Charging on Holidays

[mac60]

I do not want to pay extra car insurance expense to transport daycare children. I do not transport. Period. I already pay extra homeowners insurance for my business. Still, taking dc children to the store, etc. is not the same as taking your own children, you still are not having that personal family time. It it works for you, fine, it doesn't work for many of us. Just like others in other out of the home jobs.....everyone needs a break from their job, and I doubt that anyone can deny that. Not only that, but most of the families I have had, request that I do not transport kids anywhere. I personally don't want that responsibility.

[melissa ann]

I do not transport kids. I agree with Mac60. I do not want that responsiblity.
And having 1 or 2 kids in the evening is not the same personal family time. Everyone needs a break from their jobs. Even from just being a mom. My husband usually takes our kids to the park once a week for 1-2 hrs so I can just have me time. Where I can watch a little tv (no sesame st or sponge bob), read, crochet or just take a nap. I can't tell you how that little me time, refreshes me. Once a week my mom usually takes my kids for supper and they are gone about 2-3hrs. It's a nice break.

[Chickenhauler]

I do not want to pay extra car insurance expense to transport daycare children. I do not transport. Period. I already pay extra homeowners insurance for my business. Still, taking dc children to the store, etc. is not the same as taking your own children, you still are not having that personal family time. It it works for you, fine, it doesn't work for many of us. Just like others in other out of the home jobs.....everyone needs a break from their job, and I doubt that anyone can deny that. Not only that, but most of the families I have had, request that I do not transport kids anywhere. I personally don't want that responsibility.

Our daycare policy covers children being transported in vehicles "owned, leased or operated by the licensed daycare provider", so the insurance is not an issue.

If someone works odd hours (evenings, weekends, etc) and they get all stuffy about their child riding in a car, well, good luck, hope you find daycare, and best have deep pockets when you do.

I've just never treated or seen any difference between DC kids and my own....I play catch in the backyard with them, they have to abide by the same rules, eat the same meals at the same table, etc etc. There are many times we sit down and help with homework, school projects, etc.

If someone doesn't trust my judgment with their child in the car, I don't want their kid in my home, PERIOD.

I'm not saying we don't have our time off, quite the contrary....we have a couple days a week where there are no kids that arrive before lunch, and other days where there are no kids present after 2 or 3 pm, and at the moment, we have no kids on Sundays at all.

What I'm saying is, if you want to be successful, and generate the best revenue possible during times when people may be getting laid off, losing jobs, tightening budgets, etc and your income may be shrinking because of that, you may want to consider expanding your flexibility to make up for some lost income.

[mac60]

I do understand what you are saying. If I ever get to the point where I have lost families and I have no other choice but to be open hours I don't really want to be, then I will do what I have to to stay afloat. Right now I am in a position to work first shift only and be done by 5:15. As far as insurance here, homeowners daycare ins and car daycare ins would be 2 separate policies/cost. I still agree that being open 24/7 is not a good thing for providers, but I also understand that people do what they have to.

[GretasLittleFriends]

Looking at last week's schedule alone, if I chose to be open say 5am - 6pm, it would have been a losing week. I'd have had a 6yr old Mon from 5:30a - 4p and Tues from 12:30p - 5p. I could have provided care for a 16mo old boy Thurs from 8:15a - 6:30p, oh wait. I closed at 6... Of course that 16mo old boy would have found different care already, as his single mom works two jobs and I have him usually 7am - 8p. This doesn't include my two families that work second shift.

In our area there is an abundance of daycares open from 5a - 6p, it's very difficult to find alternate hours. Like CH said, there are days every week where there are either no kids in the am, or they're all gone by early afternoon. This is my family time with just our kids. Sundays are all ours too. I'm very happy with this arrangement.

[Unregistered]

Looking for Clarifiaction......

I charge for ten paid holidays and I am closed for one week of unpaid holiday during the week of christmas.

New Year’s Day
Memorial Day
Veterans Day
Presidents Day
Independence Day
Thanksgiving Day
Day After Thanksgiving
Good Friday
Labor Day
Week of Christmas (Unpaid)

Please remember that most of us are open M-F a minimum of 7am-5:30pm. That's a 10.5 hour day with no breaks for lunch etc. We don't get sick days. Some of us are open 6am-6pm - 12 hours.

We are not the enemy, we are the people you are trusting with your most precious asset, your children. For our mental health and the best interest of your child some of us take paid holidays.

Thanks,
pingaa3

P.S. Also most of us have children of our own that are off those days too!

My child is in a home child care and only goes 3 days a week and is the only child at the time, if a holiday falls on a saturday and they would normally close on friday would it be fair for me to pay an additional day of pay or just not bring my child in on one of the 3 days he does attend for "paid holiday"?????

