Parents Just Walking into my Daycare home

[foster84]

I agree that you have to treat your place as your home first and your business second. You are not inconveniencing him in any way that it breaking your business relationship with him. You did not promise to leave your door unlocked for him, he just took it for granted.

If you are feeling guilty or bad or hesitant about it, just remember that legally you are not bound to leave your door unlocked. If anything, it should be locked, for the reasons you mentioned.

[ConcernedMotherof2]

I'm curious as to why this father told you that you're killing him. Wow... he was really inconvenienced that much?

Lock your doors It's your home. Period. You obviously have an approachable personality, or this dad wouldn't have felt comfortable enough to start simply walking into your home. It shouldn't be that hard to communicate to him and all of your other parents the reasons behind your decision. You don't have to justify your right to lock your own doors.

[AmandasFCC]

...

I personally have an open door policy. I have gates up that no parent seems to be able to figure out how to open, let alone a child, that keeps the children safe, and I am never out of the room for longer than it takes to go to the bathroom.

I let the parents just walk in because of the set up of my home. We use the side door to enter, which goes straight down to my playroom. there's a gate at the bottom of the stairs which keeps the kids from running up the stairs. Plus, when the kids are playing they are noisy. I can always hear the door open, but I don't necessarily hear the door bell or a knock. This is the best option for me, but I can totally see how it wouldn't be for others

YOU set the boundaries in your home. Not the parents. You have every right to lock your doors, and I can't for the life of me fathom why a parent wouldn't be happy that you're protecting their kids.

[sunmoonandstars]

always, always, always

While I tell my parents they are welcome to stop by anytime their children are with me (they are their parents after all), I ALWAYS lock the door. This is definitely a BIG, HUGE, safety issue. Not only could just anyone walk in...young children are known for sneaking out when the thought occurs to them. Even when parents come to pick up their kids...I have a few who take off running the second the door is open.

Not only that, there was a burglary behind me recently...it was during the day and the guy went right through the front door.

I want them to know that they always have access to their children, but also that I am doing everything in my power to keep them safe.

[Unregistered]

If you had a policy that tells parents they can just walk in then fine, but gosh this guy just took it upon himself to walk in without even knocking?! That would make me so mad!

Here in VA you have to have a door code to get in all daycare centers and you have to be buzzed in to the elementary schools, you can't just walk in to your child's own school much less would I want someone just walking into my home.

Is it annoying to have to wait to be buzzed in or let in? Sure, sometimes. But it's for safety reasons and I would NEVER want to be the "the one" on the local news because a child walked out of my home and wandered down the street.

Kids change, personalities change, they have a bad day. Just because they might not walk out today doesn't mean they wouldn't try it tomorrow.

[Unregistered]

I unlock in the morning and people just come in...however, they stay in the foyer until I get there (which is pretty quickly) after the last child arrives, I lock the door and leave it locked until folks start picking up at night. Personally, I prefer them to just come in, but I would hate it if they wandered past the front door!

[tinytotzdaycare]

just my thoughts

I keep my door unlocked from 6am-7am since all of my kiddos arrive by then. After 7am sharp the door remains locked, if parents arrive late they know to ring the chime and I will get to the door as soon as I can. We then unlock the door around 3:30pm when our parents start arriving. As for knocking, they know to just come on in during d.off/p.up but if its anyother time they have to knock cause the door will be locked =)
I also agree that it depends on your house set up as well, we have our childcare in 1800 sq ft lower level especially built for such. We have a seperate entrance and that helps!