so I just figured out all the dumb mistakes I have made and its costing me a pretty penny. I vowed to only take f/t kids and then did the dumb thing and took p/t kids...

so now I figured out that with the sibling discount I gave and allowing 2 siblings to only come part time 3 days a week, I am losing over $1000.00 a month...........I wanna puke..

It gets worse....DCF is about to have baby #3 and asked me if it would be ok if the kids only came 2 days a week during the time mom take maternity leave. Which would be about a $400.00 month loss...

Of course I am going to say no....

Questions is would you give them the excel spread sheet that I used to figure out the loss so that they can see that I am already losing over $1000.00 a month and I am NOT going to give them any more of a discount?

Or not state a reason and just say no??

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I wouldn't give them the spreadsheet. I have been in your shoes where I do something "nice" that I regret, and pay for later. However, the arrangement that you made with them is what you made. I think they would find it very offensive for you to hand them something and say that they are making you lose that amount... they probably feel they are paying you more than adequately. I know it stinks... and I would WANT to do what you are wanting to do, but I wouldn't do it.

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You could tell her that you will allow it as a favor BUT once #3 comes full time rates will apply for all 3. Give her the new rate and let her decide to stay or go.

Once she changes days it deems the contract invalid. Use that to your advantage.

Is she expecting a discount and part-time for #3 as well??

You could be using that time to interview families.

IMHO, for a small group provider, allowing any one family to have that many of your slots is dangerous at best BUT having one that continually asks for exceptions as well is bordering on crazy.

Your stress level will drop in half if you get everyone on full-time and full-pay.

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the only reason that i want to do it was because they are asking for more discount

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I agree! If you don't want an assistant in your house and adding infants, this is all you need to do. Fill those two spots full time at the full time rate and you'll be on your profit-making happy way.

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i wish I had the heart to term them....or maybe I wish I didnt have a heart so taht I could term them............lol

I was hoping to find a reason to term, but they have a great set of kids....DCD I cant stand, but love love love the mom and the kids....

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I just went through this with a couple of part time clients for the same reason you did. I was losing too much money monthly with no benefit to me. I was considering taking on another child to make up the difference when I realized that I needed to work smarter not harder.

I gave a month's notice that I was getting rid of part time care altogether. I let them know I would happily care for anyone under our current arrangement for that month but that any family that wanted to stay with me after that month would need to sign a new contract (with a price increase) under the new terms. Two families signed right away, two famiies signed after we had a meeting to clarify a few things and the 5th barely spoke to me for a month, shopped around, tried to negotiate and then finally signed under my new terms.

They passionately explained to me that they didn't need FT care, that it was too expensive for PT anywhere else, that they didn't want to pay for vacations, that they still wanted to do half days etc, etc, etc. I answered everything with, "I understand where you're coming from but unfortunately I can't accomodate these types of requests anymore." With a big smile and a friendly attitude. I told them that there was no benefit to me to work FT for a PT paycheck and that one of the things I considered was closing my DC and going back to work FT outside the home. Why should I work 50 hours a week and not be compensated adequately when I don't have to? I reminded them that I stay home and run a DC because I chose to...not because I'm bound to financially or because my children are small. Therefore, my DC has to make a profit that allows me to live with the same standard of living I would have if I went back to work in my field. Or at least a profit that makes me feel good at the end of the day covered in boogers, mud and totally exhausted.

I would use the baby as an excuse to make some changes with this family. Don't do the 2 days a week unless you want the baby FT at a full rate later on. They'll either suck it up and pay you what you deserve or they'll go elsewhere and you can fill the spots.

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I have recently decided to change my policies around quite a bit, because it was missing a lot, and coming back to bite me. SO, one thing was allowing part time kids to come as few as 1 day a week (which at the moment I don't have any only coming 1 day/week). That takes a full time spot. So instead of $100/week, I would get $25 (which is actually $25 better than nothing, since enrollment is so awfully low right now). So, my new policy will state that there is a 3 day minimum. Only thing is, one child comes only two days week. Again it was better than nothing when I took her on, and I love the child to pieces. But what do I do about the new policy and the 3 day minimum? I'm willing to work with the parents and allow her to only come 2 days a week, but is it legal to allow it when any new ones would be told that I only do 3 day/week mimimum? And now here's the real problem: The day before I was going to hand out the new policies, 2 day/wk mom tells me that she'll be doing only 1 day/week soon. I'm afraid the family will just pull her out completely, and after all, $25 is better than none at this point. I absolutely cannot afford to lose any more children. But another part of me tells me that there's a good chance that they would still bring her two days week if I stick to the policy and she knows I'm already bending the rules for her. So should I give her the new policy, but explain I'll make an addendum just for her to only bring child one day a week, or is that even legal? Or do I stick to the 3 day a week policy and let her choose what to do, risking losing them? It's not like I have other children waiting to take her spot. wwyd?

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I agree - I gave all my pt kids notice at the same time. It was when I went from having an assistant to no longer having one.

I only had two left at that point and one left and found care elsewhere. The other one didn't want to leave, so she's paying FT rates for 2-3 days per week. <3

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Could you easily fill the spots if you needed to? If you could then you need to decide which is more important money or the great relationship you have with this family?

I have one family which I lose some cash on every month but in our area I could not fill their spots to replace them right now. Plus the mom is wonderful and always keeps the kids home when sick and has never made one stink about a day I need off. Plus they are on a really easy schedule.

Weigh the pluses and minuses and decide if dumping them and re-training new kids and parents is worth it. If not suck it up and put that dollar figure out of your mind so you don't keep regretting your decision to give them a break.

Maybe you could offer mom the deal that she needs to keep the kids at daycare (or pay regarless) for X days per month this summer. That way you can budget for a certain amount of money and not lose them as a client. Then tell her discount for first sib only, second sib at regular rate.

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While I can't speak about this from the same perspective that all of you are, I can add something I think.
My wife Frances and I have been doing custom machine embroidery for going on 10 years now. We sort of specialize in embroidering Christmas Stockings.
Our first year we did them for $10 ea. The stockings cost $2.99 and were good quality. We have to take the top cuff partial off to embroider the names as large as we do. Frances was doing the taking apart and putting back together while I did the computer work and ran the embroidery machine. A lot of work for $7 gross with over $20K investment. I kept telling her that $10 was too cheap. She said "well, that's all I would pay for one!" We had a disagreement over this and I told her she needed to become the seller and stop looking at it from the buyer perspective.
The next year she remarked that she thought we should "go up" because it WAS a lot of work to take the cuff apart and resew them after the embroidery was done. I tried to tell her the previous year a very simply truth that has proven itself several times in my past. That is this -

If you don't think "you" are worth more, neither will anyone else. Provide a very high quality service and ask a low price and that is all you will receive for your troubles. Nobody really cares how much or how hard you work, they are interested in getting the most they can for the least they can.
The remarks about working at home by choice and expecting to make comparable pay to working outside the home is a very good point. What is your time worth? What is your knowledge worth?

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