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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>Should I Even Ask?
Boymom 07:01 AM 06-09-2016
So 1 dcg isn't coming today. Another dcb is leaving at 12 to go to a dr's appointment, but the parents always want his brother to stay behind (which is fine because I don't care what they do as long as they pay me lol!) Buuut if they leave the one brother here, then he's the only kid I will have today. Would it be rude of me to ask them to take him or should I just watch him? I would just really like a half day if I can get it!!!
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AmyKidsCo 07:10 AM 06-09-2016
Personally I never ask, but I do hint. "Oh, then he'll be the only one here this afternoon..."
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JackandJill 07:27 AM 06-09-2016
I agree with PP, I never ask but I always let them know one way or another that he will be the only one here.

"Ohh I'll have to think of something special for Johnny since it will be just me and him!" or something like that. Hopefully they get the hint!
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NightOwl 07:44 AM 06-09-2016
I always tell them when their child is the only one. But I say something more like, I'll try to keep such and such from being bored since all his friends are out today. I find that the "think of something special" line doesn't really work for me because then they think snowflake is gonna have a blast by getting special. So they're more apt to leave him. Lol. That sounds terrible, but you gotta work the system sometimes!
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LindseyA 07:58 AM 06-09-2016
Originally Posted by NightOwl:
I always tell them when their child is the only one. But I say something more like, I'll try to keep such and such from being bored since all his friends are out today. I find that the "think of something special" line doesn't really work for me because then they think snowflake is gonna have a blast by getting special. So they're more apt to leave him. Lol. That sounds terrible, but you gotta work the system sometimes!
This for sure!! I watch what I say very carefully, and pick certain words over others all the time!
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AmyKidsCo 08:24 AM 06-09-2016
Originally Posted by LindseyA:
This for sure!! I watch what I say very carefully, and pick certain words over others all the time!
No kidding!

You don't want to say that the child will be bored because then the parents may wonder if the child is bored other times and if they should look for other care.

But you don't want to say that there will be something special planned because then they'll leave him there so he doesn't miss out.
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LindseyA 08:31 AM 06-09-2016
right! I would say something like "oh my! It will be really quiet with just dck here!" I would omit the words special and bored!
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MrsSteinel'sHouse 08:40 AM 06-09-2016
now me, I would out and out ask. You know since you are picking up XXXX early brother would be the only one here. I was thinking if it would work for you to take brother too I could have an afternoon off! You know how rare those are for me- circumstances rarely line up like this! So you can pick them both up, right?
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Play Care 08:46 AM 06-09-2016
Honestly, I wouldn't ask. I feel it's unprofessional.
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NightOwl 08:50 AM 06-09-2016
Originally Posted by LindseyA:
right! I would say something like "oh my! It will be really quiet with just dck here!" I would omit the words special and bored!
Oh, this is way better! I like it. May steal it. Lol. But I rarely get lucky enough to only have one.
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NightOwl 08:51 AM 06-09-2016
Originally Posted by Play Care:
Honestly, I wouldn't ask. I feel it's unprofessional.
I wouldn't either. But I sure wouldn't mind dropping a subtle hint.
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MrsSteinel'sHouse 08:52 AM 06-09-2016
I guess for me all of my parents know that those days are rare and how hard I work. I think they would be upset with me if I didn't let them know Johnny would be my only and that I could have had the day off. But, I have great communication with my parents. Last week I was headed out of town as soon as everyone was picked up. All of my parents worked it out so they were all here by 3:30 so I would be at my daughters before dark! They are awesome that way. So I guess for me the big factor would be how good is your relationship with the parents?
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Play Care 09:24 AM 06-09-2016
Originally Posted by NightOwl:
I wouldn't either. But I sure wouldn't mind dropping a subtle hint.
I guess my thought is that this is for what, a few hours? I would suck it up and provide the service I am being paid to do. Now, I do close on Fridays in July and August because I would only have one child scheduled all day. But that's me making an across the board policy, not asking my paying clients for "special." I remember those days of trying to wrangle to young kiddos to an appointment so I can sympathize with the mom.
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happymom 09:39 AM 06-09-2016
I am a DCM and when my DCP would mention to me my son would be the only one there one day/afternoon I NEVER took it as a hint that my provider desired me to find other care for him.

