I am in serious need of a stronger backbone.

I have an illness policy that is pretty much the standard (vomiting, fever, diarrhea, not feeling well to participate, etc, need to go home and must be symptom free for 24 hours) yet, apparently, have a hard time enforcing.

How long do you all give for a time frame to pick up after the initial phone call?

Long story sort of short:

DCG had 1 diarrhea diaper here Tuesday (big sis was in the ER with stomach flu the week before), mom called to tell me she threw up Tuesday evening and was out all day Wednesday. Mom tells me diarrhea Wednesday night and this morning, still dropped off (should have listened to my conscience and excluded diarrhea for 24 hours and not allowed her back. Kicking myself!!) and dcg vomits at lunchtime in her high chair, twice, was completely miserable and had nothing left by the end. Luckily she slept for 2 hours this morning so she wasn't around us much. I call mom around noon for pick up. Dad does not come pick up until 1:50 because the mom wanted him to pick up the older daughter first since she was already ready to go and mom didn't want her to have to go back to her classroom bc she'd be upset (daughter goes to school where the mom works. Mom thought she was picking up, so she called the daughter's classroom to get her ready and send her to mom's class room so they could go. Last minute, plans change and dad picks up).

Anyway, to me, nearly 2 hours is completely unacceptable. I have 3 kids of my own. If they get it, that is potentially 3 weeks I am out of work (I don't get paid if I close bc my kids or I are sick). On top of that, I am 8 weeks pregnant and feel that I cannot afford to have the stomach flu at this point (can anyone ever, but you know what I mean.) I kind of snapped at dad.

I had 2 kids to get on the bus for PM kindergarten while trying to clean vomit and 3 other kids (ages 4, 2, and 6 months) to take care of while I had to sit next to dcg with a bowl to make sure she didn't start throwing up again. That nearly 2 hour wait was a nightmare.

How would you all proceed? You guys are always great with advice. I am having a hard time deciding if my frustration level is exacerbated by pregnancy or if I am justified.

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My policy is someone either a parent or another authorized pick up person must come within one hour of being informed or they will be charged my late fee which is $15 for every 15 minutes or part thereof. You are right, two hours was too long, what if it was a more serious illness. At two hours I would have called cps since it is similar to a child not being picked up at the expected time at the end of the day, and that is neglectful,especially a sick child.

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Gotta hand it to you- that's a lot ok dc kids plus your kids to deal with, on top of being pregnant!

Totally unacceptable for them to have brought dcg that soon after being sick.
You shouldn't have taken her (lesson learned), but it sounds like they really didn't give a crap about how it would affect you, and put their needs first (which didn't include the needs of their child).

I would give them a firm warning that this is not to happen again. Put your foot down-they aren't taking your policy seriously enough, so they need to be controlled!

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you are brilliant, thank you!

I told the mom to call me after she got off work bc I was all fired up and felt the need to be heard. Now, I just don't know what to say to her in the phone call. Sometimes what people do just does not make sense to me.

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I put "within 45 minutes" in my contract last time I updated it but I would want pick up ASAP if a child is vomitting!!! But lesson learned, parents were honest about symptoms, you need to enforce your policies and should have turned them away at the door.

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Thank you, Shell! It was quite a busy afternoon.

That pretty much was how I felt about the complete lack of consideration. I will be talking to her this afternoon. This whole thing just boggles my mind.

And, yes, I am definitely kicking myself!!!

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I live in a town of 10,000. I require parents to reply to my attempt to contact within 10 minutes. I expect them to be here AND gone within 30 minutes after their reply.

If not my $1 per minute late fee begins to accumulate.

I have a VERY strict illness policy (that includes teething as an excludable symptom) and require parents to keep their children home for 24 hours AFTER the last episode of vomiting, fever (without OTC meds) diarrhea etc and require them to remain home for 48 hours if I send them home from care.

I enforce my illness policy even if in doubt because when it comes to illness, if you guess wrong, you get sick. If you guess right, well then you were right.

So when it comes to illness and exclusion I ALWAYS err on the side of caution as that is in the "best interest of the group".

HTH

~ I will delete your other thread for you. ....never mind, I merged the threads instead since there were replies in that one.

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Thank you all for your responses (and for deleting that, Black Cat!)

I am mad at myself for allowing it.

Does anyone have a copy of their illness policy they wouldn't mind sharing? I am feeling like I need to start from scratch.

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Here is mine

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Thank you so much! Do you mind if I print it off and use it?

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Feel free

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Thank you!

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Can I copy and paste the link in emails to share, or does that somehow connect back to your handbook? (Sorry, I'm not all there with technology! =)

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OK, it's still me, I just forgot to log in.

Black Cat- can I copy and paste to parents online rather than printing it out?

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I sent you a PM (private message)

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My policy is 1 hr.

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I allow 1 hour for pick up as most of my clients work in the city (20 minute drive). I explain to parents that while there is an hour leeway, please get here asap as I have a group of kids to care for while I am trying to keep your child separate.

If they don't show up, I have the option to charge late fees or terminate with no refund of fees.

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