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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>Daycare Mom Wants To Pay $50 Per Day For Me To Stay Open Late
Crazy Baby 11:32 AM 06-05-2017
My hours are currently 7AM-4PM. I have a daycare mom who is trying to talk me into staying open an extra hour to an hour and a half for her. She said that she will pay me $50 per day to do it. I think that I will take her up on the offer. My biggest concern is that I will get burnt out very quickly, but I'd love the extra money. Part of me feels guilty for taking that much money per day.

Should I do it? Is that a crazy amount of money? I currently charge $35 per day, so it is $15 extra per hour or so.
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Blackcat31 11:39 AM 06-05-2017
Originally Posted by Crazy Baby:
My hours are currently 7AM-4PM. I have a daycare mom who is trying to talk me into staying open an extra hour to an hour and a half for her. She said that she will pay me $50 per day to do it. I think that I will take her up on the offer. My biggest concern is that I will get burnt out very quickly, but I'd love the extra money. Part of me feels guilty for taking that much money per day.

Should I do it? Is that a crazy amount of money? I currently charge $35 per day, so it is $15 extra per hour or so.
If you need the money go for it.

When/if you get burnt out, let her know you can't do it anymore.

When I can accommodate a family and I'm comfortable with the arrangement I have no issues but nothing is ever set in stone saying just because you did that you always have to... kwim?
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Cat Herder 11:42 AM 06-05-2017
If it benefits your family, go for it. I bet they will tire of it before you do.

(to clarify: that would be twice my weekly rate JUST for the overage. It would be worth it for me at this stage in my life. Empty nest.)
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rosieteddy 11:43 AM 06-05-2017
The biggest question would be what does the 'or so"mean.I did open later for some clients.I made a start time and end time.For you 7am until when? If you normally close at 4pm ,5pm is huge.I would charge at least 15. and if it was any time after 5 it would be no later than 5:30 for 25 dollars extra per day.The days are long and sometimes when other clients see you staying open they want to extend their hours to.Good luck.
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mommyneedsadayoff 11:46 AM 06-05-2017
Originally Posted by Crazy Baby:
My hours are currently 7AM-4PM. I have a daycare mom who is trying to talk me into staying open an extra hour to an hour and a half for her. She said that she will pay me $50 per day to do it. I think that I will take her up on the offer. My biggest concern is that I will get burnt out very quickly, but I'd love the extra money. Part of me feels guilty for taking that much money per day.

Should I do it? Is that a crazy amount of money? I currently charge $35 per day, so it is $15 extra per hour or so.
Is this everyday? That is $425 a week for daycare, so she could get a nanny for around that amount. I would do as BC said. If you want to and the money is there, I would go for it. You would be getting over $30 an hour for those last 90 min. It all comes down to money and whether you want to, but don't feel guilty for accepting something she offers.
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finsup 11:46 AM 06-05-2017
I just had a family with a similar request. They happened to request it for a night where my husband works late anyways so we never have anything planned and their kid is extremely well behaved. They also understood those hours are "family hours" which may mean dcb is watching Daniel tiger while I prep dinner They were good with that so I took it on. I'm not sure I would have if it had been on another night of the week, maybe, but eh...I don't know.
Anyways, do it if you want and set the terms to work for you. It doesn't have to be forever either. I know if it gets too much I'll just say I can't offer it anymore. And no, don't feel guilty. You are doing her a favor and it sounds like she is willing to pay well for it.
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Cat Herder 11:50 AM 06-05-2017
*I read it to say $50 per day over your daily rate.

I am not sure an extra $75wk would be motivation enough. $250 extra per week had me jealous.
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Leigh 12:35 PM 06-05-2017
Originally Posted by Cat Herder:
*I read it to say $50 per day over your daily rate.

I am not sure an extra $75wk would be motivation enough. $250 extra per week had me jealous.
Same here. For $50/day, I'd be HAPPY to stay open an extra hour or 1.5 (I close at 5:30, anyway-I wouldn't stay open til 7, though!).
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AmyKidsCo 12:50 PM 06-05-2017
Originally Posted by Leigh:
Same here. For $50/day, I'd be HAPPY to stay open an extra hour or 1.5 (I close at 5:30, anyway-I wouldn't stay open til 7, though!).
I read it as $50 over your regular rate, which I totally would do! But not for $15 over my regular rate - that's only an extra $5/30 minutes and my time is more valuable to me than that.

In my situation I'd be missing my boys' soccer games, school plays, etc, so the minimum I'd stay open late for would be $10/half hour on top of my regular rate. There would have to be a $50/week minimum paid for in advance, whether the child stays late or not. Any days they'd want more than 1/2hr overtime would have to be scheduled and paid for a week ahead of time, with no refunds if the child is picked up early.
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trix23 01:04 PM 06-05-2017
I charge $10 extra per hour per day of overage care. If it's after my operating hours, I do $5/hr extra onto of that for new families
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CityGarden 01:05 PM 06-05-2017
Unless you truly need the money I would not do it. My first child enrolled has longer hours than any other and his family pays significantly for that but I really resent the extra hours most days and my dd is the most impacted by him in those extra hours. I am counting down the days until I am full enough to give his family an ultimatum to make my new reduced hours work or to move programs.

