Answering the Door Lickety Split

[childcaremom]

We have a large house. The doorbell has been permanently disabled to prevent the onslaught of marketers and church people from ringing the door bells at all hours. We have a screen/security door on the front. The house has bad acoustics.

This doesn't factor in that I run this show alone (no assistant to stand by the door). I also get caught up sometimes going to the bathroom or something else.

I feel like some parents get peeved that they have to knock twice or that it takes a minute for me to get to the door. One family in particular has had a lot of issues with it. I've told them multiple times to text me or call if I don't answer right away (ideally they should call). But they don't. And then they act all irritated when I do get to the door.

Am I being unreasonable? Does everyone else answer the door in 2 seconds flat? God forbid I'm in the bathroom or I'm in the middle of cooking something....I can almost feel their irritance building.

And I really don't feel comfortable with leaving the front door unlocked. I also don't like parents feeling like they have free reign to walk into my house. What if I am going to the bathroom and the kids are in the playroom...can you imagine the audacity ?

I guess this is more of a vent. But what do you all do about the door situation? Do your parents get peeved it takes slightly longer to answer the door? How should I handle this at interviews to make sure they know I'm not a center with front desk staff waiting to greet people?

I really like the idea of the wireless doorbell that pps suggested.

As it is, our doorbell doesn't work, either. I keep an eye out but sometimes don't get to the door. I just explain during interviews that it doesn't work, to not be afraid to knock or text, and that if I don't get there right away, not to panic. That I am probably busy.

Having said that, I still had one family that used to get annoyed if they had to wait. Would bang and bang on the door. And then would have a surly look on their face if they had to wait 30 seconds. Never mind that at their drop off time I was ready and waiting. I also 'waited' 15 mins after their drop off time. They were consistently 30 mins late. They also are no longer here. ::

[Alwaysgreener]

I'm picturing myself replying with the bathroom in the background. Um....

the video is for you to see them, not for them to see you.

I want a ring, but they are more than I want to spend.

[LysesKids]

the video is for you to see them, not for them to see you.

I want a ring, but they are more than I want to spend.

I'm with you on the more than I want to spend... but it's perfect for me; time to save up

[thrivingchildcarecom]

Believe me this has been an issue in the past! One father came when I was changing his son's poopy diaper. He was banging on the front door so just to make the point I took his son, bare butt and all to the door with me. Another time a grandma freaked out and called her daughter, then had my assistant (who was waiting in her car) rush in because she was about to call the police. I almost termed her for that. Can you imagine a visit from licensing just because I was changing a diaper.

You would think it was too much to ask for people to have a little patience! Anyway, I have managed to put out this fire by informing parents at the tour that we get busy caring for the children during the day, so calls, emails and even knocks on the door may require a little patience. I ask them to remember that it is not just their child in here, we care for up to 11 at once some days. I tell them the best way to reach me and again point out patience is a virtue.

One other thing I did (after I calmed down) was I created a doorknob hanger, kinda like the "do not disturb" ones we use at hotels. Mine says I am changing a diaper and to wait a minute. I noticed that my assistant recently wrote on the backside that "We are in the backyard" for other times when we are not by the door.

Finally, I will randomly send out a reminder email to my clients that reminds them to quietly knock if they are picking up early in the day as the younger children could be napping at anytime during the day. If you would like me to share that verbiage, just send me a PM with your email and I would be happy to.

[Crazy8]

For the 30 minutes or so of normal drop off & pick up times I will either leave the door unlocked or sometimes just have the storm door locked (so parents can see in but the kids can't push it open). My playroom is right off the foyer and kitchen is only right down the hall so nothing ever takes me more than 30 seconds to get to the door unless I am changing a diaper. I try to be "available" during those times so not to keep a parent waiting. I don't go to the bathroom during those times. Again, this is the "usual" 7:45-8:30ish and 4:15-5pm time frames. If a parent is going to pick up outside their usual hours I ask them to text me so I know when to expect them.
I would get annoyed if I often had to wait outside my providers home for more than a minute or two.

[Unregistered]

I think they should understand that u can be busy doing daycare.if they wait for more than minute or two then ya they should text u or call.i dont really have this problem since the playroom is a room off the living room so since its close we can hear the door.If pick up is during outside time i let them no to knock louder. I once had a parent freak out and send police immediately out thinking the kids were left alone ,her kids were new here and only been here couple days when that happened(we were outside) i definitely didnt allow to come back after that incident .

[spud912]

We got the Ring system..hopefully that solves the problem. We are loving it so far! Dh has been disappointed by our lack of visitors so far haha!!

[LysesKids]

We got the Ring system..hopefully that solves the problem. We are loving it so far! Dh has been disappointed by our lack of visitors so far haha!!

I discovered that Lowe's carries the Ring, but only one color - if you have their card it's 5% lower than online @ Ring.com; not too fond of the bronze, but I'm going to look at it in person today... might make it home with me if I like it enough

[Blackcat31]

I mentioned this post to DH and he reminded me that our insurance company offers big discounts for it!

We use American Family

You can buy Ring for $30 less
Get 5% off your premiums if you use Ring
and if you have a break in while using Ring, AmFam will pay your deductible!

Maybe other insurance companies have similar deals..

https://myapps.amfam.com/amfamring/#/landing

[spud912]

I mentioned this post to DH and he reminded me that our insurance company offers big discounts for it!

We use American Family

You can buy Ring for $30 less
Get 5% off your premiums if you use Ring
and if you have a break in while using Ring, AmFam will pay your deductible!

Maybe other insurance companies have similar deals..

https://myapps.amfam.com/amfamring/#/landing

Oh thats good to know! I'll have to contact State Farm.

[spud912]

I discovered that Lowe's carries the Ring, but only one color - if you have their card it's 5% lower than online @ Ring.com; not too fond of the bronze, but I'm going to look at it in person today... might make it home with me if I like it enough

We had a $20 off coupon for Lowes ;-). We got the bronze and we like it

[LysesKids]

Oh thats good to know! I'll have to contact State Farm.

Me too... I already get a small discount from SF for having alarms on my home windows and my car gets a discount because of the alarm I have in it. Also found the RING on Amazon , so another option for purchase