Cut off for drop offs...

[Angelwings36]

I would like to get some insight from other providers out there on how you feel/think of this.

All of my clients are scheduled to be here before 8:00am. I open my doors at 7:30am, so that means I spend the first half hour of the day collecting the children. The other children that have already arrived have quiet play until everyone is here at which time we start our activities for the day.

Lately I have clients showing up later than 8am, sometimes as late at 8:45am. It is driving myself and the children that have already arrived nuts!!! This means longer quiet play for the children and me becoming impatient with these late arrivals. I will not start any activities until everyone gets in the door as it is disruptive and hard to supervise/take part in the activities with the children when I have to run off to the door again.

I have approached the parents that are becoming more regularly late and told them that I will no longer be accepting drop offs past 8am, however, they still seem to try to be pushing it...maybe because there is no consequence attached to it?

I'm thinking about handing out a policy change for my contract today...

As of July 20th, 2011 I will no longer be accepting drop offs extending later than 8:00am, unless prior arrangements have been made. Arrangements must be made within 24 hours of late drop off and agreed upon by myself. I may not accept all late drop offs depending on what we have planned for that specific day. This is a no call - no acception policy. That means my daycare door will be locked at 8:00am on the bell and if you fail to contact me 24 hours prior to make arrangements it will be up to you to find alternate care for the day. Fees for the day will not be refunded in the case that a parent shows up late without 24 hours notice to myself. Being that I wait to begin activities with the children until everyone has arrived it is disruptive to the daycare as a whole when parents arrive late to drop off their children.

By signing below you are agreeing to all the above

Parents Signature____________________
Providers Signature___________________

Would you add or take out any part of this? I put in the 24 hour notice to elimate the option of parents calling the morning off to say they will be late.

Thanks.

[Zoe]

I think it sounds good. Parents just don't understand how late drop offs affect our day.

[wdmmom]

I've been having the same issue with a particular family. I told DCD that him dropping off anywhere between 10am and 12pm is unacceptable and he may very well find us not here one day because I will no longer make the other children wait or miss a days activities on his account.

He must have thought I was kidding! He said, "Ok. We'll be here between 10am and 1030am everyday.". Even then my response was NO! It's either 10am or 1030am. I'm not playing around anymore. He then said ok, make it 11am drop off everyday but yesterday he dropped off at 1037am...granted he paid for the 10am dropoff til the end of the month, but still! I'm tired of them saying one thing and doing another!

I will be monitoring pick ups and drop offs for the next 2 weeks and if necessary, they might be getting their termination papers on August 1st!

I don't blame you for putting something in place! These parents need to realize that their children aren't just playing toys all day. We do activities and either their child can be here and be involved or not.

Same goes for my problematic family! Drop off on time or don't drop off at all. Sure it makes for an easy day when they dont bring DCB until 1145am but it messes up our entire day!!! Common courtesy would suggest a phone call but I don't think courtesy is so common any more.

[daysofelijah]

"This is a no call - no acception policy." I think you mean exception?

Otherwise sounds good! If you think you can enforce it go for it. I know a provider that gives her parents a 10 minute window for both drop offs and pick-ups (each parent has a different time). They are not allowed to drop off or pick-up before or after that specific time (w/o hefty fees). Makes life a lot easier to plan activities if you can get the parents to agree to it and have the organization and motivation to stick with it yourself.

[laundrymom]

I can see your point. If you feel it's that big of a distraction then go for it. My age group is so varied that it's not an issue here. We do our calendar and weather at lunch, our entire day is centered around creating learning experiences for the kids, building on their interests and creating teachable moments in normal routines. For us if a child misses an opportunity for something it's not a big deal, there will be another in a bit. But my program is very low key and more play based than school based. We learn through more of a hands on approach instead of observing others. So me taking 3 minutes to greet each family isn't as big a deal. It's only 21 min a day. I have 7 families, 10 kids.

[squareone]

I have the same issue and I am all for the enforcement of contracted drop-off times because I know how disruptive it can be once you have already started your program for the day. However, I think 24 hour notice of being late is a little strict since a lot of parents don't know until the morning of if they are going to be late. I think 1 hour would be reasonable.

I also think that locking the door at 8am will NOT go over well with parents. Especially since they have already paid you for the day and now they know that you are sitting inside and just not letting them in. Since this is likely to have parents up in arms and looking for another provider, my suggestion would be something like a 3 strikes you're out rule. If they drop of late 3 times without calling then give them notice and replace them.

[wdmmom]

I have the same issue and I am all for the enforcement of contracted drop-off times because I know how disruptive it can be once you have already started your program for the day. However, I think 24 hour notice of being late is a little strict since a lot of parents don't know until the morning of if they are going to be late. I think 1 hour would be reasonable.

I also think that locking the door at 8am will NOT go over well with parents. Especially since they have already paid you for the day and now they know that you are sitting inside and just not letting them in. Since this is likely to have parents up in arms and looking for another provider, my suggestion would be something like a 3 strikes you're out rule. If they drop of late 3 times without calling then give them notice and replace them.

Good idea! I have a "convenience fee" in place. If I don't receive an hours notice that you will be late, you pay a $10 convenience fee in addition to your normal daily rate.

