reminded him not to cry at pickup time. She gave ME anxiety about it!

[melilley]

I don't tell parents about every little issue. For instance today a 3.5yo dcb:

whined because he wasn't chosen first
cried because he was in the back at circle and couldn't see
cried because it was time to come inside (LOVES outdoor play)
whined when his watercolors mixed and his blue was black.


IMHO ALL normal 3.5 yo reactions. His mother will nitpick his days here to death so I say "Joey had a GREAT DAY!" and Joey agrees and his take home sheet says nothing about his behavior and out the door they go.

He doesn't hit, call names, throw temper tantrums. His whines are whimpers and his crying is silent TRULY SAD tears. We resolved his issues together, and we moved on.

His MOm expects PERFECT behavior. When he cries, she won't even acknowledge him until he stops. It drives me CRAZY because he is SO WELL BEHAVED and doesn't do it for attention. He cried ONCE at pick up when she picked up early (unplanned or I would have prepped him and NOT been in the middle of art) and he cried that he didn't want to leave. For almost a MONTH afterwards she reminded him not to cry at pickup time. She gave ME anxiety about it!

I have a nitpicker here too and expects perfect behavior, and her son is only 15 months old! Anything I tell her turns into a catastrophe (little things like he was upset for a while this morning, things like that). So I've learned to just say that he had a great day, unless it was something major.

[melilley]

I have school agers that I feed breakfast too - mostly cereal. They complained relentlessly about the 'generic' cereal. So, I keep a box from the name brand, and just switch out the bags, they're none the wiser and happily eat it all up.

I am sooooo going to have to do this with my dd! She refuses to buy any food that isn't name brand!