One Year Anniversary

[Boymom]

:hug:

What do you WANT to do?

Do you want to operate a child care?

Do you want to just do it until your child(ren) goes to school and then you plan on getting an outside the home job?

What do YOU want to do?

Once you decide that, you can make a plan of action to work towards that.

I have lots of advice on how to take control or take back the control in your business but before I start spouting off on how easy it really can be..... YOU have to know what direction you really want to move.......

I'm working on my bachelor's degree right now, but I still have about 2 years left. So right about the time I finish my bachelors, my youngest will be starting kindergarten :-)

I plan on having the daycare until then, but I don't want to be miserable for the next 2 years LOL!

But, what I want to do is figure out a way where I don't have to have the daycare and hang out with my kids away from the house ha! But I don't think it can happen financially right now :-/

[Snowmom]

:hug:

The first year really IS the hardest. It's a transition time for us too. This is a hard job and the real kick in the nutz is that most of the people who surround us daily think it's a cake walk.

When you get to the point where you KNOW it should always, always, always be business first, it gets easier to reinforce the rules. The more you take control, the easier it gets. I promise.

Thank you all very much!

For late pickup, do you double the fee if you watch siblings? Like if I charge $1 per minute and if they are 5 minutes late, do I charge $5 or $10 since there are 2 of them?

Yes, I do.
I also charge $1 per minute within my operating hours (contracted arrival times) and $2 per minute past closing time PLUS their contract will be subject to termination for arriving past closing.
They sign this... and initial it... in three places... it's bolded and highlighted.... you get the idea.

[Second Home]

Thank you all very much!

For late pickup, do you double the fee if you watch siblings? Like if I charge $1 per minute and if they are 5 minutes late, do I charge $5 or $10 since there are 2 of them?

The fee should be per child .In your example it would be $10.

[Second Home]

A while back I was tired of all the late pick ups , I let late fees slip if it was only a few minutes but then I was getting mad about them being late .

I typed up a letter stating that as of xx day all policies will be enforced including all late fees . And I stuck to it , it was hard at first but it really isn't hard anymore. Sure some times a dck is picked up a few minutes late but at least I am getting paid for the extra time .

[Unregistered]

I got to where I didn't mind charging late fees. If someone paid late or p/u late, I'd send an invoice and think: pizza!!

[Nurse Jackie]

Boymom I am in the same boat. I just recently past my year anniversary and was feeling unhappy and stressed up until yesterday. I came to the conclusion that next year if business isnt doing well I'm closing shop and focusing on my family

[Meeko]

I used to enforce all my policies, but it was difficult and I felt bad doing it.

I then decided to take another approach....

Late pick up would go like this...

DCP: Sorry I'm late! Traffic was awful!"

Me: I'm so sorry Clare, but there will be a late fee added (sad, compassionate face)

DCP: But it was only a few minutes...etc...etc.etc...

I noticed that I was APOLOGIZING for enforcing my rules.

So now, the conversations go like this...

DCP: Sorry I'm late! The traffic was awful!"

Me: Sara had a great day! Gotta run..lots of things to do with my family! The late fee will be $$$. See you tomorrow! (BIG SMILE)

As soon as I stopped apologizing...they stopped trying to take advantage and make me feel bad.

[CityGarden]

First of all, CONGRATULATIONS on making it to you one year daycare anniversary!!!!!!!!! happyfacehappyfacehappyface

After a year in business I do think it is a good time to look at your policies / contract / handbook and see if there are areas that need to be updated. Based on your post some items I would look at:

- A clear late policy and fees spelled out.

- Sick days for yourself built into the contract - there are providers who allow X numbers of days per year they may close with pay should they become ill, parents do not get a discount for those days and fees stay the same.

- Hours of operation. One of the best pieces of advice I have gleaned from this forum is to set your closing hours 30 minutes prior to when you actually want to be finished with the day. The cushion you set yourself gives you time to clean up and prep for the next day, if I child is late you are still working anyway and then are getting financially compensated for them being their. Of course you still need to consider the hours needed in your area.

- Do you provide lunch? Are you okay with doing so? That is one item that I am not planning to provide because it is extra work that truly is not needed (in my area). I will prepare a morning snack (same as my dd's breakfast for the day) but that's all. Not providing lunch means I will not be cleaning my kitchen as much from the daycare, able to be more present with the children instead of in the kitchen cooking, etc.

Take a look at what you offer that you like? What you offer that you don't like? From there see what can be adjusted for your piece of mind.

Another item in terms of late picks up is the have a digital sign in / sign out system. I am not familiar with them but others are and some of the automatically highlight to parents they were late and can be set to automatically add the late fees. I find having something like that does reduce the conversations between parents and providers on that subject. My understanding is these program can work with an ipad / tablet or laptop..... hopefully providers who use these can chime in.

In terms of you and college, some colleges will grant credit for life experience (look at Pacific Oaks College based in California but with online options as an example) so you can be earning college credits for the work you are doing depending on if you want to go into a related fields and there are many related field to home based day care (from my mind Teaching is obvious but Social Work, Marketing, Business seem they would all apply if you can make a compelling presentation to the committee who approves of the credits).

AGAIN CONGRATS FOR MAKING IT A YEAR!!!

[Unregistered]

In my experience, the cooking has little to do with the cleanup.

It's the eating that's messy

[Josiegirl]

Hey, I've been doing this 33+ years and I still have problems asserting myself. I just redid my policies and added in it that from such'n'such a date, these policies and contract will be enforced. Nobody has tested their limits yet.
It's so much easier having it in fresh writing, especially if you started letting things slide little by little like I did. Have them sign an agreement(it's included in their contract)that they've read and agreed to the policy handbook. Then when they are late by a few minutes, you can say 'per my policies, you owe __ in late fees which can be paid___.'
I also changed my handbook a few years ago to include 'payment is based on enrollment, not attendance'. 52 weeks paid.

[rosieteddy]

I would follow CITYGARDENS ideas. Send a note saying you passed the 1 year mark. These are the changes------.I would definitely add paid time off.You have earned at least 2 paid weeks.As someone else noted your day should end when you want it to. Good luck try to think of thr benefits of working from home.

[Boymom]

Thanks everyone! I appreciate your help! I do have a question about how to word something.

Late Pick-Up Policy:

My daycare closes promptly at 5:30..........then I list the late fees and then at the end I put "Please respect my family/personal time."

Is this ok? Is it unprofessional? They have been late more times than I can count and I am DONE!