I kind of feel dumb for not thinking of my provider that way. My brain always said "oh how nice that my son and her daughter get to have some one on one time" (they have always gotten along exceptionally well even though they were 2.5 years apart). However, all of these days I would have been at work, I never ever left my child with my DCP if I was not at work or in route.

Now that I have two children, I will sometimes leave one at DC while I take the other out for a doctors/dentist appointment. I think since I am paying for that time it is a "luxury" that I have afforded.
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NightOwl 09:49 AM 06-09-2016
Originally Posted by Play Care:
I guess my thought is that this is for what, a few hours? I would suck it up and provide the service I am being paid to do. Now, I do close on Fridays in July and August because I would only have one child scheduled all day. But that's me making an across the board policy, not asking my paying clients for "special." I remember those days of trying to wrangle to young kiddos to an appointment so I can sympathize with the mom.
But those few hours can be precious for those who never get time off. I wouldn't ask, only make sure they were aware. And if they opted to bring their child anyway, oh well. I had planned to work anyway.

But as someone else said, most of my parents wouldn't want their child to be the only one here. But that's just my group, I guess. On the rare occasion that it has happened, the parent of the only insisted on making other arrangements even though I told her I was open as usual and did not encourage her to keep dcg home. I only informed her of the situation. She refused to bring dcg and said, you need a day! It was fantastic. Lol. I went back to bed.
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Boymom 10:11 AM 06-09-2016
Originally Posted by NightOwl:
But those few hours can be precious for those who never get time off. I wouldn't ask, only make sure they were aware. And if they opted to bring their child anyway, oh well. I had planned to work anyway.

But as someone else said, most of my parents wouldn't want their child to be the only one here. But that's just my group, I guess. On the rare occasion that it has happened, the parent of the only insisted on making other arrangements even though I told her I was open as usual and did not encourage her to keep dcg home. I only informed her of the situation. She refused to bring dcg and said, you need a day! It was fantastic. Lol. I went back to bed.
Yes!!! Those few hours with my own kids would be AWESOME!! It's like when I worked outside of my home and the business closed early for a snow day or something like that. I was just giddy at the fact that I was maybe getting just one tiny little afternoon off!! Lol! The parents never ever ever ever pick their kids up early (which is fine, although I always picked up my son early when I could!) in fact sometimes they are late. They pay me, though, so I'm not complaining! They ended up not taking him which is totally fine but this situation has never happened before, so it would have been great to have a surprise afternoon with my kids! :-) :-)
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childcaremom 10:17 AM 06-09-2016
I agree with Playcare. I think it is unprofessional to ask. You are being paid to provide a service. You should be providing it.

If you want a day off with your own kids, schedule a day off.

Just my two cents.
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Play Care 10:19 AM 06-09-2016
Originally Posted by NightOwl:
But those few hours can be precious for those who never get time off. I wouldn't ask, only make sure they were aware. And if they opted to bring their child anyway, oh well. I had planned to work anyway.

But as someone else said, most of my parents wouldn't want their child to be the only one here. But that's just my group, I guess. On the rare occasion that it has happened, the parent of the only insisted on making other arrangements even though I told her I was open as usual and did not encourage her to keep dcg home. I only informed her of the situation. She refused to bring dcg and said, you need a day! It was fantastic. Lol. I went back to bed.

Eh, if I need time off, I take it. I don't count on my clients to give me time off. I just feel that it creates a power dynamic that I work hard not not have (parents as my "boss") I think my clients respect me and the service I provide, but I could see them being annoyed at being asked to take both kids in this case.

As a parent if I making child care arrangements, I count on those when I make my plans.

