Originally Posted by Sugaree:
As a parent, I get that this is a business and has to be run accordingly.
However, after being the backup care for my oldest goddaughter I realized that I would absolutely have to have a center rather than an in-home care provider. My BFF's in-home care provider kept increasing the number of days each year that she was taking as PTO. By the end it was something like 35 days a year (if I remember correctly it was 10 holidays, 2 weeks in the summer, the week of her birthday, the week of her anniversary, the day of her husband's birthday, and the day of each of her 4 kids birthdays). I understand that it is her right to run her business the way she wants, but I'm also guessing that cost her quite a few families in the end. I'm lucky enough to now have a job that gives me PTO/holidays, but I don't get that much.
I wouldn't say that those circumstances apply to all in-home providers.
I am an in-home provider and have never taken more than 10-14 days off a year MAX. I would say that the provider in your example is probably a "rare" situation although I have heard worse so I dunno....
I just know there are no providers in my area that take that kind of time off and manage to stay in business long.