[momma2girls]

Taking days off and getting paid for them

In my contract it reads, every family must pay me 2 weeks(10 days) vac. from Jan. to Jan. of every yr.
It also reads, if I take a day off, sickness, emergency, etc. I will take it unpaid or out of my vac. days.
Knock on wood, I have never had to just take off a day in over 5 yrs. now.
I also get paid the Holidays as well
In my mind, and I think in quite a # of minds- our job is just as important as anyone else's without the benefits- no health, dental, eye ins. no 401 K, no bonus, sick days, etc.
Everyone diserves a paid vacation whatever their profession!!
I left a nursing job after 7 yrs. to stay at home with my children. I was getting 5 weeks vac. (20 days when I left) I only worked there 4 days a week, but over 32 hrs.
These are some very well said thoughts in here!!! GOOD POINTS!!!!

[Janet]

I'm either nice or an idiot! LOL

Since I opened back in Nov. 2005, I have never charged for holidays, sick days, vacations, or days where parents decided to keep kids home. Incidentally, I have never raised rates either. Until recently, I even provided a back-up for my vacations, emergencies and if I was sick. What changed with that is that I kind of realized how little some of the parents thought of the service that they re provided. My daughter, Olivia, got the H1N1 virus and I closed down for 3 days. It's in my contract that I don't provide back up care now. Every family except 2 of them were cool. The 2 mad families don't have a back up. I just gave them a number and told them to call and work it out. I'm sure that I speak for most providers when I say that we bend over backwards to provide awesome care for our kids and it would be nice if that effort was appreciated. So you have to pay for holidays! BIG WHOOP. Does your employer complain about paying you for holidays and sick time (to your face, I mean...) Those 2 mad families also made my life miserable in September when my nephew, Anthony, unexpectedly passed away. He was born on 9/10 and died on 9/11 from pulmonary hypertension. I bent over backwards to try to help eveyone find care because it was so sudden. I have a friend who needs money so she helps out when I give her number out. She couldn't be at my house until 8:30am so the 2 families had to arrange own care for an hour 7:30-8:30. They complained and I broke down and found someone to cover but they didn't like that person. These are also the same 2 families that send their kiddos sick and then say its teething or allergies or what now. Parents, when you have a provider that tries to accommodate your needs and that loves your kids and more importantly, your kids love them back, don't take that for granted. Not every provider is like that. Pay your holiday pay and get over it!!!

[ConcernedMotherof2]

I wasn't going to post here, because it seems to have turned into another one of those volatile threads where I, too, have a strong opinion. But here I go...

The best arrangement I've ever had with a provider was this: A flat weekly rate. When the children attend at least 3 days of the week, I pay the full week. (example: Thanksgiving--two off days, but full week paid) If I decide not to bring my child (for whatever reason), full tuition is still paid. However, if the provider closed (always with as much notice as possible, but things do come up at the last minute) and I had to find alternate care, there was no fee for that day.

If you want to call your pay "salary," then keep in mind that you are implying that your parents are your employers. That is most certainly not the case.

I pay for child care so that I can work. I will not pay the provider for a week of paid vacation. (I don't get a week of paid vacation. How much sense does it make for me to hand you money when it means that I will either have to pay double to have someone actually watch my children or lose a week of pay at work, which may even cost me my job?) I will, however, pay for a week in the summer when my children are not attending because I chose to take them on vacation.

To me, it makes sense to pay a full week tuition for a week that contains one or two days off due to a holiday, but a week of paid vacation is just outrageous. Don't get me wrong, you ladies deserve a paid vacation, but I can't afford to finance it.

[DBug]

I've been muddling through issues like this since opening 9 months ago, and I've come to a solution that I like, and that I think is fair for parents. If they choose not to be here, they pay. If I choose to close, they don't pay. My rationale is that if I take a holiday or a sick day, they'll need to pay someone else to watch their child. If I'm open but they choose to take a family day or whatever, they still need to pay their regular rate. The only exception to that are stat holidays, which I require pay for. I know all of my parents have stats off and get paid for them. If I had a parent with a different situation, I'd probably make some arrangement with them for that.

I am running a business, but I'm trying not to gouge parents in the process. But since it is a business, and I'm an "independent contractor", they totally have the right to look elsewhere if they don't like the rates I charge.

And just like any other business, if I'm losing money because parents don't like the way I do things, I'm the one that needs to change. When it gets right down to it, I'm selling a service. If people aren't buying, I'm the one that suffers (along with my family of course). I would encourage any parents that have issues with their provider's fee schedule to do something about it -- take your business elsewhere!

[jen]

I think the problem is this...

Parents:

I WANT:

Organic/whole foods
No TV
Preschool curriculum
The best toys, the best educational tools
A provider with the patience of a saint
To have daycare available at least 11 hours per day


I DON'T want:
To pay more than the absolutely cheapest rate around.
To provide the provider any type of stable income so that the standards I desire can be upheld.
To respect the provider as a professional.

What I have learned over the last eight years is this...the people who want the most, also want to pay the least. They are the most demanding, leave their children in care the longest, and sadly, thier kids are the most likely to act out and be disruptive.

When you interview people whose biggest concern is how cheaply they can aquire care your best bet is to cut and run. You will save yourself a ton of hassle in the end.

