Dinner Problem

[momofboys]

sorry but what does IMO mean? And KWIM?

For us, my kids would have to eat at 430 in order to not go to dance/swimming on a full tummy and end up with cramps etc. I book all their activities as late as I can (6pm-6:30 pm) but for 4 and 6 yr olds that's late considering they go to bed at 7:30pm. Should I have to feed them at 7 or 730 that's pushing back their bathtime, bedtime and throwing off a routine/schedule they have had all their life.

If the parents don't agree to you feeding them supper and paying a little extra if need be for that, (I mean really an extra dollar a day would be enough, its not like a little girl will eat a whole steak to herself or anything), then the schedule needs to adjust so your family does have time to eat dinner. Advise the parents if the child must be picked up by this time, in order to allow for your family to eat dinner and move ahead with activities. Daycare takes up approx 12 hours of your day, regardless if that child is just 1 hr after school or not, you have maybe 4 or 5 hours in the evening with your family. They have to understand.

My daycare hours are until 6 pm. Most of my families have picked up by 4:30 or 5:30, but the latest I will go is 6pm. My children go to bed at 7:30. That gives me 1 1/2 to 2 hrs with my family alone? I go to bed usually around 8:30 9pm, watch news, and then go to sleep by 10pm ish.

I totally agree with you! When my boys have baseball (2x a week in the spring) I won't have them eat 10 min before we have to leave that is why we have to eat by about 4:30.

[dEHmom]

Baybee, IMO is "In My Opinion" and KWIM is "Know What I Mean". Similarly, IME is "In My Experience" and IYKWIM is "If You Know What I Mean."

Thanks! I've asked before but never got the response . I figured out most of them except for KWIM and IMO. The other 2 I have not seen yet until just now!

And Janarae yep, it's not easy being a soccer/baseball/dance/swimming/ etc mom. Apparently chauffeuring is the rest of my life. I've got 2 boys ready to start getting into sports and such. ERG

[AnythingsPossible]

My final two cents on this thread...if I remember correctly from a previous post, this girl likes to complain and cause trouble. I don't believe at any point the OP has stated that she refuses to feed the girl at all. She does give her a snack. In my opinion, this little girl just likes to control situations and get what she wants, of course I don't know her, but what was said in a previous post makes me assume that is how this little girl operates. I would not under any circumstances adjust how my family life is ran because of daycare. On the nights my children have had activities early in the evening, they have eaten while daycare was still at our home. Daycare kids are told why they are eating early, and it's left at that. I can not understand why so many people are of the opinion that this little girl should be given what she wants, when she has already been given what is offered for daycare. When parents chose to send their child to home daycare, they need to understand that it is our home. If they don't like the way we operate, they are welcome to go somewhere else. With all that being said, I personally would not want to always have dinner time while daycare is here, but if that is what OP schedule requires, then that is HER choice. Since everyone is discussing how rude it is to eat in front of daycare kids, I think it is rather rude to assume that the little girl must want to eat because OP is fixing unhealthy junk food. Heaven forbid she fixed a pizza
This post has just really rubbed me the wrong way. Everyone speaks so much about how we need to stand up for ourselves and not give in to people, and in the next breath people are telling the OP that she is rude for not offering dcg dinner with her family, when dcg is obviously just pushing to get what she wants. So many comments about how it's rude to eat in front of the kids. My husband comes home an hour after dck's eat their lunch and eats his. Should i prepare them another lunch because we have ours at that time? Wouldn't want to be rude! i'm frankly dumbfounded at the attitudes over this, as I'm sure a few will be over my attitude, but i don't feel OP should get such grief over taking care of her families needs.

[mac60]

Why is it that the majority think it is wrong to tell a child no. I don't get it. Seriously, that child can say she is starving, but I am 100% sure that that child does not know what hunger/starving truely is. If you are giving her a good snack when she arrives after school, you have met your obligations to her, unless, you have contracted to feed her supper.

My dc kids would eat the whole 9/10 hours they were here if I let them. I don't eat lunch when they do, but I don't feel I have to feed them again when I do. When my daughter who is 19 eats or my hubby before work, I don't feel obligated to feed the dc kids then.

I feed my dc kids 2 of their 3 meals a day, plus snacks, we do other things weekly like bake cookies, muffins, cupcakes, and they eat those too, many times taking them home. I get $85 for 1 child, $135 for 2 kids fulltime. Feeding them 2 meals a day and snacks is all I can handle with the budget.

I am sure if the child was at a center, this wouldn't be an issue at all. While I agree that there is a fine line drawn when our business is in our home, I do feel that my family--husband and children--- should have the right and opportunity to sit down and eat supper at the table together, regardless if there is daycare kids still in the home or not, as it is our family home. It is not like we would sit there with a hot steaming pizza throwing it in their face that we are eating and they are not. That is just silly.

