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**Unregistered** · 10-15-2010, 08:29 AM

She may be a great parent BUT this is your buisness and your income anything over 3 days is fulltime and she should be charged as such and if she needs to go back to 3 days in december then put it back to the part time rate.

**Fro** · 10-15-2010, 09:25 AM

I have had that situation before. I usually just tell them that they can either pay for the extra day to hold it, or they can wait to see if its open.
You could also tell her if you get someone wanting that spot, and give her the choice then to pay for it, or give it to the new person.

**QualiTcare** · 10-15-2010, 10:41 AM

well, that would be $35 more for you each week. BUT if she's paying for full time care - then you obviously know that she can use your full time hours/services - and she may start doing that if she is having to pay to do that. so, if you had to start keeping her kid 8-10 hours a day, four days a week instead of just 12 hours a week - is that worth $35?

**DanceMom** · 10-15-2010, 11:40 AM

I just had this happen - I had a DCk come T-Th but some weeks they switched days or they had him come FT some weeks..well I had a call a few weeks ago for someone looking for Monday and Friday care only. I had to tell this family to make a decision either send their boy FT perm. or they had to always stick with T-Th and could never have the option of changing the days.

They understood as It was income for me that I was potentially missing out on if I didnt take this family - they decided to send their boy FT - so it was win win for me either way.

**legomom922** · 10-15-2010, 12:17 PM

The problem is is that she is a sports coach, and here days change throughout the yr depending on what sport she is coaching. I texted her last week as a hint and asked her how long she would need m-th-f and she said dec and asked if that was ok. I broke down and said yes and she asked why I was asking and I told her someone was asking about my availability. I thought maybe she would have gotten a hint, but I didnt make it clear enough.

I guess I'm stuck....

**momma2girls** · 10-15-2010, 12:35 PM

I guess if she needs you every single day or various days during the week, charge her fulltime only!!

**Live and Learn** · 10-15-2010, 12:51 PM

I not sure what you should do but I will tell you what I do. I offer halfday full time $27 or full day full time $43. I have one family whose chooses the half day full time option but is rarely here all five days. The lil guy comes four days usually 9-12. If $35 is your full time full day rate maybe you could come up with a somewhat lower rate for half day full time care. Then you won't have the hassle of another family..... be more direct with this family concerning another (even possibly fictional) family making inquiries....you are going to need to pin them down so you know what to plan for. I understand when some providers offer the flexibility to parents of 2 or 3 days a week when those dates are set in stone and they have two families share a slot for the week....but.....
honestly the month to month flexibility that this family is needing would come at a price here.
......just another quick comment...I used to provide full day care for a lil guy whose parents schedule fluctuated a lot ....I charged minimum wage until they realized it was less expensive to pay the full time full day rate.

**Live and Learn** · 10-15-2010, 12:55 PM

You should do what you committed to through Dec. Many providers review their contracts at the end of the year. You could make some adjustments to your contract towards full time half day or full time full day.

**Crystal** · 10-15-2010, 02:01 PM

If she is a "good" client...meaning she pays on time, is respectful of you and your policies, etc. I would just let it go and accomodate her. UNLESS you really need the money from another client. But, in my experience, if you can work with a client to meet their needs, you end up with a LOYAL client who will forever appreciate you. I don't think $35 week, $140 a month, is worth losing an awesome family!

**legomom922** · 10-16-2010, 12:21 PM

Well it's happened...my dcg who used to be FT with me since she was 4 months(she is now 2 1/2) and has been a "drop in as needed " care only for the last 8 months, now wants to contract me for tues/wed!

Now what the hek do I do?? I see it as only having 2 options:

1.talk to dcm # 1 and offer her contract for 4 days to hold the tues spot for her

2. fill my spot with dcm #2 and dont say anything to dcm #1 until Dec and she will just have to accept the fact my slots are filled and she can then decide what she wants to do.

Why would I be under any obligation to dcm #1 and to give her the option to contract for 4 days anyway? Is that fair to dcm #2? Or should it just be first come first serve, this is my business, my income and I have slots and I can fill them.

If I dont give dcm #2 the tues spot, then I also lose the wed spot, because I'm sure she is not going to want to contact 2 different DCP's

opinions please!!

**QualiTcare** · 10-16-2010, 01:40 PM

generally, i think it should be first come, first serve - but i would feel more obligated toward someone who brings their child on a regular basis than someone who just comes by whenever they need you.

i would personally give dcm #1 the option to take the slot. if she doesn't, then do what you need to do.

i was thinking about this earlier. you know everyone says, "it's a business, it's a business decision, etc." yeah, that's true, but business decisions involve a lot more than $$ when you're dealing with people on such a personal level. for example - if i was a nurse providing care for an elderly person in their home who was just the nicest person on the planet - i probably wouldn't take another job that paid more, just because it paid more, if the new patient was an evil, hateful old lady.

if you were talking a significant amount of money each month then it'd be smart to just make a cut and dry "business decision" but for 35 bucks a week, you have to take into consideration the dynamic with the parents, the kids - and as i said before, dcm #1 may start using your daycare a lot more if she's paying for full time - out of spite if nothing else.

**legomom922** · 10-16-2010, 04:48 PM

I have been forced to make a quick decision, since DCM #2 wants to start on
this coming Tuesday..

I really did not know what to do, but I made the decision to give DCM #2 the tues/wed slot and here is why:

1. Even though she has been using me as a as needed basis for the last 8 months, I do have a great relationship with her since I have been watching her daughter since she was 4 months old, and had her FT for almost 2 yrs.

2. I also felt I guess, that she was my very first client, so she kinda over ruled DCM #1, as I only have had her since Sept.

3. This really kinda got me out of my situation with DCM #2 as far as her changing her days every few weeks.

4. I did weigh the fact that DCM #2 is a great client, but I really can't hold a spot for her every time she switches her days, and I felt bad asking her to pay for 4 days when she only uses 3. I could not and do not ever plan on offering part time hrs. I make out so much better this way by charging my daily rate regardless of how many hrs they are here, especially because I am not registred, I cannot have more than 2 anyway, so I am limited, and she comes like from 1130-4, so it's not like I can fit someone in before or after her either.

5. If I had held tues open for DCM #1, that still would leave me with the spot on wed to fill, and what are the chances someone would need just 1 day on a wed? So I had to make a business decision and fill both these open spots.

6. What if DCM #1 changed jobs? or quit her job? Then I would have cheated myself out of 2 days pay for nothing...There is no guarentee her hrs will change in Dec, it is more of a "maybe" and a "I'm not really sure" what will happen..

It was hard, believe me, and I still don't know if I made the *right* decison. Now I just have to figure out how and when to tell DCM #1 what I did and why, and see what happens..

**legomom922** · 10-18-2010, 04:51 AM

Any other comments on what I should tell dcm#1? Sould I tell her now or in Dec?

**missnikki** · 10-18-2010, 08:54 AM

I would tell #1 what happened ASAP, because she may need to be finding a solution. Since you accomodate switching for both your families as needed, and re-contract accordingly, family #2 needed a switch sooner than she did, plain and simple. Since she mentioned it first I would have given her the opportunity to pay for 4 days as a guarantee before solidifying the 1st family personally, but she needs to know what to expect now that you won't be available on tuesdays for her.