Originally Posted by professionalmom:
I guess I wasn't clear. For each of the flu outbreaks I did explain the situation to the parents and told them that I am working on disinfecting but would not be able to finish before their scheduled drop-off time. The parents would say, "oh, I don't want to take the chance, I'll take him / her to ..." But even though it was their choice ultimately, I did not charge. I took the hit. The only days I closed without giving them the "enter at your own risk" option was the brother-in-law had a stroke and when I had the flu (puking and everything - even ER visit for dehydration).
I guess I worded it wrong about the closing to disinfect. I told the mom of the only kid I had that day that the house had not yet been disinfected and she chose to go elsewhere. So I ended up "closed" to tend to the disinfecting. But it was her choice.
I stay open even when I am sick. I'm pregnant with twins, had severe morning sickness, became so dehydrated, I could not stand without passing out (hubby was here, thank God). OB said get to the ER NOW! But I waited until DCB got picked up at his usual time 6 hrs later (at 9pm). Ended up spending the night in the ER getting fluids. I got home and to bed at 4am, but woke up at 7am to be ready for DCB again.
Oh, and up until 2 weeks ago, I was working 12-16 hour days, 6-7 days a week. So I offer the extended hours, weekends, etc. It's not like I can "muddle" through a Friday, knowing I'll have the whole weekend to recuperate.
I have heard of daycares that close a lot more than that. Even on here, I see that some of you shut down early so you can take to your children's activities. Not that I think there's anything wrong with that. But I never close early or get much time off at all (not even weekends), so technically, I see it as I am still open more days and more hours per year than most daycares are. And I am constantly cleaning and disinfecting things while they are here (disinfect every evening around 7pm - 11pm).
I did explain the situation to the parents and told them that I am working on disinfecting but would not be able to finish before their scheduled drop-off time.
That's the same thing as saying it isn't safe to bring their kid. Of course they are going to back out of it especially if they can do no pay. What I would have done was sanitize as much as I could and keep the kids only in the area that was done. I also would have worked ALL night long if I had to not to close. I don't want to close unless I litterally... physically can not work.
With you being pregnant though... hey do what you have to do. I'm just answering your original post about parents leaving over you closing too much.
Just know that in this business they don't really give a flip what the reason is. If you cancel day care too much or take too much vacation time.. maternity or whatever some parents will just leave. It comes with this deal.
I've only called in sick once in my 16 years and the parents were SO mean about it. It was awful. It was a level of confrontation I didn't expect and really upset me. That scared me off of calling off sick.