MLK - Open or Closed?

[spud912]

Open , I only take the holidays that my Dh gets off .

That's the thing....my dh does get this one off.....so does my school-aged daughter. Gosh, I'm really kicking myself now!

Closed, and desperate for it! The parents can't seem to get here before 9am since Christmas, which means NO ONE NAPS! I'm at my wits end and need a break before I start screaming. (4 out of 6 awake today. The youngest is beside me now, having been woken up by another child stepping on her!!! What?!)

Yep, lacking the joy today.

Oh wow, you need a nap break!!

I am closed. But, I will be working on taxes. Our schools are open but, three of my parents are off that day.

Well there is never a real day "off" here. I would take the day to either work on taxes or paint my daughter's room. I've been promising it for months!

So a quick question that is related. If you don't take the day off/ close for the holiday (which I don't, darn it) and the parents have work off so they don't plan on bringing their kids do you make them pay for the day? I have recently come up against a few instances when I don't know if I should charge or not. Sick days? Do you give a certain # of unpaid a year or how do you work that? Hope it's OK to ask here. TIA!!

I charge 50 out of the 52 weeks per year. One of those weeks is an unpaid vacation for myself and one is an unpaid week vacation for daycare parents if they choose to use it (I must have a 2 week notice though). Anything beyond that, they have to pay.

I am closed ALL federal holidays with pay. This has been my policy for over 10 years and I've never had a problem with one parent complaining. Why? Because every parent that enrolls their child in my daycare have to sign a contract. The contract clearly states that I am closed ALL federal holidays, 2 weeks for vacation and 5 sick days per year, all paid. They know these things up front and have the option of signing the contract or not signing. If they opt to sign it and enroll their child, there is nothing for them to say later. Contracts are our saving grace in this business. Mine are about 10 pages long and are very detailed. I include EVERYTHING in it. (Weekly rates, business hours, holidays, vacation, sick policy, withdrawal policy, late fees, probation periods, discipline policy, daily schedule, education policy, napping rules etc). After the parents read the contract and I ask them if they have any questions, the response is usually "no, the contracts says it all", and it does. If you don't have one, I highly suggest you create one. I see no reason why we shouldn't take federal holidays off and have vacation and sick pay. Not all, but most jobs offer it to them. If they receive it from their employers, why shouldn't we. Not only that, an average working day for most of us in this business is anywhere from 10-12 hours per day. That's 50-60 hours per week we spend with their children, I think we more than earn the time we take off. I always give my parents a 30-60 day notice of any vacation time I will be using so they have plenty of time to prepare. And even though I have 5 paid sick days per year, I rarely use one, thank God! I am very fair and reasonable in how I use my time off. But when it's time, I don't hesitate to take it. There's an old saying, "it's not what you do but how you do it". I find that to be very true.

Yes, I have a very long contract that they sign. And I do have time off....I just want more .

[spud912]

So I think I'm just going to question the dc parents in person in a manner that puts them on the spot. I'm thinking of something along these lines:

"Oh, I was going to ask....Monday is MLK and since everyone has it off, I am offering you an extra day off that doesn't count against your vacation time. Your child is the only one coming at this point so I was wondering if you don't mind having an extra companion on that day.... I have a lot of taxes and daycare-related paperwork I need to get done. Thanks!!"

[Papa]

Time off

We are having the same issue. My wife is having total hip replacement the next day and a few parents also need time for themselfs, I don't want my wife getting sick and the DCP are more about them than the health of my wife. We need to be closed for three weeks and omg, you would think we just striped the parents of there life's . Now they have to find other places for there kids. One parent said yes I have a place for her on the 20 th and then my wife said did you read the news letter I write every month? I don't understand, when we were young we didn't have the luxe it of just dumping our kids some ware and going shopping we delt with them.

[Unregistered]

I am closed, but around here, almost everyone has the day off. I started school in 1980 (!), and we were off for MLK every single year. It's definitely an expected holiday here.

[KidGrind]

Closed.

[DaveA]

Open but have only 2 kids coming.

[mduck]

Open here too. No biggie. Dh is off work and my children will be home, and we had no plans to go anywhere. I might end up talking with DCM about being able to transport dcg with us especially on days like this just in case family wants to get out. I don't think she will have any problems with this as when she began with us she wanted to make sure we had a car seat in case we needed to go somewhere (not sure if she meant in emergency situations only?). Ive never took dcg with us anywhere so far and dh is reluctant without some kind of liability/permission form. Anyhow sorry bout the hijack.

[Givingthemgrace]

I only have 1 FTer right now and the mom works through the school district so she might be off, so I still don't know.

[rhondawarren]

My daycare is open.

[Shell]

Closed with pay happyface

[daycare]

open...... I decided to close on presidents day instead.

[Blackcat31]

I'm open. Our schools are open too.

The only thing closed here for MLK day is federal/state offices and banks.

None of my parents work in those offices so it'll be a regular day.

Same for President's Day. Schools open that day too.

Next scheduled close day for me is not until Good Friday (April 3)

[Heidi]

Open...all but one of my parents work that day. I am sure her little turkey will still be here, although she may not be here right at 7.

[melilley]

I'm open, all but one of my parents have to work. Our schools are closed though.

[spud912]

happyface Yay I'm off! Everyone came through!