Have I Lost My Backbone?

[Christian Mother]

My first ever daycare family that I love love love I am feeling like I've lost my backbone. I want to help and be fair. But I feel like I am treading in something that is going to drown me. Ever get that feeling when you agree to something?

This summer a mother who is a teacher switched schools which is far from where we both live. Her commute is about 30 min. So she fights traffic getting here. Which the change in her school hrs have changed for her which I agreed to open early from 7am to 6am. But I have kept the closing time to 4:30pm. I don't mind getting up early. I thought I would but I've adapted pretty well to it. Mom said that bc she works early she gets out early...but the past 3 wks have been all over the place bc she has meetings. I totally understand that so I told her that I give her 45 hrs a wk which is 9 hrs a day which is scheduled with our contract. But she got confused bc in my parent hand book says 6am til 5pm. She was thinking that was considered full time rate. So i explained that those are just the hours I am opened til but that each family has there own paid time slots which allows 9 hrs. So she said that she has a hard time trying to get here with 9 hrs and asked if i'd allow 9 1/2 hrs per day which I said I had no problem to but after 47.5 hrs I would start charging $5 per hr. Which also allow 15min to be late after the 9 1/2 hrs time frame.

Last week she paid $20 bc she accumulated 51.5 hrs so I charged her just $20 instead of the 25 + I should of charged her. Mind you we horse trade bc she spends 25min 2 times a week with my daughter for therapy on her speech so instead of charging her $125 a wk she pays me $85. So, I told her I will draw her up a new contract with hrs to 6:15am to 3:45 but she is allowed an extra 15 to be late which I think she can use. I think what got me though is that If she drops off late she still picks up later and I told her that I will only add up the hrs of the week not the per her contract. Which I totally screwed my self there with. But what do you do. She said that if this doesn't work for me then she will have to look for a new daycare but she really didn't want to but she didn't know what else to do. I kept thinking hun,if you can't afford late fees your not going to be able to afford any other daycare. But, who knows I could be very wrong there. Do you guys charge for 9 yrs a day or 10...? Am I being fair... should I give her 10 hrs instead of 9 1/2. Do you all work 50 hr work weeks. I made the comment that after 45 I felt that after those many hrs per day anything after I should be paid for and she said that she doesn't get paid for after hrs. But, I told her that most people work 8 hr days get a lunch hr maybe half and hr and if they work over time get paid for it. I treat this as a business so I felt that I should be paid for an extra hrs not in our contract. Why do parents always want to extend there hrs. ? I know many will ask about Dad, dad works from home sometimes is out of the house on business meetings but works til 4:30pm and can't get little guy til after. No one is able to pick him up if he's late but mom or dad. I've had him since he was 3 months and will have his baby brother in Dec. Am I making a big deal out of this???

[MarinaVanessa]

I consider FT to be 30-50 hours a week, but that's just me. A "regular" work schedule around here is an 8 hour shift (8-5 with an hour lunch) and I added an extra 30 minute commute time each way just to be safe. That's how I came up with 50 hours being my max. Anything over 10 hours and I charge extra.

[Christian Mother]

Originally Posted by MarinaVanessa

I consider FT to be 30-50 hours a week, but that's just me. A "regular" work schedule around here is an 8 hour shift (8-5 with an hour lunch) and I added an extra 30 minute commute time each way just to be safe. That's how I came up with 50 hours being my max. Anything over 10 hours and I charge extra.

Does all your families contract for 10 hrs each? I have a family that uses 8.5 and another between 7 and 7.5. But this family is using 10 if not more. We contracted a in 09' at 10 hrs from 6:30am to 4:30pm and it seemed to be ok but mom would always come right at 4:30pm if not 15 min late. right before I accessed a late fee. But it seems with this new job she is here at 4:30pm 5pm. It is such long hrs for a 2 yr old.

[sharlan]

I think you're being a bit tight. For a parent to work an 8 hr day, plus 1 hr for lunch, you're talking 9 hrs. Now add 30 mins each way for the commute. That totals 10 hrs a day.

