Child Care. What Families Need?

[Angelsj]

That works fantastic if the schedule is the same each time.

But what about the family that wants 3 days a week but every week the three days are different?

The family that wants 2 days a week want Mondays and Thursdays only.

A third family calls and wants 2 days a week and sometimes a 3rd day but all the days are always different each week...


then what?


Working around part timer's that have SET days has never been an issue and has ALWAYS generated more income daily than full timers.

It's the varying schedules that have providers pulling their hair out trying to manage week to week without making a parent upset or not having space for that one day when everyone's schedules overlap.

How do you manage those situations?

First come, first served. I make it EXTREMELY clear from the beginning that getting charged hourly means you may NOT have a spot. The earlier you ask, the more likely to get a yes. The families who are good at this, stay and get care. The others learn very quickly, or leave. Since hourly part time care is so hard to find, this has not been an income issue for me at all.
And yes, it can be headache inducing, but I don't care if a parent gets upset, to be truly honest here (about that issue.) They let me know in advance, and really, it isn't that bad. Most of their schedules are fairly close each week. I have two spots I keep for randoms, and because they have less hours each week, they pay a higher hourly rate than my full timers.
I have 10 spots and a roster of 17 children. They learn very quickly

[Unregistered]

I do alot of part time and start my days ay 6:30 and 7 am most days , I am a morning person
I had a very low numbers for a while so I followed my possible clients needs ...YES I DID

it is a lot of schedualing ....but ...my numbers are now huge and I am doing great

I also do before and after school , full days and short days the before and after school opened up for drop ins during the day

for the bussiness end yah I too soft

they do pay late and in chunks ex...not what I want at all ....but they do pay
as a result I have a great group of clients and children and some times they do extras for me ...to make up the late payments ex....

I before making some changes in contract for part times I talked to many people and saw more needed few days for my area not so much full time work ....so I charge a daily rate not monthly rate ...and that realy helped financely ( sp )

I feel youll need to step back and see what you think you can handle do your reseach like you are ,,,and with in a short while youll figure out the area you live in and what you can handle ..good luck and have fun !!!

[Annalee]

That works fantastic if the schedule is the same each time.

But what about the family that wants 3 days a week but every week the three days are different?

The family that wants 2 days a week want Mondays and Thursdays only.

A third family calls and wants 2 days a week and sometimes a 3rd day but all the days are always different each week...


then what?


Working around part timer's that have SET days has never been an issue and has ALWAYS generated more income daily than full timers.

It's the varying schedules that have providers pulling their hair out trying to manage week to week without making a parent upset or not having space for that one day when everyone's schedules overlap.

How do you manage those situations?

Issues like this are why I sought your help, BC....working on this now with another provider...we have decided that floating day clients must choose between drop-in with NO SPOT GUARANTEE or full-time to guarantee spot. Clients make the choice but when you say NO GUARANTEE with drop-in care, they generally choose to pay full-time.

[SignMeUp]

A few years ago I had a prospective family who wanted M & W one week, and M-T-W the next week, on an alternating schedule. They only wanted to pay for two days one week, three the next. I told them I would be happy to have their child, but they would have to pay for three days each week. They were certain that they could find someone to do what they wanted, and I decided to get honest with them.
(What follows isn't meant as a put-down to anyone who does alternating schedules. This reflects what is common in my area though.) I told them that they would indeed find someone who would do that, but that they should watch those situations for quality of care, because often the people who will accept any schedule (again: this is true where I live and does not necessarily apply to you) are not able to get anyone to enroll based on the quality of their care, so they will accept anyone at any schedule or rate.

The family said goodbye, and I figured that was the end of it. A few days later, they called me back and asked if there was any chance I hadn't filled the opening and if they could have it, paying for three days each week.
I was glad that I told them what I did, both for them and for myself. They have been here for almost seven years now (second child), same schedule.

[midaycare]

I work A LOT of hours. I'm pretty accommodating. I have early morning at 6:45 am and then Wed-Fri my last ones get picked up at 9:15 pm. But ... The hubby and I are trying to pay off our new house in 10 years & remodel it, too. Keeping this schedule for 1 year allows us to redo both our bathrooms. After that ... I will probably lighten the load. Unless I decide to redo the kitchen

[GKJNIGMN]

When my kids were younger, I had a need for drop in care. They had one where I was at and you could leave the kids up to 4 hours at a time. I believe it was like $4-$6 an hour per child. I don't remember the exact number. I would use it when my provider called in sick and I needed to go to school. I could get one of my parents to pick up from there 4 hours later and less time at work was missed.

Where I am living now, there is a large need for unusual care hours (2nd and 3rd shift) and longer hours (10-12 hour work shifts). I take on some 2nd and 3rd shift kids to pay for bigger home remodels and things but long term I have moved away from 2nd shift. I like my evenings free. But I get calls for them all the time. Problem is they overlap other shifts often times.

[Blackcat31]

There IS a huge need for part time and occasional care in most areas but what it comes down to is costs/money.

Parents don't want to pay for hours/days they don't use.

Providers can't afford to stay in business unless they are receiving maximum rates for a majority of their available spaces.

The gap is in pay for providers as well as parents understanding what actually goes into this profession.

Any other business that is in business to make a PROFIT is not viewed as negotiable... why is child care?

Just like frequent diner or rewards programs that stores offer...the MORE a patron uses the cheaper or bigger discount they get.

I do not understand why this concept is so hard for parents to grasp.

[SignMeUp]

Any other business that is in business to make a PROFIT is not viewed as negotiable... why is child care?

And it is further complicated because some parents think of us as a typical business making a profit. But in reality, that 'profit' is our income.
For most businesses the profit is the amount left after paying people for their work. In ours, profit=pay.