How To Fix This - Late Drop Off, No Communication

[HL0605]

I have a family who is otherwise perfect, polite, respectful, pays on time, not high maintenance, except for drop off times. They have been here since May, and today was the 3rd time they have just not shown up at the normal drop off time (9:15am). Today, I texted both parents (dad normally drops off) at 10:15 asking if dcg was coming. No response. 10:30 I call both, no answer. 10:45 I text again, saying that I was concerned that I hadn't heard from them and asked that they please let me know their plans for the day. No response. 11:10, dad is knocking on my door. I opened it kind of in shock, and he was like "oh, yeah, I put her down for a nap this morning, got to working, and kind of forgot about her". What!!! I asked him why he didn't respond to any of my attempts to contact him and he said he was just busy working. How do I fix this? I really am not okay with this kind of casual attitude about drop off. Maybe I need to add a drop off cut off time to our agreement? Does anyone have a good policy about this?

[Love]

Maybe suggest that after a certain time the parents must call or you will assume the child is not coming for the day? Mine is 8:30. If the parent wont be here by 8:30, they must call and let me know or i will assume they are not coming and i lock my door. I tell them that because of our schedule, i may not be able to answer the door so its very important to call if they are going to be late.

[lovemykidstoo]

I feel your pain. Do you charge hourly or per day? I charge per day, so people just think they can come and go as they please. I wrote in the TGIF thread about my PITA that typically is sitting in my driveway at 7:29 (I start at 7:30). They live 5 houses away, so I know it's hard to judge the drive time . Anyway, he showed up close to 8:30 today. He's my first of the day, so so glad I got up early for him. Dad's off work today, so he let him sleep in, didn't feed him breakfast either. duh. Then says he'll be back between 12 to 4 to get him. Flat out told him to text ahead because I'm not waking him up from nap (wakes everyone up). Let me know how you handle this, because I need ideas too. I have a daycare FB page, so I may next week post something about if drop off times are different than normal, please text the night before. Good time to do that since next week starts school for older kids. Kinda like a fresh start day to make that kind of announcement. Do you have a FB page?

[hwichlaz]

I have a family who is otherwise perfect, polite, respectful, pays on time, not high maintenance, except for drop off times. They have been here since May, and today was the 3rd time they have just not shown up at the normal drop off time (9:15am). Today, I texted both parents (dad normally drops off) at 10:15 asking if dcg was coming. No response. 10:30 I call both, no answer. 10:45 I text again, saying that I was concerned that I hadn't heard from them and asked that they please let me know their plans for the day. No response. 11:10, dad is knocking on my door. I opened it kind of in shock, and he was like "oh, yeah, I put her down for a nap this morning, got to working, and kind of forgot about her". What!!! I asked him why he didn't respond to any of my attempts to contact him and he said he was just busy working. How do I fix this? I really am not okay with this kind of casual attitude about drop off. Maybe I need to add a drop off cut off time to our agreement? Does anyone have a good policy about this?

I tell them that on warm days if I can't make contact, I assume the child has been forgotten in the car and I call for a welfare check with the police dept.

[Ariana]

I would simply not answer the door. I would let them know that aftef a certain time I may not be available to answer the door which is why drop off times need to be adhered too, otherwise we are waiting around.

Then I would purposefully not be available to answer the door to send a message. Like BlackCat always says, put the inconvenience back on them. As long as they are not being inconvenienced they will keep doing what they want.

[rosieteddy]

After drop offs and pickups like that I changed my policy.No drop offs after 10am.No pick ups before 3:30.I could not take a child who slept all morning.They would not be on schedule with the others.When questioned by parents I explained I was one person and we ran on schedule.I did allow pick up before lunch a couple of times.They were always late and I would have to let child eat so that ended.On a funny note my daughter signed her dog up for doggie daycare(Iknow right).Absolutely no pick -ups between 1-3pm doggie rest time.If you do not pick up by 7pm your dog will be boardered and fees will apply.Funny.

[DaveA]

I have it in my policies that DCPs have to let me know by 730 of any drop off after 9. We go a lot of places and I don't wait for someone I don't know is coming. After they end up waiting for us to get back or meeting us somewhere that is out of their way they get the hint.

[DaveA]

After drop offs and pickups like that I changed my policy.No drop offs after 10am.No pick ups before 3:30.I could not take a child who slept all morning.They would not be on schedule with the others.When questioned by parents I explained I was one person and we ran on schedule.I did allow pick up before lunch a couple of times.They were always late and I would have to let child eat so that ended.On a funny note my daughter signed her dog up for doggie daycare(Iknow right).Absolutely no pick -ups between 1-3pm doggie rest time.If you do not pick up by 7pm your dog will be boardered and fees will apply.Funny.

I learned doggy daycare was a real thing on this forum not too long ago. I think I'm in the wrong business.::

[Snowmom]

He didn't bother calling you or responding to you because it doesn't affect him. You allow them to come and go as they please without any challenges (or inconveniences) to them.