[MarinaVanessa]

Originally Posted by Christian Mother

Does all your families contract for 10 hrs each? I have a family that uses 8.5 and another between 7 and 7.5. But this family is using 10 if not more. We contracted a in 09' at 10 hrs from 6:30am to 4:30pm and it seemed to be ok but mom would always come right at 4:30pm if not 15 min late. right before I accessed a late fee. But it seems with this new job she is here at 4:30pm 5pm. It is such long hrs for a 2 yr old.

No not all. I have a DCM that's scheduled from 8-5. She keeps to it most days but sometimes picks up early or drops off later (with notice) to spend time with DCB. 10 hours a day is what my weekly fee covers. Any time beyond 10 hours a day is an added charge. I had to think of it from a business perspective when I had families that stayed longer than that ... I can't change what hours they work or what they do with their time KWIM?

[tbutler]

I don't think you're making a big deal out of it at all. You know the amount of time you want to put into your business that will keep you sane, make an income, and make you feel that you, the parents, and children are treated fairly.

[Christian Mother]

Thanks ladies,...I appreciate your honestly. I guess switching to 10 hrs is the right thing to do. I do want to be fair and not stress her out so I will change her contract to meet her needs. I think tomorrow that will be a nice surprise for her and hopefully it will help her out so she isn't stressing.

[Crazy8]

I don't get into charging for 9 or 10 hours a day. I find out what hours they need to contract and I give a rate based on those hours only. I don't get into how many hours a day it is or how many hours a week or what anyone else pays me. None of it is their concern - if I can accomodate the hours they require care I will take them. I don't understand contracting to a certain time but allowing them 15 min. extra - kind of defeats the purpose of having a contracted pick up time.

Teachers generally have the shortest days of any profession I have dealt with. I don't know a single teacher that needs to pick up at 5pm. That seems strange to me. What are the schools hours?? I understand the first week or two being in meetings and I our schools have faculty meetings the first Monday of every month so I'd even be flexible for that. But if she's changing her contracted hours you have every right to change your rates for that care.

[tbutler]

Originally Posted by LittleDiamonds

I don't get into charging for 9 or 10 hours a day. I find out what hours they need to contract and I give a rate based on those hours only. I don't get into how many hours a day it is or how many hours a week or what anyone else pays me. None of it is their concern - if I can accomodate the hours they require care I will take them. I don't understand contracting to a certain time but allowing them 15 min. extra - kind of defeats the purpose of having a contracted pick up time.

Teachers generally have the shortest days of any profession I have dealt with. I don't know a single teacher that needs to pick up at 5pm. That seems strange to me. What are the schools hours?? I understand the first week or two being in meetings and I our schools have faculty meetings the first Monday of every month so I'd even be flexible for that. But if she's changing her contracted hours you have every right to change your rates for that care.

Great response!

[Christian Mother]

I always thoughts teachers had really good schedules...but man...since she is the only teacher I care for I am not sure of others...I believe what she told me is that work for her starts at 7am. So she drops little off at 6:15am but then gets off at 2:30pm. She's a Speech Pathologist and she seems to always be in meetings. Plus, she pregnant. High risk. She's really good about letting me know if she will be late bc of a doctors apt. but i never question the hrs...until now. lol!!

She was my first daycare child and I started her with 10 hrs back then but switch this yr to 9 hrs bc I thought that it would be less hrs for her that she'd need. Turns out she needs more. Should of known better. I know she tries hard to respect my time and she is really good about informing me but man....there is only a hand full of times that she's been here to pick up little guy at 4pm. It's more like 4:45pm. I always allow 15min to be late so there aren't any excuses if someone is late. I've never had to charge a late fee until last week. When she was over 5 hrs late for the whole week. She talked to me today that she doesn't anticipate it getting better that this is what her schedule is going to look like for her and if I had a problem to let her know so she could start looking for a new daycare. She said she would need an extra 1/2 hr. And i said that was fine but I don't think that will even help her out. That is why I thought if everyone else give 10 hrs maybe I was being unfair and should do the same. I thought 9 hrs was the norm.

Little- I hear you on hrs....I wish I'd had done that in the beginning. But when i started with this family I hadn't had a phb yet and we had agreed on 10hrs for $25. I didn't even do late fees even when pick up was late. Now that I have more children in my care and I have a phb...claim taxes. I've started doing things diff. and she has def. had a hard time with the changes. No one else has complained at all. I know the families would have no problem questioning if they didn't like something or felt it was unfair. I normally don't charge late fees specially if once in a blue moon they have a doctors apt or something like that. But last week was bad and I expect it that it will be like this each week now. It just seems that $2.50 a hr is so little for 10 hrs...lol!!

