Wwyd

[KEG123]

I got this e-mail today... don't even know what to say. I mean, I could give her my part time rate, but I that would be a lot to ask for such little hours. Would you do a drop in rate? daily rate/per child?

Hello there, I am a mother of 2, My daughter is 4 and my son will be 3 in march. I am currently needing a babysitter while i attend classes. I only am in class for 6 hours a week. Is this something that you would be willing to help me with? I am on campus 2 and a half hours on mondays and wednesdays and for 1 and a half hours on fridays. I look forward to hearing from you.

Perhaps I should ask what the hours are to begin with... but hmm..

Thoughts anyone?

[AnythingsPossible]

2 ways to go on this. Stick to your guns and give her your part time rate, if she can't handle that, she is welcome to look elsewhere. She may be on state assistance and then it wouldn't really matter to her what your rates are. The other thing you could do, would be to make her a contract in which you charge 2 part day rates, as the lower hours on friday would even out the other two days.
This is a situation in which you are going to have to strongly consider how you are going to handle your contracts. I know you just got licensed and want to fill your spots, but you also have to ask yourself how are you going to feel about this family if you do start filling up and can't take more children because of this very part time spot.
If you would be willing to accept the fact that you are virtually losing 2 full time spots for this family, then I would make up a very detailed contract in respect to the days and times, and make sure that Mom realizes that these are the only times you will be available to her. My part time rate is 15 per day, so in my situation, Mom would be paying 60/week for her 3 days.
I truly believe if you start out being soft towards parents and giving them a break, you will always run your business that way. I say that because that is what I have done. No back bone here. I think you need to have one from day one, and just stand firm on your policies and do what you need to for you, not for the parents.

[Abigail]

How many children do you have enrolled?
Ask her for her phone number to discuss it because you have various questions....LOL, better than wasting your time emailing back and forth and not having a chance to speak on the phone.
Do you offer drop in care?

If I needed the extra income, I would do an hourly rate (since some days you may not be available if it's drop in and not contracted....you could do a contract guess, but I wouldn't do it for the day she only need an hour. Tell her to find another person incase you don't have a drop in spot available.)

I would charge $6/hour whether one child comes or both and it would be a first come first serve basis until the spot is filled. Pay a $50 refundable fee when childcare is finished. Then, have her pay each day at pick up....which would never exceed the $50 deposit so you'll always get paid. If you do a contract, I would make it 3 full days or at least 2 full days care rate for two children so you could fill the other days to make it equal to full timers.

[Live and Learn]

When I used to offer drop in for situations like this I would charge minimum wage per kid per hour. I really don't like drop in so I wanted to make it worth my time. I had a mom who did this three full days a week on average for a school year. She just couldn't believe that it would really be less expensive to just pay the full time rate. .....I would never have taken a drop in who conflicted with afternoon naps!

[KEG123]

Well I e-mailed her back just saying it depends on the hours she needs. Honestly, my plan for the daycare is NOT to be at maximum capacity... so even if I had 3 other full time kids, plus these two as drop ins, that would not put me in over my head.

I asked her hours, if she needed any extra hours while she was at work, and if she would be ending care once late May hit (end of the semester)

[Abigail]

It doesn't sound like a bad deal then. If you would prefer to have this unusual and short hours, you could do contracted hours for those times only (guessing she doesn't need care any other times besides what she states) and ask for a higher rate. So, if she needs you 2.5 hours twice a week(M/W) and 1.5 hours once a week(F) that is 6.5 hours total multiple that by minimum wage and it's about $50/week. If she creates a contracted hours with you, I would do the $50/week for those three days and then they're safe. If they don't go because class is cancelled, then no refund and you're paid in advance so no worries. Just give a two week notice before class is finished. It should work out fine, but it just has to be worth it to you in the end to do unusual times no matter what the pay is. Did you advertise for an opening somewhere or say you offer drop in rates? Definitely discuss it on the phone with her so you know she's serious about needing care.

[KEG123]

It doesn't sound like a bad deal then. If you would prefer to have this unusual and short hours, you could do contracted hours for those times only (guessing she doesn't need care any other times besides what she states) and ask for a higher rate. So, if she needs you 2.5 hours twice a week(M/W) and 1.5 hours once a week(F) that is 6.5 hours total multiple that by minimum wage and it's about $50/week. If she creates a contracted hours with you, I would do the $50/week for those three days and then they're safe. If they don't go because class is cancelled, then no refund and you're paid in advance so no worries. Just give a two week notice before class is finished. It should work out fine, but it just has to be worth it to you in the end to do unusual times no matter what the pay is. Did you advertise for an opening somewhere or say you offer drop in rates? Definitely discuss it on the phone with her so you know she's serious about needing care.

That's what I was thinking, $50 ish per child, 100 for both. (per week)

I'll just wait for her to email me back and get her number.

[marniewon]

That's what I was thinking, $50 ish per child, 100 for both. (per week)

I'll just wait for her to email me back and get her number.

