Too Clean To Have A Daycare?

[Unregistered]

So, I'm conducting interviews right now, I have a small in home daycare (4 kids max...my rule not the states), one of the families I interviewed declined to bring their child to my daycare....because my house was clean.

Um...what?

They said there is no way I could be giving the kids the time and attention they need and still maintain a clean house, one or the other would be lacking and it was clear that it wasn't my house.

I gotta say, I'm offended! First of all, my house, in my opinion, is clean *for having kids in it all day* not the kind of clean it could be if just my husband and I lived here. Second, I pride myself on maintaining a tidy house while managing all the kids! Little do they know, my house is trashed at 5:30pm pick up time, and it's miraculously tidy by 7am drop off the next morning...

and obviously I did extra cleaning knowing I was interviewing.

Ugh...it's just so strange, I hope they enjoy the dirty daycare they go with!

[caregiver]

I am an in home daycare provider also and I keep my house Neat & Clean also. I also pride myself with having a clean home, for myself, husband and my daycare kids. I clean when the kids are napping and sometimes before & after they are here. I can't believe a parent would decline you because your house was clean....that is ridulious! What is wrong with them! I would think they would want their child to be in a nice clean enviroment during the day! If the house was messy & dirty, I would be afraid the kids would pick up a lot of germs and it is not healthy for kids to be in that kind of daycare.
Be proud of the way you keep your house and don't let that get to you,those parents are crazy! My daycare parents all love the way my house is and have said that it is so nice that I do keep a clean house and that makes them feel comfortable and know that I am a responsible person with their kids because I do keep it clean for them.

[My4SunshineGirlsNY]

I am right there with you...I LOVE a clean house and do clean up when the kids are here but also pay attention to them...we do music, playdough, get out crafts...we just clean up as we go..isn't that the responsible thing to do?

Seriously, my house can get messy fast with kids not taking care of things like they should, but I always take the time to clean it up...who wants to live in a filth hole, seriously!!

I know you're offended, but just imagine what their house looks like...on to the next interview!

[Abigail]

Maybe they knew their child never cleans and are avoiding the termination in the future. LOL. Maybe their idea of daycare is excessive toys everywhere across the floor, ha ha. I've got a very clean house (Just not today though!) and when I open daycare it will still be clean. Toys will be out, pictures on the walls--hoping for a wall mural too, but might just start with sponged clouds--and I'll have all the art supplies put away. I went on a daycare tour and the one home was super clean, she showed us where her art supplies were and gave us a tour of a few rooms and I thought it was very nice.

[Lucy]

Just playing devil's advocate here, not making any assumptions about you or anyone else. I try to look at the other side when possible, even if I don't agree with it.

She might not have been saying that your house should be messy & dirty, she might just be saying (in her opinion, not mine) that she thinks you're too anal about keeping the house clean and that the kids won't be allowed enough freedom & creativity to mess it up because you'd get all OCD on them. Not that I'm agreeing with this parent in the least, but I remember hearing a news story several years back where a child had gotten a head injury at daycare and later died. It was not the British Au Pair one, it was a home daycare. Anyway, the provider of course blamed it on the parents, saying the kid must have gotten the injury previously at home ... and the parents blamed it on the provider, saying the kid was abused at her home during daycare. It went to trial, and one of the arguments the prosecution used was that the providers home was "too clean". What they meant was that she was so OCD about keeping it clean, that when this boy vomited on her couch & carpet, she went crazy because he made a mess, and shoved him or something, causing a head injury. Not saying you or any of us would ever do that, but I suppose if a parent sees the provider as being a "neat freak" (again, not saying YOU are.), they could be justified in being worried that the provider would constantly be nit-picking the child to keep things clean. And how fun is that for a kid? However, the parent should have kept that to themselves. It was rude to verbalize it as being their reason for passing you up. Not saying that WAS her reason, it just made me think of that trial I heard about. No idea how it ever ended up.

[nannyde]

Parent translation: I want my child to free run your house. I want them to seek and destoy as that is how they "play" at my house.

They are doing you a favor by telling you this because they KNOW their child won't be happy in an organized environment where they are not allowed to free range and "get into" whatever they want whenever they want.