Do you stay open for one child or do you explain the situation and see if parents can find alternative care?

I know when I have one little one here they enjoy the one on one time but are still asking for their friends and someone to play with-their own age. They don't want to be with you all day long.

I usually stay open and we do the best we can but just curious what others do.

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I'm wondering that today. It's blizzard conditions here & I only have one family scheduled today at 2pm. I do not live at my daycare & wondering if I should close for the day like everyone else.

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I stay open but I also have daycare in my home. me and my kids are here anyway no matter what so there is always at least one of my daughters to play with. I dont entertain kids though. Even if there is only one kid, I tell them to "go play" and it wont kill them to be bored for a day.

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If I don't have at least two families who need me, I don't open. It just isn't worth my time. My parents all know this when they enroll so they know that is can and does happen, although not often.

fwiw~ I don't live in my daycare home wither...hence the policy. If I did live in my home, accessibility for families would be more important to me and the families signing on with me.

I dont close if only one shows up or if I am suddenly left with only one. I close ONLY when I know a week a head of time that only one child is on the schedule.

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I do, but I make sure the family knows that they are the only one scheduled. Most parents usually try to find alternate care. I hate having only 1 or 2 kids here though. My Thursday and Friday are like that this week and it stinks. But at least I know I will get a lot of cleaning done.

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It depends on the child. If it's a child that can hang out with me all day and not be unhappy, I stay open. If it's a three or four year old who needs their friends, I ask them to find a cousin or someone.

If I just don't feel well, or feel like I need an extra day off, I ask the parents.

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I stay open but let the parents know

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If they are contracted for the day then yes I stay open. However I live in CA and we don't have severe weather conditions that would cause me to want to or have to close. For example where I live we don't get snow so we don't get snow days. School's don't close because of weather conditions either so I really don't have a reason to close. If we had blizzards or big storms then perhaps it would be different.

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My contract states I will provide consistent care on the agreed days listed. If only one family needs care you still are obligated to provide that care. How can we expect respect and for them to follow our policies if we don't even uphold the very basics of our obligations to them!?

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If I offered that day in the first place, I suck it up and open. However, I usually will talk to the parents and let them know that since it is only their child, I don't do the normal schedule. I also will get permission to take the child on a field trip and I will take my kids and the daycare child to a playground. It breaks up the day and makes it feel less like work and more like fun.

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Yes, I do. However, I think it depends on the chilld. I only have 3 kids enrolled right now & I generally have just 1 for a good portion of the day at least once a week. 2 of them are under a year & the other is a school ager. The babies never get bored, they just bop from one toy to the other with breaks to eat & sleep. The school ager is a different story-if school is in she does just fine w/the 3 hours she's here a day. Full days are another story but she also expects to be entertained all of the time & heaven forbid she has to play alone.

Again, I think it depends on the child.

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Yes, I do.

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Yes, I do too. I have 2 children of my own, and in the past have only cared for an additional 2-3 children.

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YUP! I have a permission slip waiting at the door and we are gone for the day. Last time it happened (in September, lol) we ended up walking around at the animal shelter and they let the kids help feed the barn animals. Way cool, and my own kids enjoyed it as well.

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I do-actually had it happen 2 times in the last week. Today we were going to go do a bunch of fun things, but dck is super crabby, so I opted to stay put. I don't want to be out in about with that-she really needed an early nap.

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Constantly...I only have two dcfs right now and three dcks in addition to my own two dcks. In the future I am looking forward to having a car to be able to go and do stuff during the day when it's like that.

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I usually do. Like today and tomorrow, I only have 1 dck. He's almost 2 and pretty easy to entertain, but its a pain to have to keep the dogs in their kennels when its only one child. I could have easily said keep him home since dad is home off work all week, but I didn't. At least this way I'll get my paycheck this week!

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I stay open but since I have parents fill out a chart for the holidays they see their child will be alone and often if they can they make other arrangements.

Except this year I have one family because my 2 dgks are here. It is makeing th day go smoother. They needed friends today. and dcm gave dcd ( a teacher ) a list of work to do... LOL

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I will be open with just one kid.

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I don't mind staying open for one child if the parent has to work - that I understand! But what gets me - and I have a parent right now who pulls this constantly - is the parent who isn't working and still drops off their child knowing its my only child for the day (this happened Christmas Eve) and she stayed home baking cookies all day?! That really got me. Honestly you can't spend a day - a holiday at that- with your child? She still brought him bright and early and picked him up only an hour or two early. She just told me she wasn't bringing him New Years Eve (my chin must've dropped on the floor) but then texted me today - the night before - to say she wasn't feeling well and would bring him - knowing again he would be the only one. I told her I made plans since i had no one but somehow I feel guilty. Its ridiculous! And her son is a major challenge and i almost never get a break from him! When he's sick she brings him most times anyways unless he has a fever - and then she brings him exactly 24 hrs later - if he got fever @ 10 am and was sent home - he returns at 10 am the next morning! no kidding! no wonder this job has such a high rate of burn-out with parents like that!

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I have a perfect situation to describe to you. I was officially open this past Thurs & Fri and Monday New Years Eve. However, I gathered information for a few weeks and realized there would be one parent on vacation for these two weeks in each family.

So then I asked them this question: Would you like to keep your child home with you while you have vacation time or would you be bringing them to daycare? Heehee. I also told them that it looked like none of the other parents would be bringing their child to daycare. So I ended up with 11 days off until Jan. 2nd, Wed. when they are all coming back. By doing it this way I get paid for all of those days because technically I was open!

Be smart and let the parents know you are no dummy!

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