Rant: Who own's this business!

[Mum2Boo]

Just need somewhere to let off some steam!!!!

I must remember that my daycare business is just that, my daycare business, and that my family come first.

I have been having some issues with a DCG (17 months) in terms of her eating while with me (she doesn't eat well at home either) and the DCPs have been asking my advice & agreeing with everything I have been doing at "my" daycare since the problems arose, or so I thought.

Over the last week the mother told me she wanted to up the DCGs intake of milk to 35oz! I mentioned that this was high & that it may compound the food issue, but I would of course do as they asked as they are the parent. Her food intake did go down & then they started to question me as to why.

In addition to this they have been one of these sets of DCPs who will take full advantage of the hours you are open i.e. 7:30am drop off on the dot & pick up at 5:30pm - a little later sometimes. If they had a day off DCG would still be sent, I know they pay for me to look after their child.....but in became increasingly sad to see her only have weekend parents

So anyway, today (Civic holiday in Ontario) I've received email notice from the parents that they no longer wish to send their daughter to me. They are using some contract changes I have made to hide what is the real reason

Don't get me wrong, I'm actually relieved that this is happening , just a little put out that the DCPs couldn't talk it through properly with me first. And that I have consistently put myself and my family out to accommodate them......no more......lesson learned

Is this a common issue in the Home Daycare world?

[Momof4]

Sorry you had this experience Mum2Boo and sometimes we learn our lessons the hard way. That's how I've learned everything so far in the business. But you have your priorities straight, your family and your business come first.

I think you just learned that your contract rules have to be in place, clear and concise and they have to be followed by every dcfamily. Nobody gets any special treatment. You serve the meals, the milk or other drinks according to your plan and you plan your days. You tell the parents at the interviews exactly how you run your daycare and if they like your methods they will sign with you. If they don't like it they can find someone else.

Do you always allow people to leave their children for 10 hours? My limit is 9 hours and there is a late fee after that. Hope you find a great family to replace these people.

[Mum2Boo]

I guess being fairly new (11 months) to all of this I hadn't taken into consideration the impact of a 10 hours day on my family & also the DCK. It will definitely be a consideration for future
Thanks for the response Momof4

[Momof4]

10 hour days are way too long for the child, not just for us. That's why my limit is 9 hours and I'm lucky to always have had at least one or two families who arranged for shorter days so that arrangement such as Mom will drop off and Dad will pick up, or grandparents have helped out in some cases so that they only used 7-8 hours a lot.

If you are still in your first year in the business then keep up the great work and you will learn so much as the years go by. You get better at organizing, streamlining your systems for meals especially, planning crafts and lessons, but don't forget that letting the children play is important. You don't have to be the entertainment ALL the time! In other words, don't get burned out from working much too hard.

But did you fill that space? Hope everything is working out.

[Mum2Boo]

I haven't filled the space yet, need to get some advertising out there. I have a new family starting 2 days a week in September, who I will be taking a deposit from....lol.....& they are looking for 9:00am to 2:45pm days. Couldn't be more perfect in terms of working around my daughters school hours I'm thinking if I take on a part time child or an after school child then I should be back up to my usual monthly salary.

Most of this week was spent chasing the above mentioned family down for payment....grrrrr!!! !
Long story short, they made a business decision to remove their child & then kept throwing a personal reason at me for non-payment. After much patience & then underlining the detail of my contract, I got my payment. Stressful is an understatement.

However, they have gone now & taught me some lessons on how to approach my business in the future, so I guess I can thank them for that...lol

Thanks for the advice Momof4

[momofnerds]

I had families who use to drop their kids off at 7am to 530pm everyday five days a week. then I got smart. I may be ope from 7am to 5pm but now I work on contract hours. The parents give me their work hours, this way its less time for the kids. I understand paying for the spot, but I'm helping the parents while they go to work or school, not because they don't want to spend time with their kids.

the dad who use to drop off at 7am would not start work till 830am but wanted to sit in timmies for that hour, or instead of picking up after work was done, he would go home get cleaned up and watch tv and then sometimes forget to pick up his child. I had another dad who would also forget to pick up and go home to cook dinner and play on the computer. Or the mom, who was suppose to be in school was infact getting a tan and her nails done.

[Momof4]

Ah momofnerds, that's what I was going through in my first few years too and I got wise like you did. Why don't some of these parents want to spend any time with their children? It makes me so sad. I adore the parents who drop off at the last minute and can't wait to pick up their child as fast as they can. They have the happiest, best behaved children, don't they? The children know they are valued and important and so do we!

[Mum2Boo]

Oh my goodness Momofnerds, some of the antics of parents are outrageous!!!! I have certainly had my eyes opened in the last 11 months of doing this business.

I am lucky enough to have two exceptional sets of parents, who clearly want to be parents to their children & will keep them home, drop off later or pick up earlier if they can. Momof4, you're absolutely right iin saying that these are the best behaved children. They are not acting out for any kind of attention, because they don't need to

I feel quite reluctant to take a full time child (5 days a week), as it's these children who seem to end up with the "weekend" parents. I'm hoping that I can get the spot filled with a couple of part time children......finger s crossed.

Thanks for the advice and views ladies, I really do appreciate it

[momofnerds]

I have learned over the years lol! I now have awesome families and have for a long time, once I got these great parents daycare becomes great.

oh, I should say, that the dad who dropped his kid off early at 7pm so he can go to timmies, also pulled the same stunt with the after school program too with their oldest because I knew the lady that ran it, they put a stop to it because the child was so disctructive in their program. And one time, when I had the younger sibling, he saw his mom going home, she even waived, so he thought he was being picked up (2 hours early) poor kid didn't get picked up till 530pm, he was so sad the rest of the day. He was such a great kid, I had him for 4 yrs and always had a great time with him, the most well behaved child ever, too bad his parents didn't see it that way.