Some providers are ok with that and don't really mind- it's less face time for them.
Some, like myself, aren't ok with it and impose a cut off time.

I don't accept any arrivals past 8:45am without at least 12 hours advance notice. I lock my door from 8:45 until 3:00.

[LysesKids]

I have a family who is otherwise perfect, polite, respectful, pays on time, not high maintenance, except for drop off times. They have been here since May, and today was the 3rd time they have just not shown up at the normal drop off time (9:15am). Today, I texted both parents (dad normally drops off) at 10:15 asking if dcg was coming. No response. 10:30 I call both, no answer. 10:45 I text again, saying that I was concerned that I hadn't heard from them and asked that they please let me know their plans for the day. No response. 11:10, dad is knocking on my door. I opened it kind of in shock, and he was like "oh, yeah, I put her down for a nap this morning, got to working, and kind of forgot about her". What!!! I asked him why he didn't respond to any of my attempts to contact him and he said he was just busy working. How do I fix this? I really am not okay with this kind of casual attitude about drop off. Maybe I need to add a drop off cut off time to our agreement? Does anyone have a good policy about this?

I have a policy and thankfully my families abide by it ... I will PM you

[Ariana]

I learned doggy daycare was a real thing on this forum not too long ago. I think I'm in the wrong business.::

Yup! And they charge nearly the same prices and some of the wording for their ads are eerily similar. Read one yesterday talking about socialization and behavior guidance

[Lil_Diddle]

If kids are not here by 9am I will not accept them. Unless child has a morning appointment

[knoxmomof2]

I only keep 4, so I have a bit more flexibility, but it started bugging me on mornings when I was open and ready to go at 7:30 and no one arrived until 10:30!

I watched my business volume and announced that I would be opening at 8:30. Any earlier dropoffs needed to be approved by 7 PM the night before and arrival was expected within 10 minutes of their requested earlier time. The former 7:30 drop-off DCM (that had slowly been dropping off later and later for a month) suddenly panics and says "but they just talked to me at work about my tardiness. I need to drop off earlier!" I told her the policy about notice, but she would keep having last minute emergencies in the morning and end up running late, so I told her to just text me when she was pulling out of her driveway. It takes me the same amount of time to get ready in the morning as it takes her to drive here.

The rest were either on a stable schedule or came after 8:30. They know that I don't feed breakfast if they arrive after 9:15. As I've gotten older, it messes me up if I open past 8:30, plus I homeschool our 2 and they have chores, etc so it throws everyone's day off if we start after 8:30 anyway.

[LysesKids]

I only keep 4, so I have a bit more flexibility, but it started bugging me on mornings when I was open and ready to go at 7:30 and no one arrived until 10:30!

I watched my business volume and announced that I would be opening at 8:30. Any earlier dropoffs needed to be approved by 7 PM the night before and arrival was expected within 10 minutes of their requested earlier time. The former 7:30 drop-off DCM (that had slowly been dropping off later and later for a month) suddenly panics and says "but they just talked to me at work about my tardiness. I need to drop off earlier!" I told her the policy about notice, but she would keep having last minute emergencies in the morning and end up running late, so I told her to just text me when she was pulling out of her driveway. It takes me the same amount of time to get ready in the morning as it takes her to drive here.

The rest were either on a stable schedule or came after 8:30. They know that I don't feed breakfast if they arrive after 9:15. As I've gotten older, it messes me up if I open past 8:30, plus I homeschool our 2 and they have chores, etc so it throws everyone's day off if we start after 8:30 anyway.

I don't serve breakfast unless children arrive before 7am... breakfast snack @ 8:15-8:30, lunch 11. Unless it's an under 12 month old, too bad, not sad. I homeschooled my kids too... I would go on with the normal schedule & just remind families that older children will have to wait if they need to be fed; that said, none of my parents here have ever not texted within 30 minutes of me texting them asking where they were

My families are also real good about feeding before dropping. I also get texts about running late for pick ups especially when it's traffic issues like tonight. All the main roads had major issues because of rain & accidents. Maybe because over the years I grew one hell of a backbone & won't put up with "special"

[HappyEverAfter]

I only keep 4 kids and all but one of them are usually very routine with drop off though technically I'll allow them to drop off at anytime. The one who comes at a different time every day or some days not at all is actually the easiest to keep up with though. Her mother (who is hands down my favorite parent) has an irregular work schedule but gets it 2 months in advance, so what she does is she has a pocket calendar that she writes the estimated drop off times for each day. That way I'll know 2 months ahead what general time to expect them at. And she knows my usual routine too and never shows up at 10:30am expecting me to feed her child breakfast or anything like that. Only once have I ever had to text a parent to see if a child was coming after they didn't show at their normal time and they texted right back that they were on their way.