Ultimately it is a convenience if they are late...especially if they don't call. Conveniently enough you might be gone out on a walk or at the park or a field trip! ::::::

[Angelwings36]

I have the same issue and I am all for the enforcement of contracted drop-off times because I know how disruptive it can be once you have already started your program for the day. However, I think 24 hour notice of being late is a little strict since a lot of parents don't know until the morning of if they are going to be late. I think 1 hour would be reasonable.

I also think that locking the door at 8am will NOT go over well with parents. Especially since they have already paid you for the day and now they know that you are sitting inside and just not letting them in. Since this is likely to have parents up in arms and looking for another provider, my suggestion would be something like a 3 strikes you're out rule. If they drop of late 3 times without calling then give them notice and replace them.

One hour is not possible as my phone is not turned on until I open at 7:30am.

[Angelwings36]

I have the same issue and I am all for the enforcement of contracted drop-off times because I know how disruptive it can be once you have already started your program for the day. However, I think 24 hour notice of being late is a little strict since a lot of parents don't know until the morning of if they are going to be late. I think 1 hour would be reasonable.

I also think that locking the door at 8am will NOT go over well with parents. Especially since they have already paid you for the day and now they know that you are sitting inside and just not letting them in. Since this is likely to have parents up in arms and looking for another provider, my suggestion would be something like a 3 strikes you're out rule. If they drop of late 3 times without calling then give them notice and replace them.

Also the two parents that keep stretching their drop off times are sahm's who only come once or twice a week. There should really be no reason why they can't get their child up and ready and out the door with time to spare.

If I was half an hour late opening my door in the morning the parents would leave and expect me to refund them for the day, if not terminate me for it. So I really don't think it's inappropriate to treat them the same way as they would me.

It's their JOB to get their child to daycare on time.

All parent's in my daycare are scheduled to be here before 8am so if they show up late they are not sticking to their end of the deal.

[Angelwings36]

I have the same issue and I am all for the enforcement of contracted drop-off times because I know how disruptive it can be once you have already started your program for the day. However, I think 24 hour notice of being late is a little strict since a lot of parents don't know until the morning of if they are going to be late. I think 1 hour would be reasonable.

I also think that locking the door at 8am will NOT go over well with parents. Especially since they have already paid you for the day and now they know that you are sitting inside and just not letting them in. Since this is likely to have parents up in arms and looking for another provider, my suggestion would be something like a 3 strikes you're out rule. If they drop of late 3 times without calling then give them notice and replace them.

I should have wrote this all at once . But anyways, even if I allowed the parents to give me one hours notice if they are going to be late...parent's would constantly be taking advantage of that and my point here is to elimate parents from dropping off past 8am period. These parents already text me all the time saying they will be late and that is just not working for me anymore or for the daycare as a whole.

[wdmmom]

Also the two parents that keep stretching their drop off times are sahm's who only come once or twice a week. There should really be no reason why they can't get their child up and ready and out the door with time to spare.

If I was half an hour late opening my door in the morning the parents would leave and expect me to refund them for the day, if not terminate me for it. So I really don't think it's inappropriate to treat them the same way as they would me.

It's their JOB to get their child to daycare on time.

All parent's in my daycare are scheduled to be here before 8am so if they show up late they are not sticking to their end of the deal.

I don't provide care to families unless they work or go to school. If these SAHM's probably don't "need" you so they are just using you for their personal benefit and being late is a personal benefit. If their child slept in for them, it's a reward to them. They feel like they earned it...even it that means being late.

With that being said, IMO, if I were working for them, I'd term. They don't need the service and are taking advantage. SAHM wants to go tan, get nails done, have lunch with the girls, she can do that with kid in tow. That's being a parent!

[nannyde]

I don't really care about drop off time as long as it doesn't mess up my nap mojo.

If they arrive unfed after meals or arrive a half hour from nap and have just gotten up at home... then that's going to be a problem.

If we aren't here when they get here they just text me and I tell them where we are.

[Hunni Bee]

I have the same issue and I am all for the enforcement of contracted drop-off times because I know how disruptive it can be once you have already started your program for the day. However, I think 24 hour notice of being late is a little strict since a lot of parents don't know until the morning of if they are going to be late. I think 1 hour would be reasonable.

I also think that locking the door at 8am will NOT go over well with parents. Especially since they have already paid you for the day and now they know that you are sitting inside and just not letting them in. Since this is likely to have parents up in arms and looking for another provider, my suggestion would be something like a 3 strikes you're out rule. If they drop of late 3 times without calling then give them notice and replace them.

Our cut-off is 9:30. We don't accept kids after that time unless prior notice (the day before) has been given, and even then it has to be for a good reason. A parent can't just roll over at 7 am and call us and say little Jo-Jo wont be in til 10 because they wanna sleep in. We have slight mayhem between 9:15 and 9:30 with last minute people coming in, but its better than kids strolling in at 11 with McNuggets in hand.

8 am is a little early though. If they're contracted to be there by 8, then thats one thing...but I'd give them a little more leeway, til 8:15 at least.

[MommyMuffin]

I completely understand where you are coming from on this. I bet it can be frustrating.
To a parent it might seem like your being a little unrealistic or picky. A parent doesnt want to call everyday while trying to get their kids out the door to tell you they will be there at such and such time.

The only thing about drop offs I put my foot down on is FOOD. After 8:45 breakfast is not served!