[JenNJ]

I charge my full time rate as the MAXIMUM I am willing to work. I open at 8 and close at 5:30. Every family is charged as if these are the hours they are using. That way, I don;t get screwed. I they drop at 8 and pick up at 3 - great. But I am still charging as if you are here until 5:30 because that is when I am here until.

[Crazy8]

Originally Posted by JenNJ

I charge my full time rate as the MAXIMUM I am willing to work. I open at 8 and close at 5:30. Every family is charged as if these are the hours they are using. That way, I don;t get screwed. I they drop at 8 and pick up at 3 - great. But I am still charging as if you are here until 5:30 because that is when I am here until.

and do you find they will pick up at 3-4pm?? Even my very best families who I adore have the mindset "if I'm paying for it"... so if they knew they're paying till 5:30 they will pick up at 5:30. They'd rather go home and start dinner, etc. than pick up their kid early "if they are paying for it".
I know I'm still here anyway, but I'd much rather have 1 kid left at 5pm than have 4 of them. I generally need to be out the door right behind them so less kids here at that time is just a little easier.

[JenNJ]

Originally Posted by LittleDiamonds

and do you find they will pick up at 3-4pm?? Even my very best families who I adore have the mindset "if I'm paying for it"... so if they knew they're paying till 5:30 they will pick up at 5:30. They'd rather go home and start dinner, etc. than pick up their kid early "if they are paying for it".
I know I'm still here anyway, but I'd much rather have 1 kid left at 5pm than have 4 of them. I generally need to be out the door right behind them so less kids here at that time is just a little easier.

I have 4 families:
Family 1: 8-4
Family 2: 8:30 - 4:15
Family 3: 8 - 5:05
Family 4: 9 - 5:30

I have seriously GOLDEN families. They are all very into their kids and love being parents. They keep their kids home when they take off from work, pick up early if they can, and take frequent vacations.

[AnneCordelia]

I also have a flat rate for anywhere frmo 5-10 hours of care. I am open 10.5 hours but charge an extra $5/day for children who are here that long.

I have one girl here 10.5 hours. My other 3 are all here only 7 hours each.

[Country Kids]

I do take care of teachers childrens and they have long hours. Usually here an hour or earlier depending which parent is dropping off before start time and then an hour or more after school is out. Here teachers have to be in their classrooms 45 min before school and 45 min after. Then you have the drive time and such. So I do have some children of teachers here about 9-10 hours a day. Some stay longer at the school to get things done in the classroom and such.

This is where I make the money though because I charge by the hour so the longer I have children the more it is costing them.

[nannyde]

I just do nine hours. If they need beyond that it's five dollars an hour. The nine hours are fixed into a time slot and anything after their pick up time is charged at five dollars an hour if it's scheduled.

Most of my kids are here about 8.5 hours a day with my current group.

I know in some areas it just isn't possible to do eight nine hours but I can't IMAGINE having a kid ten or eleven hours a day five days a week. It wears me out just thinking about it. The kids I take care of couldn't manage being here that long and their parents couldn't be away from them that long.

I've had parents who do three twelve hour shifts, two sixteen hour shifts, or four ten hour shifts and then had the kid home with them on the days off. That's been great for me. I don't mind having the extra hours IF they are off an extra one to three days a week at full time rates.

I like caring for kids who have a LOT of awake time with parents. I like working for those parents. It's one of the foundational decisions that has helped me have longevity and happiness in this job. It's kept my hourly rate of pay at a good rate and kept my staff assistant happy as we have less kids the later we go into the afternoon. She can get cleaning and paperwork done that last working hour because we usually only have one or two kids.

[Meeko]

Originally Posted by Christian Mother

My first ever daycare family that I love love love I am feeling like I've lost my backbone. I want to help and be fair. But I feel like I am treading in something that is going to drown me. Ever get that feeling when you agree to something?