Wow, that seems REALLY high to me! If she's state paid it won't really matter (although I know state won't pay THAT much) but if she's a struggling student there's no way she'll be able to pull that off.

[KEG123]

Wow, that seems REALLY high to me! If she's state paid it won't really matter (although I know state won't pay THAT much) but if she's a struggling student there's no way she'll be able to pull that off.

State pays I think 25 per day... not sure about low hours like that though. She didn't mention being state funded?

[dEHmom]

She doesn't mention is this is evening or daytime. Clarify that with her first.

Personally, I'm not even a single mother, but if I had to pay 100/wk for childcare (ugh, that babysitting comment bothers me), for only 6 hours of care, i couldn't afford it either.

I get the concept of where that came from, but I would suggest taking a look at it. If you want to see if she'll accept and pay you then fine. But if she says oh I can't afford that, be prepared for her to just walk. If you say it, and then drop it for her, she's got an advantage over you and this is where all that be firm talk comes into play. She may think she can treat you like a babysitter and that's it.

I'd say 65/wk for the 2 together, or even 75/wk, the 65 is 5/hour per kid. For approx 6.5 hrs a week I think that's fair. But I'd tell her that it's 65/wk regardless of whether she comes or not, for specific hours, and for a specific timeframe. After that, if she wants to continue using you, you'll have to recontract everything.

[KEG123]

She doesn't mention is this is evening or daytime. Clarify that with her first.

Personally, I'm not even a single mother, but if I had to pay 100/wk for childcare (ugh, that babysitting comment bothers me), for only 6 hours of care, i couldn't afford it either.

I get the concept of where that came from, but I would suggest taking a look at it. If you want to see if she'll accept and pay you then fine. But if she says oh I can't afford that, be prepared for her to just walk. If you say it, and then drop it for her, she's got an advantage over you and this is where all that be firm talk comes into play. She may think she can treat you like a babysitter and that's it.

I'd say 65/wk for the 2 together, or even 75/wk, the 65 is 5/hour per kid. For approx 6.5 hrs a week I think that's fair. But I'd tell her that it's 65/wk regardless of whether she comes or not, for specific hours, and for a specific timeframe. After that, if she wants to continue using you, you'll have to recontract everything.

I'm waiting to hear back from her. She said the hours were m&w 12-2:15 and friday 12-1. Soooo right during lunch time/early nap time. I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet. JUst trying to get more info from her. She said it would go into summer. I asked if she needed more hours so she could stay in the library after/before class to study, etc.

[QualiTcare]

I'm waiting to hear back from her. She said the hours were m&w 12-2:15 and friday 12-1. Soooo right during lunch time/early nap time. I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet. JUst trying to get more info from her. She said it would go into summer. I asked if she needed more hours so she could stay in the library after/before class to study, etc.

it doesn't sound like she has factored in commute times. that could easily add 2-3 hours - i dunno (my school was 30 mins. one way from daycare). an hour a day, 3 days per week. maybe you've already added that in, but just in case.

[dEHmom]

I'm waiting to hear back from her. She said the hours were m&w 12-2:15 and friday 12-1. Soooo right during lunch time/early nap time. I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet. JUst trying to get more info from her. She said it would go into summer. I asked if she needed more hours so she could stay in the library after/before class to study, etc.

Not sure if she's giving you school hours or daycare hours required as QualiTcare mentioned driving time will change the hours, but you can add an hour or 2 to what I mentioned if you choose to go that road.

You can add that you will take care of them, but they are required to be dropped off at X time and picked up at X time due to lunch/nap times. If she doesn't agree then it's not worth it for you, because if other kids are napping, she is going to create problems with her drop offs and pick ups. That's fair for you to require.

Right now I have a family, who because of their varying hours chose to stay drop in as opposed to part time/full time. For the last 3 months she has been paying me more a week then she would if she went full time. But that's ok with me and I capped her off at a max of 40/day, so if she's 9 hours or 10 hours, I don't charge her those hours. Because they commute to the city and back. I'd be making a lot more if it wasn't capped at 40.

[KEG123]

Yeah I'm not sure if she included commute time. But I live very close to the college, so I would say maybe 10 minutes extra each way if she hasn't already included travel time. So maybe an extra hour per week?

I was thinking, to tell her that she has to drop off by noon then i'll do lunch and quiet time/nap and she would have to pick up at 3. I'm not really sure ya know.

Right now the only kid here is my son, who naps at 1-3 in his room, so its not a disturbance NOW. But once I get other kids, my nap room will be in the main entry way so it would disturb them if she wanted to pick up at 2....

[KEG123]

Yeah I'm not sure if she included commute time. But I live very close to the college, so I would say maybe 10 minutes extra each way if she hasn't already included travel time. So maybe an extra hour per week?

I was thinking, to tell her that she has to drop off by noon then i'll do lunch and quiet time/nap and she would have to pick up at 3. I'm not really sure ya know.

Right now the only kid here is my son, who naps at 1-3 in his room, so its not a disturbance NOW. But once I get other kids, my nap room will be in the main entry way so it would disturb them if she wanted to pick up at 2....