As a parent, if my child was sick, I felt it was my parental obligation to care for my child at home and not send them to daycare. There is a fine line when a child is too sick for daycare and should be kept home, and not feeling good and will do ok at daycare...in my opinion.

To compare me to a hairdresser or doctor, no comparison at all, especially in pay. Take the hairdresser.....she gets anywhere from $15 to $25 per 20/30 min appointment (rates in my area) for a simple haircut, I get approx $16 per day for 8 to 10 hours of caring for a child. I have a set amount of spots to fill and am only allowed so many children in my care. I can not schedule 10 kids hoping 5 will show up, because when those 10 show up I am in trouble. How I charge is no different that how the cable company, rent, or other monthly services you pay for charge. Because you were on vacation and didn't watch your cable for 5 days, you are still charged for those days. Same with daycare. You are paying for the guaranteed spot.

Now for me, when it comes to sickness, I am pretty lenient. Throwing up and diahreah, or fever, please don't bring them. Not feeling good, cold, runny nose, they can come, just send something to give them to make their day more comfortable while here, something to help control the snotty nose, or cough. As a provider, all I ask is to use good judgement when your child is sick or not feeling well.

I can say that at least 95% of my parents have sick days to use that are paid for, and they don't think twice about calling off work. If I took off as many sick days as my parents did, I wouldn't have a business.

I guess if you don't like the policy, find someplace else to go. I do know, most places charge this way.

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