Family Asking for 4:30AM Drop Off!

[Dsquared]

Hello wonderful ladies!

Once again one of my families who I really like, daddy is deploying for 2 months. Which leaves the mom to have to work out her busy work schedule without him. In the past while he was gone she would ask for a 4:30 am drop off once in a while. I did it for her because I am a push over, . Now she is asking for a 4:30 am drop off every Wednesday for 2 months. Thing is, she hired a lady to take over the odd hours while hubby is gone. Now she is telling me the lady typically has to be at work by then. She doesn't even offer extra money when asking me to do this early drop off. I guess because she figures she picks him up earlier. If I agreed to do it how much would I charge her? I really don't want to do it at all but I feel bad and don't want to lose them. What would you guys do?

[Thriftylady]

I would charge at least an extra $2-3 an hour until opening time. It is a disruption to your day and you shouldn't have to do it for free!

[daycarediva]

I would NOT offer this. I would tell her that it is her responsibility to make arrangements for someone else to drop off the children.

IF you do offer it, I would make it AT LEAST 10/hr.

I do not open until 8 in summer, so that would cost her $35/day for that early service alone.

[sharlan]

How old is the child? What time do you normally open?

I would definitely charge an extra fee for those 8 days though.

[rosieteddy]

I would not do it.I think you having to be up and ready for the day at that hour is crazy.What a long day that will make.Can't she get family or hire someone??If you did decide to do it I would at least charge 30 dollars each week extra.

[finsup]

I had a family who tried to request 5am-5:30pm, wanted to pay regular "daycare rates" and got very annoyed when I told her I do take two weeks of vacation a year. Yeah...it didn't work out. I don't generally open until 7, so anything before that is typically 10/hour. High, yes. But it's the only way I'll consider it. Want me to open at 4:30? Sure, but it will cost 25$ per day added onto your weekly rate. Ugh even at that much more...I wouldn't really want to .
But yeah if you choose to do it, just tell/send an email to her saying sure, but a fee of x amount will be added on to each day. Regardless of pick up time.

[Ariana]

For one Wednesday a week for a month I would do it but only if she picked him up earlier, which it sounds like she is doing. I would charge a daily rate as per usual as long as she picks him up 8 hours later. I would only charge if she was keeping him there until 5pm and then I would charge a crazy permium of $10 for anything over 8 hours. I would set up a cot for him to sleep on until 7am and I would probably lie on the couch where he is type of thing.

It is totally up to you what you want to do. Simply say NO if you don't want to do it, or charge a premium for those hours if you think it will make it easier to get up at 4:30am.

[mommyneedsadayoff]

I would charge whatever makes it worth it to you. If you have other kids to care for, it won't matter if she picks her kid up early, your workday is still going to be quite a bit longer, unless all kids are picked up early. I did 5:15 am for one of my families and the little guy just went back to bed, so it was easy money. My regular rate was $150 and they paid me $200 for early drop off 1-2 days per week. Its really up to you, but it gets to be a very long day!

[MunchkinWrangler]

Eek! And you would still be working until your closing time making for a long day. I have no advice because I would never even consider being ready for days care that early. If you really don't want to do it, don't.

[Annalee]

I CANNOT function at 4:30:: no amount of money for me to open at that time.

[LysesKids]

I CANNOT function at 4:30:: no amount of money for me to open at that time.

Especially if one doesn't go to bed until 10:30pm ...

[nothingwithoutjoy]

No way on earth would I open at 4:30. But I just wanted to chime in that I charge $15/hour outside of my normal operating hours, and only if it works with my schedule. Even then, it's barely worth it to me to make my day longer.

[thrivingchildcarecom]

First of all if you don't want to do it, then don't. The truth it is already a long day for providers (I clock 11 hours with the kids, not including cleaning, shopping, paperwork, etc.) so tacking on 2-3 more on top of that would be a no-go for me. Don't get me wrong the occasional emergency issue does come up and I try to accommodate, but every week, nah!

The other thing is my licensed hours start at 7:00 am so to take anyone prior to that would be outside of my license and could be an issue with licensing. Just imagine if something happened and I wasn't even really supposed to be open at that time.

One more thing; if I do ever grant an early arrival or a late departure and its outside of the contracted hours for the family, then it falls into the category of an extended day and I charge at least the $10/hr. Otherwise parents would tend to want this all the time and may or may not pickup on time.

Hope that helped.

[Play Care]

Eek! And you would still be working until your closing time making for a long day. I have no advice because I would never even consider being ready for days care that early. If you really don't want to do it, don't.

This! When parents play the "but I'll be picking up EARLY!" Card, it's all I can do not to give them the stink eye and ask "but will all the OTHER parents be picking up early as well?" So my day, which is already at 11 hours will be at 15...ONE kid leaving "early" does not an easier day make, .

If you want to accommodate that, make it worth your while. I'm willing to bet that if you set a price, suddenly she'll find a way to make it work without you opening early.

[AmyKidsCo]

I wouldn't do it. The only amount of money that would make it worthwhile to get up that early every Wednesday for 2 months would be an extra $100, and then I'd still grumble about having to get up early.