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So, I just got an email and text from dcm regarding a sudden change of hours for the next week. She wants to do the same days, but wants to cut back the hours to 2pm to 5:30ish pm. She says she works until 5:30 pm but will "make an effort" to pick up by 5:30 pm. I am open from 7:00 am to 5:00 pm.
I allow one family to pick up at 5:15 pm because they were my first and they also follow the rules to the "T" and are always on time right down to the minute. This dcm, on the other hand, was always late whenever they scheduled 5:30 pm pickups in the past so I decided not to allow it anymore. They also are the family that brings their kids sick, brings their kid in the day after surgery (yep, I'm never gonna forget that), scheduled early drop offs at the last minute and then show up 2 hours late (thus the contract stating no changes past Monday unless they are willing to pay a $10 convenience fee PER DAY plus any additional fees), and generally just don't bring all the supplies needed for the day so they require constant reminders. Plus, when money is tight, they like to cancel days at the last minute and request a refund for cancelled days...thus the "no refunds for cancelled days" policy.
Sounded harsh to me at first, but I was really taking a huge financial hit since I was expecting a full time family and ended up with a family wanting to take up a full time slot for no charge.
So my gut reaction is to say no...but that's based on personal bias. I really made a lot of mistakes with this family so I feel it is my fault for not nipping it in the bud...of course when I took care of one issue, they found another way to test the boundaries.
Business wise, it makes sense to work less for the same pay PLUS additional fees, as I have a "late pick up fee" for families that want to pick up past 5:00 pm. It's $5 per 15 minutes per child. So, instead of paying $25 per day per child, they would be using less hours and paying the late pick up fee so that would be $35 per day per child. Does that sound ridiculous to you guys?
I have been juggling the idea of terming this family based on the fact that they constantly need written and verbal reminders about policies and are constantly bringing their sick kids in and then complaining about paying for the days I send their kids home sick. Plus, it is so much calmer here on the days their kids are not here...they are TERRIBLE to their parents at pick up and drop off (saying nasty things, screaming, etc) and they get all the kids riled up here on a regular basis.
The only reason why I haven't termed them is because I'm worried about finding a replacement family...finding kids 2 yrs and older around here is hard...so I would be down 2 kids that would be hard to replace.
On the other hand...I don't know if the stress is worth it. I already only have about 2 hours of family time each day minus time spent cleaning and prepping and such.
I allow one family to pick up at 5:15 pm because they were my first and they also follow the rules to the "T" and are always on time right down to the minute. This dcm, on the other hand, was always late whenever they scheduled 5:30 pm pickups in the past so I decided not to allow it anymore. They also are the family that brings their kids sick, brings their kid in the day after surgery (yep, I'm never gonna forget that), scheduled early drop offs at the last minute and then show up 2 hours late (thus the contract stating no changes past Monday unless they are willing to pay a $10 convenience fee PER DAY plus any additional fees), and generally just don't bring all the supplies needed for the day so they require constant reminders. Plus, when money is tight, they like to cancel days at the last minute and request a refund for cancelled days...thus the "no refunds for cancelled days" policy.
Sounded harsh to me at first, but I was really taking a huge financial hit since I was expecting a full time family and ended up with a family wanting to take up a full time slot for no charge.
So my gut reaction is to say no...but that's based on personal bias. I really made a lot of mistakes with this family so I feel it is my fault for not nipping it in the bud...of course when I took care of one issue, they found another way to test the boundaries.
Business wise, it makes sense to work less for the same pay PLUS additional fees, as I have a "late pick up fee" for families that want to pick up past 5:00 pm. It's $5 per 15 minutes per child. So, instead of paying $25 per day per child, they would be using less hours and paying the late pick up fee so that would be $35 per day per child. Does that sound ridiculous to you guys?
I have been juggling the idea of terming this family based on the fact that they constantly need written and verbal reminders about policies and are constantly bringing their sick kids in and then complaining about paying for the days I send their kids home sick. Plus, it is so much calmer here on the days their kids are not here...they are TERRIBLE to their parents at pick up and drop off (saying nasty things, screaming, etc) and they get all the kids riled up here on a regular basis.
The only reason why I haven't termed them is because I'm worried about finding a replacement family...finding kids 2 yrs and older around here is hard...so I would be down 2 kids that would be hard to replace.
On the other hand...I don't know if the stress is worth it. I already only have about 2 hours of family time each day minus time spent cleaning and prepping and such.
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