Too Reliable??

[AliB]

I have been having this feeling lately that I have been too reliable for my families over the years. As my time comes to an end in the daycare business I find myself willing to take time off for myself or my family more than I had in the past. That being said, I the last three years I have only taken 3 days off, and this Tuesday I need to take a 1/2 to pick my daughter up from a vacation with her aunt. The dcf's are in an uproar. I'm getting the , "well I sure hope I can find someone" every day is becoming more and more of a struggle to enjoy my job, and it's mostly the parents fault.

[Michael]

They are not your boss. How unappreciative of them. Doesn't your handbook or contract have a provision for time off?

https://www.daycare.com/forum/tags.php?tag=days+off

[Play Care]

I'm of the "no good deed goes unpunished" school of philosophy. ::

And when a parent would say something like that to me, the answer would be "I completely understand if this is no longer working out for you. Is this your two week notice?"

Also, one of the best things to get parental compliance is to REPLACE the worst offenders and then let them go. When families see that you can REPLACE them, they tend to be on their best behavior.

Good Luck!

[Shell]

I completely understand how you feel!

I very rarely take a day off. I started the business to have flexibility and make my own rules, but found that if I needed a day off, it was often met with grunts- unless of course I gave tons of notice- but that's not always possible.

Recently, I decided to take Mondays off, as one of my dcm's was put on bed rest, and I rarely had any other children that day. I was met with resistance from one dcm, and she threatened to leave (not her exact words, but I got the gist of it).

It was my mistake in being so "fair" with parents that I was unfair to myself and never gave myself a break. It's true, once you are too reliable, parents just expect you to be at their beck and call.

Learn from my mistakes, new providers and take time off!

[LindseyA]

I understand this as well. My whole family (19 of us, aunts uncles cousins etc) are going on a cruise in august. I just found out that my husband, children and I won't be back until the following day we were originally scheduled to come back. Apparently the cruise could care less how you get home after you step off of their ship! I am nervous about telling the the dcps though. I will be taking a total of ten days (this extra day and weekend included) I know they will not be happy, and they will probably think im lying, and that I just want an extra day to recoup, Yada Yada. But, like another poster said. I have my own business so I can be flexible and take time off when I want.

[LysesKids]

I understand this as well. My whole family (19 of us, aunts uncles cousins etc) are going on a cruise in august. I just found out that my husband, children and I won't be back until the following day we were originally scheduled to come back. Apparently the cruise could care less how you get home after you step off of their ship! I am nervous about telling the the dcps though. I will be taking a total of ten days (this extra day and weekend included) I know they will not be happy, and they will probably think im lying, and that I just want an extra day to recoup, Yada Yada. But, like another poster said. I have my own business so I can be flexible and take time off when I want.

There will always be that one parent that has no back up regardless of how much notice & how many reminders (same ones that have no back up when kids are sick); last year my families knew ALL my vacation days for the year on January 2nd . By my July break I had a parent bitching they didn't have anybody to watch the kid - not that they weren't reminded 3 times the month prior.

I take my vacations unpaid so it's not like they are paying double, plus if I don't take a break I'll burn out. I learned early on to do for me