[Former Teacher]

[QUOTE=jen;16177]What I have learned over the last eight years is this...the people who want the most, also want to pay the least. They are the most demanding, leave their children in care the longest, and sadly, thier kids are the most likely to act out and be disruptive.QUOTE]

I totally agree! Couldn't have said it better! Perfect example is, and I hope people don't take this the wrong way, is that the parents on "state aid" are the WORST. I had this one mother years ago who was SO disrespectful it's not even funny. For instance: she would literally throw me a bottle in my hand and DEMANDED "make me a bottle"...no please or thank you. This woman also had 3 kids (would have been 4 since her last child was a twin, she aborted one baby because she couldn't afford 4 kids but that's another story) and paid next to nothing for quality childcare. She isn't the only one I have encounted. There have been many throughout the years that were just as disrespectful.

As for your statement about leaving the child(ren) 11 plus hours a day, I also agree with that. I also believe that the younger the child is, the longer they are in care. I wish TX would change their law requiring that a child can not be in care longer than 12 hours a day. I wish it would go to 10 hours. Parents take advantage of that extra time. I have always said no child should ideally be in care longer than 11 hours. 1 hour to get to work, 8 hour day plus 1 hour for lunch, and 1 hour to get back. That is 11 hours. Another stupid law of TX licensing.

Anyway Jen as I said, I agree with your post!

[Janet]

I am beginning to hate the holidays...

O.K. I can see that there is a pretty defined line as to how the parents and providers feel regarding vacation pay, but for crying out loud, holiday pay is an issue? What the heck! Why should a daycare provider not charge for the holidays? I wish that I did because while the parents in my care are taking those days off and getting paid for them, I am closed and not getting paid for them because I wanted to be nice. If I could turn back time, holidays would be included as paid days. I would still not charge for vacations but the holiday, that would be different. And also, why can't parents just do as instructed in the contract and have a back-up provider available in case of illness or vacation, etc.? One of my daycare parents had the sheer nerve to complain because I'm closed on Christmas eve and it doesn't work for her schedule. Some parents expect way too much and are not willing to pay the price for what they are asking for. Sorry to vent and sorry if it's not making sense but I am beyond angry right now.

[Chickenhauler]

What I have learned over the last eight years is this...the people who want the most, also want to pay the least. They are the most demanding, leave their children in care the longest, and sadly, thier kids are the most likely to act out and be disruptive.

I totally agree! Couldn't have said it better! Perfect example is, and I hope people don't take this the wrong way, is that the parents on "state aid" are the WORST. I had this one mother years ago who was SO disrespectful it's not even funny. For instance: she would literally throw me a bottle in my hand and DEMANDED "make me a bottle"...no please or thank you. This woman also had 3 kids (would have been 4 since her last child was a twin, she aborted one baby because she couldn't afford 4 kids but that's another story) and paid next to nothing for quality childcare. She isn't the only one I have encounted. There have been many throughout the years that were just as disrespectful.

I can't agree more-not only expecting everything, but abusing the system to boot!

Example-one family is alloted XX hours of county paid care per week.....they took the day off from work, dumped the kids at DC, and went deer hunting.

Another one did something similar-allotted a certain number of hours by the county per week, and did the exact same thing...took the entire WEEK off unpaid and dropped their kids at DC and went hunting...all week long.

Maybe I'm missing something here, but if a person is so down on their luck that they can't pay their own DC bill, what right do they have to buy a deer license, ammo, own a firearm, take time off from work without pay, and go hunting (and usually come home empty handed) while the rest of us pay their daycare bills?


Keep up the hard work, millions on welfare are depending upon you!

[mac60]

This is exactly why I never have or never will take state aid families. Most of them (not all) have the "entitlement mentality", you know they think because of (in many instances) they made bad choices in their life, the rest of us should pick up the pieces and pay their way. I don't what those kind of people in my home. While I realize that not ever person/family falls into the category of the "entitlement mentality" if I don't personally know them, there is no way of knowing. I guess being a person who has always worked, paid my own way, and worked my butt off for what little we have, I just don't have a whole lot of respect for many of these people.

A past family that I had, they both worked at the same company. It was a Honda plant that made parts for Honda. While I don't know how much they made at their job, I am certain between the 2 of them they made at least $25per hour combined. They had 2 kids. They had a descent home probably valued about $135,000. In 2005 they bought a brand new Pacifica. In 2006 they bought a brand new Colorado 4 door pick up truck. About 4 months after they bought the truck, the mom came in and in a very abrupt way asked me how many bottles D. drank each day (he was 10 mo old). I told her, and she said, "Yea, they said we make too much money to get WIC anymore and now we have to buy our own formula". OMG, I was so pissed, to think that our system was buying formula for a family that was driving 2 brand new vehicles, and they were not cheap ones. She felt they were "entitled" to free formula for some reason. Gees, no one ever gave me free formula or anything else free. I always paid my own way. I eventually had to terminate this family for not paying on time and severe behavior issues with their 5 yr old. Funny the parents could afford these 2 vehicles, yet couldn't afford to take their child to get help for severe behavior issues. Once again....poor choices.