This summer a mother who is a teacher switched schools which is far from where we both live. Her commute is about 30 min. So she fights traffic getting here. Which the change in her school hrs have changed for her which I agreed to open early from 7am to 6am. But I have kept the closing time to 4:30pm. I don't mind getting up early. I thought I would but I've adapted pretty well to it. Mom said that bc she works early she gets out early...but the past 3 wks have been all over the place bc she has meetings. I totally understand that so I told her that I give her 45 hrs a wk which is 9 hrs a day which is scheduled with our contract. But she got confused bc in my parent hand book says 6am til 5pm. She was thinking that was considered full time rate. So i explained that those are just the hours I am opened til but that each family has there own paid time slots which allows 9 hrs. So she said that she has a hard time trying to get here with 9 hrs and asked if i'd allow 9 1/2 hrs per day which I said I had no problem to but after 47.5 hrs I would start charging $5 per hr. Which also allow 15min to be late after the 9 1/2 hrs time frame.

Last week she paid $20 bc she accumulated 51.5 hrs so I charged her just $20 instead of the 25 + I should of charged her. Mind you we horse trade bc she spends 25min 2 times a week with my daughter for therapy on her speech so instead of charging her $125 a wk she pays me $85. So, I told her I will draw her up a new contract with hrs to 6:15am to 3:45 but she is allowed an extra 15 to be late which I think she can use. I think what got me though is that If she drops off late she still picks up later and I told her that I will only add up the hrs of the week not the per her contract. Which I totally screwed my self there with. But what do you do. She said that if this doesn't work for me then she will have to look for a new daycare but she really didn't want to but she didn't know what else to do. I kept thinking hun,if you can't afford late fees your not going to be able to afford any other daycare. But, who knows I could be very wrong there. Do you guys charge for 9 yrs a day or 10...? Am I being fair... should I give her 10 hrs instead of 9 1/2. Do you all work 50 hr work weeks. I made the comment that after 45 I felt that after those many hrs per day anything after I should be paid for and she said that she doesn't get paid for after hrs. But, I told her that most people work 8 hr days get a lunch hr maybe half and hr and if they work over time get paid for it. I treat this as a business so I felt that I should be paid for an extra hrs not in our contract. Why do parents always want to extend there hrs. ? I know many will ask about Dad, dad works from home sometimes is out of the house on business meetings but works til 4:30pm and can't get little guy til after. No one is able to pick him up if he's late but mom or dad. I've had him since he was 3 months and will have his baby brother in Dec. Am I making a big deal out of this???

This is why I have flat rates. It would drive me nuts to quibble over a few minutes here and a few minutes there etc.

I open at 6AM. Don't think about being early.
I close at 6PM. Heaven help you if you are late.
DONE.

[Christian Mother]

Hahah!! I ended up just giving her the 10 hrs 6am to 4pm but I no longer allow 15min to be late after 4pm. I will start charging late fees the min. after 4pm. I did tell her that she had the option to pay me $30 a day if she wanted to use the 6am-5pm that way she never had to worry about being late. She thought about it but I think she is just keeping the 6am to 4pm although tues. will be 7am to 5pm. We will see how it goes. I never understand why people fight late fees. It's only $5 for a extra hr. She only pays me $85 a wk bc we trade work so she can do therapy with my daughter. hmmmm!!

[Sunshine44]

I think maybe you could be a little bit more accomodating if she really needs the extra hours. You probably know your dcp better than any of us.

Also, teacher schedules are ok, better than some, but not always. Teachers have a lot on their shoulders (not that we do not!). You cannot just call a teachers cell phone and have them leave immediately during the day. You need to call the school and when they find someone to cover the class, they are allowed to leave. Teachers have numerous meetings; staff, team, parent and such... Also, teachers have things come up a lot. If a child is having an issue the teacher will stay until the child is picked up.

I've seen this happen a lot- Teacher is ready to walk out the door and a parent walks in and ready to talk to teacher about such and such issue. Teachers cannot say I'm sorry, I'm closed, come back. It sucks, but that's life. So, yea, it can be hard to have a teacher.

I understand none of that is YOUR (the daycare providers) problem, but that is life with a teacher. I like to do what I can for my families, as long as it isn't all the time and it doesn't make me a mess or mess up something with myself. I understand things come up, people have issues and I try to help them out if I can. I do not feel bad if I cannot, but I will try my best. If someone has to be late because their car broke down and they are not usually late, I don't mind. It's life and I'd hope someone would extent the same courtesy to me one day.

