I don't feel like it should be my job to hunt down a dcp and their kid.

I know I should check up and see if they are bringing dck if they are late. But i just don't feel like it is my resposiblity to check on my parents, they should inform me if they aren't coming or are going to be late.

It is my policy if you are more than 30 minutes after your drop off time you will need to find other care for the day. I put it in there so I wouldn't have to deal with parents calling me at 1 to drop off their kids and kinda in hopes they Would just stop being late at all.

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I have set drop off times..... this way I know daily what time each family will drop off and pick up

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I have them fill out a set drop off and pick up time on thier contract. And they werent sticking to it so I put in the 30 minutes thing.

Two moms were late today. One I talked to about at drop off the other called and said dcd got fired yesterday.

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I get what you are saying, but I always attempt to contact them, usually just with a text message. God forbid they were in an accident or had left a child in a car (always hear those stories on the news and say, "if only the daycare had called to see why the child was absent").

If nothing else it would just give them the reminder that they need to call if they are going to be late.

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I don't contact anymore, I just charge them. Do you think that their bosses go looking for them when they don't come to work, no they don't so why should I.

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I guess I wasnt thinking of it that way.

I reminded the first one and I am not even sure if the second will be coming back

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I always call, prettying because of what the pp said. What if they're hurt, or child is hurt, or just forgot the kid somewhere.

If it's a pattern, I would call just as a friendly reminder that they are past their 30 minute grace period and you will see them tomorriw.

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In OK, we are legally responsible (a licensing reg) to contact a family if they don't come in for the day. It irks me, because in the midst of everything else that DHS wants us to do, we also need to keep track of the families.

HOWEVER, earlier this year I had a DCF who had a miscommunication where DCM left early and DCD thought that DCM had brought DCG to daycare. DCD was walking around the house getting ready, and heard DCG playing in her crib. He could have easily walked out of the house without her, not knowing she was there. So, in instances like that - I can see why those rules exist. But I still don't like the responsibility being put on the plate of someone who is already doing a ton.

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If they are over an hour late, I call.

I used to feel like it wasn't my job to hunt them down, and to a point I still do. They should be responsible enough to let me know if they are not coming or if they are running late.

However, I had a really bad experience with not calling. I had a child, then 3, that I had watched since birth. He had always lived with just his mom, as dad lived in another country. A few months before the incident, dad moved here and became a part of the family. Mom and Dad were sharing drop off and pick up responsibilities. Everything seemed fine. One day, DCK did not show up. This mom was notorious for running late and doing no shows, so I wasn't too concerned. She called around 2 pm and asked to speak to her son explaining she had gone out of town for business the previous day. I told her he wasn't with me and she panicked. She contacted the dad, and he was at work. He told her that the DCB would not cooperate and get ready to come to daycare, so he left him at home. Apparently that was fine in his culture. (What!?) This poor little 3 year old boy was home alone for about 6 hours. Thankfully he was safe, just scared. He lived by a major intersection and knew how to open the door, so thank God he stayed inside. I still think back about how the situation would have been different if I would have called early in the morning when he didn't show up.

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Now I am over this but wondering how I should handle dcd getting fired. .

I don't know when I should contact mt waitlist people. I know this woman wont continue if dcd is home. They were struggling to pay me as is. Payday is Friday and dch says wait until then.

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Contact wait list people now. Schedule interviews for next week.

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I am going too. I am going to get confirmation from dcm about her plans tonight. I don't want to be pushy but I have to know her plan so I can plan.

I am about 6 months into owning a daycare. I am sure this is a issue I am going to have to deal with more than once. But because it is my first time I am not sure how to proceed.

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do you require that parents give notice when they want to stop services?

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I have one and only one dcp who never calls when dcb isn't going to be here or is going to be late. It bothers me to no end! She always has an excuse and is really sorry when I call her. The only reason I call is to see if dcb is going to be here for lunch because he has food intolerances and sometimes I have to substitute his lunch and sometimes lunches take a while to cook. Otherwise I wouldn't even call. (We never go anywhere so I'm always here anyways.)

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Yes two weeks notice and I require payment for those two weeks when notice is given.

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My dc families send me their schedules on sunday for the week ahead. If they are supposed to drop off at 5:45 but don't show up until 7:45 because dcmom and dcdad can't communicate well with each other, not my problem. They get charged anyways. Also I told them that when the weather is nicer and they have later drop off times if they are late they will have to track me down some where around town. It really will open up their eyes when it happens.

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