I came into this business in part - to spend time with my own daughter and be here when she gets home from school. For $15 per day it would mean my dd not being able to be in certain classes, or me missing games, dance, etc. and having to hire someone to take her to those. Also I find once you extend hours is can be more challenging to reduce them back ---- you end up enrolling another family who the extended hours also work, etc.

If you need the money,do it but set clear limits / cost and add it to your contract. All fees to be paid in advance and they hours need to be set (not changing each day) i.e.

4:00PM Pick Up $35 per day
5:00PM Pick Up $50 per day
5:30PM Pick Up $60 per day

(These cost are based on the amounts you listed above but you can tweak them as needed.)
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Crazy Baby 02:10 PM 06-05-2017
Yeah, it is $15 extra per day, not $50. It would be $50 total for one day.

Right now, it wouldn't affect anything that I am doing too much. It is mostly the physical and emotional toll of working for 10 hours per day.

I figure if I don't take the extra money, then I would have to enroll another child and it seems easier just to stay open for the extra hour.

My husband is wanting me to make more money so I should just grit my teeth and do it. The extra money would equate to a car payment or phone payment every month, you know.

After reading ya'll's comments, I am definitely no longer feeling guilty about taking more money. I guess it's not as large of an amount as I originally thought.
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Ariana 02:48 PM 06-05-2017
I only get burnt out from doing things for free

Charge her something you are willing to stay open for
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trix23 03:23 PM 06-05-2017
I currently work 12 hour days 😂 being new and needing income, I'm more flexible. As I fill up, I will be shortening my hours. 1 spot left and I'm full
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Snowmom 03:43 PM 06-05-2017
I think it all just comes down to what's important to you.

You said you'd like the extra money and it doesn't interfere with your home life. So, I think your answer is yes.

My advice though: set clear boundaries on what the hours would be. I would set a cut off and make late fees on top of the added fee abundantly clear.
I can see 8 pm Friday night rolling around and daycare parents nowhere in sight.
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daycarediva 06:44 AM 06-06-2017
New contract, rate is increased REGARDLESS of pick up time.

and I would charge more. I charge $5/15 minutes outside of contracted hours right now. If it didn't impact me, I would probably charge $25.
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childcaremom 07:00 AM 06-06-2017
I agree with a lot of the advice given.

New contract with new time set by you. I would cap it at 90 extra minutes.

As for the rate.... well I would charge more than that. Prob at least 20-25. If she wants to do only an hour extra then I would agree to the 15.

Rate would be set regardless if she ends up picking up early. The new rate IS her rate.

Late fees would be double. She needs to be picking up on time. Make her want to be there on time.

And I would verbally let mom know that you are willing to try it out but you may need to revert back to your current times if it starts to interfere with your family obligations.

Do what works for you. And it it doesn't end up working long term, do what works for you and switch back to your 4 pm closing.
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CityGarden 07:54 AM 06-06-2017
Originally Posted by childcaremom:
I agree with a lot of the advice given.

New contract with new time set by you. I would cap it at 90 extra minutes.

As for the rate.... well I would charge more than that. Prob at least 20-25. If she wants to do only an hour extra then I would agree to the 15.

Rate would be set regardless if she ends up picking up early. The new rate IS her rate.

Late fees would be double. She needs to be picking up on time. Make her want to be there on time.

And I would verbally let mom know that you are willing to try it out but you may need to revert back to your current times if it starts to interfere with your family obligations.

Do what works for you. And it it doesn't end up working long term, do what works for you and switch back to your 4 pm closing.
All great advice!!!
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lovemydaycare0912 10:19 AM 06-06-2017
I charge a family $25 a week extra just for 15 minutes. I couldn't do it because Id want too much to compensate and no one would pay it. If you're okay with it, go for it. Let her know if it gets to be too much.
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Crazy Baby 08:50 AM 06-07-2017
Thanks all for the advice! I am going to do it, at least through the summer. We'll see how it goes.
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nannyde 04:10 AM 06-08-2017
Just make sure she pays whether or not she uses the extra one and a half hours. She needs to be contracted for the new hours and regardless of use... she pays. The potential for you to have to work these extra hours is the issue. You can't make plans for that time so she can't just pay the days she actually uses them... she has to pay for the ability to use them.

Do NOT allow anything beyond one and a half hours. Make it clear there is no "hour and a half OR SO". NO or so. Or so will turn into her picking up whenever she wants and running errands and stuff after work or going home to clean.

If there is a meal involved in this time I would charge extra for that too.
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LovetheSun 11:20 PM 06-08-2017
It also depends on how easy is that child?

Sometime I end up staying open for 45min with just one child here but is so mellow that I can relax as well. The parents know that aftercare is "free play" so is quite mellow.
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bklsmum 03:25 AM 06-09-2017
I would definitely spell out to her that the child will be participating in your regular family routine. I have had issues with families on this because it wasn't spelled out to them enough.
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