Originally Posted by Joyce:
How sad that the almighty dollar would determine how you treat the kids. "Jennifer, I'd love to play Uno with you, but your parents don't pay me enough." Or "Sure I'll play Chutes & Ladders with you, Tyler! Just remember to bring $5 extra tomorrow and I'd love to play!"
He he he
Or you could say "Tyler I'm peeling these delicious fresh carrots and potatoes for your stew for lunch. You and Sally CAN go play with those wonderful Melissa and Doug castle blocks. You haven't built a castle for such a long time."
You wouldn't discuss money and fees with a small child but you surely would with their parents. If you have a child who wants an adult to play games with them and that isn't included in your fees then you bring it up to the parents. Let them know that the child would like an adult available for their games and as discussed in the interview.. you have children play with the other children and you do XYZ during play times.
Would they like for you to hire an adult for Tanner and Jennifer? If so, how many hours would you like that each day? That will be X dollars more per day. How is that hard?
Always let the parents know if their child is wanting something that you haven't agreed for in your services. It's VERY VERY simple. Let the parents decide if they would like to have additional staff there for their child or possibly move their child to a setting where there are adults available for the sole purpose of playing directly with their child whatever their child wants at whatever time.
Or you can do what YOU do which is include this in your fees so that when the child wants you to play directly with them you are being paid to do that. I don't have that built into my fees. You do. I would be happy to add it as an additional service but it would have to be agreed upon and paid for.
There are a LOT of parents who want to pay for basic care for their child. As long as the home is loving, warm, and clean and the children are fed well, get exercise, and have a nice spot to take a good nap... the parents are THRILLED.
The adults playing with kids is a pretty new notion. It has been added to child care under the guise of "education" but you CAN raise healthy, happy, well rounded WONDERFUL children and have them play
with each other and toys. It's been done for many centuries before us with really good outcomes. There's nothing special about this generation of birth to five kids that makes THEM the generation that needs adults in the midst of their play. Other children and self play has been done since the begining of time. It'll do for this generation too.