I would much rather have the provider say "I'm closed Friday for a personal day" because it's something I could plan for/around, than ask if I could keep my child home since they'll be the "only" kid here.

But again, different strokes.
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Play Care 10:23 AM 06-09-2016
Originally Posted by Boymom:
Yes!!! Those few hours with my own kids would be AWESOME!! It's like when I worked outside of my home and the business closed early for a snow day or something like that. I was just giddy at the fact that I was maybe getting just one tiny little afternoon off!! Lol! The parents never ever ever ever pick their kids up early (which is fine, although I always picked up my son early when I could!) in fact sometimes they are late. They pay me, though, so I'm not complaining! They ended up not taking him which is totally fine but this situation has never happened before, so it would have been great to have a surprise afternoon with my kids! :-) :-)
So, take an afternoon off, or a day! Look at the calendar and circle the day. Tell parents you are closed or closing early. Be the boss of your business and don't let them be the boss of it.

I leaned early on in this business that if you wait for someone else to take care of you, you'll be waiting a long time. Life got so much better when I started taking care of me first.
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happymom 10:46 AM 06-09-2016
It never once bothered me even in the slightest bit if my kid was the only child in daycare that day or afternoon. I needed childcare, I was paying for childcare. Him having friends there definitely was great, but if his friends weren't there that day, I never felt like he was bored or getting less care.
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Boymom 11:03 AM 06-09-2016
Originally Posted by happymom:
It never once bothered me even in the slightest bit if my kid was the only child in daycare that day or afternoon. I needed childcare, I was paying for childcare. Him having friends there definitely was great, but if his friends weren't there that day, I never felt like he was bored or getting less care.
And...it doesn't bother me one bit that one dck is here right now! I'm blessed to be able to finally be home with my kids by having a daycare in my home. We have just as much fun no matter how many kids are here! I will be honest and say this particular dck is wearing me out lately, soooo would I have been excited if he would have gone with them? Heck yes!!!! But I do love having him here and he gets along with my son very well (most days lol!)

I hope my original post didn't come off as lazy because I'm far from it! I just was curious what others would have done in this situation.
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daycarediva 11:04 AM 06-09-2016
I now have a policy that I have to have a minimum number of children in attendance to remain open. I would just tell the dcm "Dcm, my numbers are low today, just your two. Both boys will be picked up at what time?"

I made that policy for a reason. I have had the opportunity to close twice and enforced it twice since enacting it. No parent was miffed as they are aware of the policy. I went over it on interview. Our day doesn't run without X number of children here. I do not do 1:1, I would be pulling my hair out or the kid would be doing yard work or laundry.
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mommyneedsadayoff 11:18 AM 06-09-2016
I wouldn't ask. I would just say, "since you are picking up dck for an appointment, other dck will be my only child present, so he will need to be picked up too. I will offer a half day credit for him applied to next week's care, since I am having you pick up early. Thanks!" If you don't feel comfortable, then don't ask, but why beat around the bush with hints? Either ask or tell them. If I close early due to lack of kids, I do offer a credit.
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Rockgirl 11:53 AM 06-09-2016
I used to, in a way, resent only having one child for a day. Now I enjoy one on one time. It's something I rarely get, and it's special for the child. We do things we can't do when everyone is here....sometimes even swimming at a real pool! Or eat lunch at a restaurant, shopping, etc. I've had kids a couple of years later say, "Hey Ms D, remember that day it was just us and we went xyz?" Just a different perspective.
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KiwiKids 12:06 PM 06-09-2016
I only have one set of siblings, but I also only allow one drop off and pick up per family per day. Being brought back after a doctor appointment or seeing brother or sister leave with mom while being left behind always seems to upset kids. It has actually never come up with the sibling set I have because the parents have always chosen to get both kids at once if one was leaving.
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childcaremom 12:34 PM 06-09-2016
I have the same policy as Kiwikids. One pick up and drop off per family per day.

So if the family was picking up early for a doc appt, both of them would be leaving and neither would be coming back for the day.
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