If you really don't want the hours, term. If you can deal with them without being burnt out then accept and go fromthere.

[tbutler]

Originally Posted by Meeko60

I open at 6AM. Don't think about being early.
I close at 6PM. Heaven help you if you are late.
DONE.

LOL! I love your bluntness!

[nannyde]

Originally Posted by Meeko60

This is why I have flat rates. It would drive me nuts to quibble over a few minutes here and a few minutes there etc.

I open at 6AM. Don't think about being early.
I close at 6PM. Heaven help you if you are late.
DONE.

I like having both. Set hours that limit the total number of hours per day and no quibbling.

[Christian Mother]

Originally Posted by Sunshine44

I think maybe you could be a little bit more accomodating if she really needs the extra hours. You probably know your dcp better than any of us.

Also, teacher schedules are ok, better than some, but not always. Teachers have a lot on their shoulders (not that we do not!). You cannot just call a teachers cell phone and have them leave immediately during the day. You need to call the school and when they find someone to cover the class, they are allowed to leave. Teachers have numerous meetings; staff, team, parent and such... Also, teachers have things come up a lot. If a child is having an issue the teacher will stay until the child is picked up.

I've seen this happen a lot- Teacher is ready to walk out the door and a parent walks in and ready to talk to teacher about such and such issue. Teachers cannot say I'm sorry, I'm closed, come back. It sucks, but that's life. So, yea, it can be hard to have a teacher.

I understand none of that is YOUR (the daycare providers) problem, but that is life with a teacher. I like to do what I can for my families, as long as it isn't all the time and it doesn't make me a mess or mess up something with myself. I understand things come up, people have issues and I try to help them out if I can. I do not feel bad if I cannot, but I will try my best. If someone has to be late because their car broke down and they are not usually late, I don't mind. It's life and I'd hope someone would extent the same courtesy to me one day.

If you really don't want the hours, term. If you can deal with them without being burnt out then accept and go fromthere.

Ohh Goodness, no...I wouldn't term them over an extra hr. I want to work with her. She's a good parent and she pays on time but we've already had issues in the past over the illness policy and now fees. I don't charge fees but I do think that if your extending your hrs from what was already agreed on that there should be a fee attached. I allowed an extra hr. to help hr out. I don't mind that. But there has to be boundaries drawn to be put forth so we are all happy. I will have to see how these new hrs work for her if they don't then she can always call around and see about other daycares or pay an extra $5 a day for 11 hrs. I can only do what I know I can do. The same for her...she has to do what she feels is best for her and her family. I try to be here as much as I possible can.

[LittleD]

Originally Posted by Sunshine44

I've seen this happen a lot- Teacher is ready to walk out the door and a parent walks in and ready to talk to teacher about such and such issue. Teachers cannot say I'm sorry, I'm closed, come back. It sucks, but that's life. So, yea, it can be hard to have a teacher.
.

Actually, they can and have. I have gone in to pick up my child (which is rare as normally I work 7am-5pm) and she had to get her child from daycare. She offered that I set up an appointment or she could call me when she got home. (the last I thought was pretty accommodating)

Teachers though, I give them my respect. 20+ 4/5 yrs olds, no easy task I'm sure. Plus all of the paperwork and meetings etc. I would be happy to work the extra hours for their time off, but they sure earn it!!

[Christian Mother]

I absolutely love all the teachers the kids have had and I can say i'm one of those parents waiting out the door to discuss my child..lol!! I try to catch right at the end of class and it's a quick chat but I'm sure I am not the only parent or student that needs to discuss something or another. I am glad a lot of you came on here to give me your advise bc I wasn't sure if daycares charge by the hr or scheduled hrs or a select amount of hrs. I had always charged for 9 hrs as a full day. It isn't unreasonable for me to change there hrs to meet the needs of the parents. I feel that if i do for one it's for all. I just have to decide for my self what my limit is. I don't know if I'd be crazy to offer 11hr work days or if thats the norm and to suck it up..lol!! You guys are awesome thank you for sharing!!