[nannyde]

When issues like this arise (though dinner hasn't as I wait until the kids are gone before my family dinner) I try to look at it as if it were my own child in care. How would I feel about MY child not being served a meal while the providers children are? Personally, I'd be quite angry. There is no reason why you HAVE to feed your children before you dck goes home. If they are THAT hungry, then she probably is too.

One thing to consider as well, by the time she gets home, and a meal is served, it is probably quite late and she really is starving. Perhaps she has made that connection and wants to eat with you because she knows she is going to have to wait another two hours to eat.

It wouldn't matter to me if they paid more or not. If I am going to serve my family food, any dck still here will get it too.

I absolutely agree that any time we eat here ALL the kids are welcome to eat too. I feed any kid that is here after five because that's when DS and I eat.

I DO think though that the difference for me is that I CHARGE for extra time in the afternoon. I charge for kids who are here later. If they are here during a meal time then I'm getting paid MORE for them.

I just think you can't HAVE kids in your house who's parents can't afford or are not willing to pay for their BASIC needs. If the Dad can't afford to have his daughter fed when she is hungry then I can't work for that Dad or he has to come and get her to take care of her during this time. She can't BE in my house if the parent can't afford what she needs during that time.

I think if this Dad offered the provider an extra five a day to cover the food and the labor per kid then she would most likely not mind serving them a full supper before her family ate or with them. I think this DOES have to do with money.

It's OKAY to discuss money with these kinds of issues because 99 times out of a 100 it IS about the money.

That said.. no kid would be hungry in my house. It would make ME miserable to think one of them was.

[nannyde]

I think it is rather rude to assume that the little girl must want to eat because OP is fixing unhealthy junk food. Heaven forbid she fixed a pizza

No it's not. It's just human nature. The smell of these kinds of foods DO make people want them. Sheesh .. every place that makes food knows that. How do YOU feel when you walk into a bakery? I know it makes ME want a donut whether I'm hungry or not.

We are humans and humans respond to smells. If she is making pizza most likely the school aged kids KNOWS what that smells like and it's most likely making her crave it or want it. Most kids really like pizza.

It's not a slam about the food. It's just the nature of that kind of food.

[countrymom]

My final two cents on this thread...if I remember correctly from a previous post, this girl likes to complain and cause trouble. I don't believe at any point the OP has stated that she refuses to feed the girl at all. She does give her a snack. In my opinion, this little girl just likes to control situations and get what she wants, of course I don't know her, but what was said in a previous post makes me assume that is how this little girl operates. I would not under any circumstances adjust how my family life is ran because of daycare. On the nights my children have had activities early in the evening, they have eaten while daycare was still at our home. Daycare kids are told why they are eating early, and it's left at that. I can not understand why so many people are of the opinion that this little girl should be given what she wants, when she has already been given what is offered for daycare. When parents chose to send their child to home daycare, they need to understand that it is our home. If they don't like the way we operate, they are welcome to go somewhere else. With all that being said, I personally would not want to always have dinner time while daycare is here, but if that is what OP schedule requires, then that is HER choice. Since everyone is discussing how rude it is to eat in front of daycare kids, I think it is rather rude to assume that the little girl must want to eat because OP is fixing unhealthy junk food. Heaven forbid she fixed a pizza
This post has just really rubbed me the wrong way. Everyone speaks so much about how we need to stand up for ourselves and not give in to people, and in the next breath people are telling the OP that she is rude for not offering dcg dinner with her family, when dcg is obviously just pushing to get what she wants. So many comments about how it's rude to eat in front of the kids. My husband comes home an hour after dck's eat their lunch and eats his. Should i prepare them another lunch because we have ours at that time? Wouldn't want to be rude! i'm frankly dumbfounded at the attitudes over this, as I'm sure a few will be over my attitude, but i don't feel OP should get such grief over taking care of her families needs.

I think that is the problem, she is controlling, I will post about what happened later because I have to fight for the computer with my kids today, I hate pa days and facebook or is it cityville they are playing

[countrymom]

No it's not. It's just human nature. The smell of these kinds of foods DO make people want them. Sheesh .. every place that makes food knows that. How do YOU feel when you walk into a bakery? I know it makes ME want a donut whether I'm hungry or not.

We are humans and humans respond to smells. If she is making pizza most likely the school aged kids KNOWS what that smells like and it's most likely making her crave it or want it. Most kids really like pizza.

It's not a slam about the food. It's just the nature of that kind of food.

I didn't make it till she went home, I wanted to see how far she would go with this food business and ......