Evansmom 09:04 AM 03-28-2011
Hi all! I'm new to the forums but not new to child care. I have been working in the industry for 15 years but only decided 3 years ago to open up my own home preschool. It's been going incredibly well. I only have 3 spots but have all long term clients. But I'm having some issues that I'd like some opinions on.
First is with a family that has had their little girl in my care for 1.5 years. They are great and I love the little girl. They are having a baby and want me to take her but I only take 18 months and up. I thought about it and since I love the family I decided to make an exception. But then for a few weeks in January my neighbor needed help and I watched her infant for a few days per week. Those few weeks were a real eye opener for me in terms of showing me what I can and can't handle as a care giver. I have really struggled with admiting to myself that taking an infant full time would be too much for me but if I am honest that is the truth. Now I have to tell the parents. They have 6 more months to look for other arrangements but I still feel terrible.
Second issue is with a little girl who has been with me since I opened. Love her and love her mom. They started coming part time with the understanding that she would start coming full time in the future but no date was set. Suffice to say that 3 years later she is still coming only very part time and since I only have 3 daycare spots financially I really need for them all to be full time paying. I have talked with the mom repeatedly, tried to give her a discount for full time but still circumstances haven't allowed (she doesn't get child support from the father so he watches the little girl instead). Now we NEED the money and I have to let her know that I've got to find a full time client.
I feel terrible about both of these situations. I love teaching these children, I love spending my days with them but I just do not like the business part of this business if you know what I mean. Personally I love these clients, business wise I have to make these decisions.
Any advice on how to smooth the transitions and how to break the news to them?
Thank you all very much!
Abigail 01:12 PM 03-28-2011
Have you been advertising for new full time enrollments of 18 months and up? Do you think the family of two will stay until the mom's maternity leave? My guess is she will either stay home with her three children or find a daycare that can take all three of them. Six months of plenty of time, you could even wait until four months down the road. Are you able to become licensed so you can take one more child if you're comfortable with four? That would help dramatically with income I'm sure.
AfterSchoolMom 02:13 PM 03-28-2011
If you're really not comfortable taking the infant, don't do it - you'll just burn yourself out. Just be honest with them and tell them exactly what you told us. If DCM is a decent person then she'll understand and appreciate your giving her so much notice. Be prepared, though, that she'll probably end up finding a place that will take all of her children. I'd start advertising their spot now.
Same thing with DCM #2 - just be up front and let her know that she is either going to have to go full time or you will be finding another family to fill the spot.
I know it's hard when you form a bond with the children, but if there's one thing that I've learned here it's that you have to "grow a backbone" and stick up for your own well being, because DCP's are not going to do it for you!
Best of luck to you.
Evansmom 02:54 PM 03-28-2011
Thank you so much for your replies!
I am very sure after the temporary care of my neighbor's infant that I would be seriously burnt out if I took on an infant. I just talked to the parent at pick up and (it was the Dad) he was so sad. I know they are having a hard time financially and can't afford a center, infant care there is so expensive. And infant care in our area in home care is almost non-existant unless you wanna drive far North or South. So I know this is going to be hard on them and it breaks my heart, they are nice people and good clients. But I wanted to give them ample time for looking for another provider. I know they will take their kids to another provider and I totally understand that. Still the whole thing makes me sad. I know the mom can't afford to stay home.
I know I'm only comfortable taking care of 4 kids and I have 4, including my son who is 3 years old. I have thought about taking on more but I know I couldn't handle it without a helper or something.
Mandy Jane 11:09 PM 03-29-2011
Why don't you let the part time little girl go and then take on the new infant as full time? Then all of your spots will be full, and you won't be too overworked since you will have let go of the part timer. Would that be possible for you? In this economy, I would hate to let go of a good, reliable daycare family and a solid income. You never know what kind of kooky parent you may get to take their place! That baby will grow up into a cute little toddler in no time at all.
Evansmom 10:26 AM 03-30-2011
Originally Posted by Mandy Jane:
Why don't you let the part time little girl go and then take on the new infant as full time? Then all of your spots will be full, and you won't be too overworked since you will have let go of the part timer. Would that be possible for you? In this economy, I would hate to let go of a good, reliable daycare family and a solid income. You never know what kind of kooky parent you may get to take their place! That baby will grow up into a cute little toddler in no time at all.
I know it is really hard to let good families go and I considered that for a long time. But I know that I can't take an infant. I watched my neighbor's little 11 month old for a few days a week for about 3 weeks while she was dealing with some medical stuff and at the end of those days I was frazzled and approaching burn out just in that small amount of time. I just couldn't get the baby's routine and our routine to mesh.
My program here is a preschool not just daycare and since I advertise as such the other parents (me included) expect me to be doing our curriculum for preschoolers.
It may just be me and others who do home preschools can juggle infants and teaching but I can't and those few weeks with my neighbor's baby really showed me my limitations as a care giver. If I threw the preschool curriculum out the window then that would be doable but I like teaching it and the other parents expect it.
The family is now considering having a family member watch the infant and leave the preschooler in my care. They love our program and the DCG loves coming so they don't want her to lose that. They were really sad when I told them I couldn't take the baby and so was I but it's the honest truth that I'd get burned out. Right now they have 6 months to look for infant care but if I had taken the infant knowing that I may not be able to juggle it all and then decided afterwards they'd have to find care in a month and I feel that would be a tougher situation to put them in.
The other parent of the part timer is not not talking to me so I guess she's angry. They are scheduled to come next week so this should be interesting. The DCM is really dramatic. Sigh.