Why do they stay?

[hope]

This is an issue I struggle with. I have one dcm that will sit on my couch and expect us to talk like two old ladies over tea. I cant. I have dinner to cook and errands to run. She was off this summer and n will be back this week. I have told her this year my children have extra curricula activities at night so I need to stick to my closing time. I am going to send a reminder text today bc tmro is her first day back. I am determined to stand my ground but she pulls the insulted act every time I cut her after hours attention off.

[NightOwl]

This is an issue I struggle with. I have one dcm that will sit on my couch and expect us to talk like two old ladies over tea. I cant. I have dinner to cook and errands to run. She was off this summer and n will be back this week. I have told her this year my children have extra curricula activities at night so I need to stick to my closing time. I am going to send a reminder text today bc tmro is her first day back. I am determined to stand my ground but she pulls the insulted act every time I cut her after hours attention off.

When she arrives, be in the midst of leaving. Grab your purse and car keys right after handing off her child. Even if you aren't leaving. She doesn't need to know that. ::

[MOM OF 4]

I stay because my dcp is cool She also talks to babies and kids all day long and likes adult conversation. I try to be better at not taking up ALL her time. I know she reads here too, so I want her to know how cool she is and even though she probably thinks I'm nuts, I make her laugh!

[Blackcat31]

This is an issue I struggle with. I have one dcm that will sit on my couch and expect us to talk like two old ladies over tea. I cant. I have dinner to cook and errands to run. She was off this summer and n will be back this week. I have told her this year my children have extra curricula activities at night so I need to stick to my closing time. I am going to send a reminder text today bc tmro is her first day back. I am determined to stand my ground but she pulls the insulted act every time I cut her after hours attention off.

Tell her you'd love to chat but ONLY at drop off. That way its her time that is being used and not necessarily yours.. Kwim?

I dont think parents alway realize at the end of the day that we are still on the clock and sometimes at our busiest.

I've found that allowing tons of chat time during drop offs verses pick ups changes the dynamics of this situation dramatically.

Now I chat with moms/dads but never feel like they are infringing on my work or my time.

At the end of the day, I just want my job to be done. Each time a kid is picked up is just one more minute closer to being off work so ALL chatting for me is done at drop off and not so much pick up.

I think its a perfect balance.

[Unregistered]

pick up- I'm in and out- I want to get home!

Drop off- I want to say goodbye. I help little one with the transition and she likes it. She "teaches me" how she washes her hands and signs in (morning routine at my daughter's center includes all the children practicing signing in their own names), then hugs and kisses, and I'm off to work. I would be super leery of a provider that wanted me to drop my kid and leave without seeing or saying anything. I would feel like they were hiding something. I'm not asking for twenty minutes, but 10 minutes of saying goodbye if no one is throwing a fit doesn't seem like a big deal.