This morning DCD drops off his two kiddos at my door stating that the SAD will not be going to school today. It's 6:30 am & my brain is still a bit foggy so it takes me a moment to digest what he said. He goes on to explain that she is not contagious (thinks she has a urinary/bladder infection) but that mom will pick up early to take her to the dr. Okay. . . but not okay. They never asked me if she could stay, just assumed that it was no big deal I suppose. Anyway, it will disrupt my whole day. Not to mention she will be picking up DCD & not picking up DCB so that could cause problems. Also how do I explain them paying extra. They pay a small amount for B & A care & I even throw in delay days for free with the B & A price. But she will likely be here for 6 hrs, much longer than if it was a delayed school day. Even on an early release day or 2 hr delay day she would only be here 3 1/2-4 hrs tops. When DCD said mom was picking up I figured he meant she would leave work early to come get her. I didn't realize until after he left that he meant that she would come after she got off work at 11 am to get here so she likely won't be here to pick up until noon. Ughhhhhhhh I like DCG but am I wrong to be a bit mad that they just assume it's okay for her to stay here?

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My SA is only here on days that there is no school, so it might be a little different, but I state on my contract that they will pay a full day's pay for any day that she is here, and a higher rate if they just bring her without notice. I told dcp that if she's not well enough to go to school (for whatever reason) she's not well enough for my dc. I used to have a family who would randomly bring their SA kids along with the little ones (an extra 1-2 kids unexpected!) for no other reason than they couldn't get dcg up and moving early enough to get her to school!!

If you are okay with talking to mom at pick-up, I would tell her that she owes $x for dcg for the day, since she was here a full day (over 5 hours is considered a full day here) and let her know that the next time she comes with no notice for the day it will be $x + $y for the lack of notice. I'm assuming that you would have liked to get things ready if you knew SA was going to be there all day (at least I would like to make sure I had enough to keep her busy all day) and food for her. Not to mention how rude and disrespectful it is to you and the other kids in your care to not even ask if it was okay that she stays all day!

If you don't want the confrontation, say the same thing in a note and hand it to her at pick-up.

I like to think that parents just don't think, instead of being outright rude, but I don't know. I do know that money talks in a way that they will listen, and if you have to hit them with a fee to help them to "think" before acting, it will be worth it to you in the long run.

Let us know how it turns out!

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First of all, if she is too sick to participate in school; she's too sick to participate in daycare. If they just wanted to keep her home to take her to the Dr., they should've sent her to school and mom should've picked her up from school to go to the Dr. There is no reason that an SA should be at daycare instead of school during the day!
And yes, hit them with a big fee for "full day" + an extra fee for "late notice". I'd be fuming if this happened with me with no discussion ahead of time.

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Thank you for your insight! I do like these parents but like you said I don't think they always think about it from the provider's viewpoint. And what makes it seem even worse it just yesterday there was an early-release day so SA girl was her about 3-4 hrs & mom even asked if she owed me extra $$ & I said no, not unless she is here all day. My contract states that it is included in the price for early release days but not for a school cancellation. My contract states nothing about a "sick" child being here all day or half a day b/c obviously I don't provide sick-child care but then she really is not sick. So clearly I have not covered this subject in my contract. I feel like I have been doing little favors for this family lately & I believe I will mention to mom at pick-up that since it was an unplanned drop-off that there will be a fee for it. I just don't want them to start taking advantage of me.

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I think that is what bothers me the most. She is NOT ill. They just chose to keep her "home" (my home). There is no reason why she couldn't be at school. She acts fine, no fever, no runny nose, just a little pain when she pees. The only reason is mom was working 1/2 day & my guess is she didn't want to miss work but not my problem. I will definitely be charging them for this extra unplanned care.

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I tell my daycare parents that the state only allows me to care for school-age kids when school is closed. I tell them the state has very strict guidelines on when and how many kids I can have in my care at any given point. Then I tell them that if the state showed up and found her in my care rather than in school, I could be written up and forced to terminate their care. That usually does the trick!

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One mistake you are making with them is giving them any free day care on the late delayed days.

See the thing about free is that once you offer it they KNOW there is no value in it. They don't appreciate the free... they just believe that the free is free for a reason. In this case the reason is "no big deal to have the kid extra".

NOT good because when they decide it will be EASIER for them to have you have the kid extra it is the same "no big deal to have the kid extra" as it is on delay days.

You have to be SO very careful about giving anything for free. It's a statement of your service worth.

I give a free week of day care once a year to one family. I do it randomly and I don't ever tell any of them about it. The ones who have never received it know nothing about it. I don't ever give it based on helping them financially. I give it to them because I think they have done something extraordinary and I want to pay forward my success to them.

This year one of my Dads earned his citizenship after eight long years of being in the U.S. The day he was sworn in and became an American citizen I gave him a home made card with a certificate for a free week of child care. He returned it and said he couldn't do that. I insisted and told him he was blowing my gig so quit it.

I wanted the first day he became a US citizen to be have something special happen. I wanted to offer him 150 dollars to go get something for himself or have a special fancy dinner with his wife. I wanted him to have special because he is special to me.

In previous years I have given clients a free week because of their loyalty to me and my business.

I do it because "I" want to do something for them. I don't do it weekly or daily. It's a one shot deal... and buddy are they GRATEFUL for it when it comes their way.

If you are going to do free make sure the person receiving the free can actually handle it.

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You DID warn them, yesterday with the early release day. You TOLD her that if she's here all day it is extra. If they want to nit-pick about full day, half day, etc...
That's when you say, "Anytime she is here when she would normally be in school is a full day. If she has an early release day, I should be adding that to your bill too...but I haven't so far. Maybe we need to revisit the terms of our contract together, because I cannot be expected to be available at all times, on call with no notice."

That'll shut 'em up REALLY quick.

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It is ok for her to stay with you since she can't go to school. You can charge more for her staying in your house. He is right it is not contagious.

Making sure she drinks a LOT of water (no cranberry juice while she have a bladder infection, it will make it worse). I have a bladder infection very often in my lifetime. Trust me it is a lot of pain which is not fun! Once she drinks a lot of water so it will go away.

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I dont have room for my sa during the day, I think if it were me I would have stopped dad at drop off and told him that I couldnt take her,.. but since you haeve her I would charge her your drop in rate, which is higher than routine care because it is an inconvenience and unplanned. , un scheduled, unapproved. Basicly dropped on your doorstep. ThATS NO DIFFERENT THAN YOU CLOSING AND NOT TELL ING THEM...... he expected you to accept his change of plans with NO NOTICE.... no approval? no not here. he would be paying for the rude, thoughtless behavior.

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I have it in my handbook that they may not bring their child in if they have an appointment for a current illness scheduled later that day.
so example - you think your son has an ear infection you schedule an appointment for 11am - do not leave him with me at 7am.

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