Need Some Advice . . .

[sweetpeamommy]

I just recently got burned (partially my fault) by one of my moms. Long story short she was basically asking too much for too little money -- and then not paying me. To avoid this problem in the future I have decided to adjust my fee schedule and hours to accomidate a more reasonable schedule for our family.

Since my husband has a long commute and we have family time in the mornings I was planning on changing my hours to 9 AM-9 PM. I also am going to advertise that my rate is $125 with a weekly increase in my rate of $5 per 30 minutes more than 9 hours. Does it sound reasonable to ask for more payment if it is more hours?

I live in a semi-rural area so everyone has to commute at least 20 minutes to some town. I figure 9 hours gives them the chance to do that. Plus I need some down time and a chance to do errands. A happy provider is a good provider in my opinon.

And yes I have a great contract which states all my policies and all my parents have to sign it before care. The drama mom just refused to abide by it.

[Rachel]

Do you have people who need until 9pm? I can't imagine a 9am drop off flying in most places. If you say people need 20 minutes to get to work, that means they don't start until 9:30?

If there is demand in your area and it fits your personal schedule, go for it. I just don't see it working in a lot of places (besides what are you going to do with the kids there until 9, put them to bed and have the parents wake them up to take them home?)

[sweetpeamommy]

Actually it is quite common in my area to have parents who work odd hours such as 10-8. I have two parents who do so now. There is a whole subset of parents who need later hours of care due to working strange hours, I was one until recently so I know how hard it is to find care.

I know there are some who the 9 AM drop off is too late for but I also know that people who need care later have a smaller pool to choose from -- and thus I will have an edge. As far as sleeping since these parents work later in the morning usually the child stays up later and sleeps later in the morning. They just eat dinner with us and play like part of the family.

[daycare]

I say if there is a need for those hours and you think you can fill the spots go for it.

I have my days set to a 9.5 hour day. Anything over 9.5 hours is $5 per hour or fraction there of.

there is nothing wrong with asking for a parent to pay for more hours.