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View Poll Results: What is the biggest issue you have with your business
Payment issues 2 2.67%
Policy issues (parents not following) 27 36.00%
Napping issues 2 2.67%
Meals/Eating issues 2 2.67%
Child behavior issues 16 21.33%
Toileting issues 2 2.67%
Paperwork/Tax issues 9 12.00%
Licensing/Agency issues 1 1.33%
other..pleae explain 14 18.67%
Voters: 75. You may not vote on this poll
Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>Biggest Issue
Blackcat31 12:39 PM 10-21-2013
What is the BIGGEST issue you personally have with your child care/business?
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cara041083 12:45 PM 10-21-2013
I choose other because most of my problems are the parents. When I have children in my care, For the most part they listen and understand the rules. However, I have parents that think that since Im a home provider, I can do what every they want and don't understand that I have guidelines and rules I have to follow and it doesn't matter how much I try to explain this, it goes in one ear and out the other. Other then them, the kids are great!
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Blackcat31 12:48 PM 10-21-2013
Originally Posted by cara041083:
I choose other because most of my problems are the parents. When I have children in my care, For the most part they listen and understand the rules. However, I have parents that think that since Im a home provider, I can do what every they want and don't understand that I have guidelines and rules I have to follow and it doesn't matter how much I try to explain this, it goes in one ear and out the other. Other then them, the kids are great!
Sorry, I was kind of vague. I put policy issues, thinking about parents not following them or being respectful of your rules.... I fixed it now.

Yes, I agree sometimes getting parents to respect you and follow your rules IS the hardest thing.
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Sunchimes 12:52 PM 10-21-2013
I chose toileting although it was a toss up between that and meals. I have one typical child and 2 special needs kids. The typical child will not train. We've been working over a year. This time last year, she was trained perfectly for 2 or 3 weeks. Then she stopped. Just stopped. We are at out wits end. She is also hard headed about table manners. She knows the right way, she just chooses not to do it unless you are sitting beside her watching her every move.

My parents (finally) are wonderful. I wish I made more money, but I'm at the top of the scale for typical kids. I could probably get more for my last special needs one, but I didn't ask for more. I figured they had enough problems.

It took a couple of years to get here, but things are ok righ tnow.
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Play Care 12:57 PM 10-21-2013
Honestly I've never had major issues with kids or clients but I despise paperwork and am horribly unorganized.
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Willow 01:03 PM 10-21-2013
I chose other, in regards to parenting style moreso than policies though.

I can't stand how many people parent their children, and it was always tough to find like minded families.


That was by far the biggest factor in me deciding to throw in the towel, I couldn't watch or be a party to the insanity/ignorance/selfishness anymore......broke my heart to have a constant front row seat to the damage it directly caused the little people I grew to love.....
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caregiver 01:21 PM 10-21-2013
I think the biggest issue I have had in the last few years is with parents, not parenting and not disciplining their kids. It seems like parents today want to be "Their child's Friend" and not wanting to do anything to upset their kids. They let them (the child ) get their way and give them whatever they want and therefor the child is getting very spoiled and when they come to daycare where there are rules to follow, the child has major meltdowns because they are not allowed to do whatever they want or always have their way AND have to follow the rules, which they are not a custom to.
So I guess my biggest issue is parents not wanting to parent. I really can't blame the kids because they are just being like they are at home and don't know anything else until they come to daycare and find out that they have to behave.
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AnneCordelia 01:29 PM 10-21-2013
For me it is having parents follow my policies. Usually it is problems wih being dressed and ready for the day but I also have troubles with my illness policy.
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wonderfullisa 01:31 PM 10-21-2013
I voted paperwork, but it's (I hope!) mainly because I'm new. Just became serious about things in January, certified in June, joined CACFP last week.
Now if only I could find my daycare tax book I bought...
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CedarCreek 01:40 PM 10-21-2013
I voted other because my biggest problem (besides one bad apple former parent) is getting kids enrolled because of the amount of illegal and cheap providers.
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blandino 01:41 PM 10-21-2013
I chose toileting. After a slew of horrible incidences years ago, we made our potty training policy iron clad - but it is still by far the biggest issue we have. Parents wanting and believing their children are ready way before they are and having to let them know that you really don't feel that their child is ready...
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coolconfidentme 01:58 PM 10-21-2013
Unfortunately..., it's some of my parents.
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JenNJ 01:58 PM 10-21-2013
I chose Other. It isn't policy issues, it is just thir parenting. 50% of them suck at being parents. They provide the basics, but otherwise they let their kid call the shots and look stunned when their child listens to me. Sigh. It's exhausting. And that is coming from someone who chases toddlers all day!
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jenn 02:01 PM 10-21-2013
I voted for policy issues. The main policy I have to really watch and fight weekly is DO NOT BRING YOUR SICK CHILD!!! How many times do I need to send your kid home sick or with symptoms of sickness before it sinks in. They know not to bring them sick, but never think their child is sick. Their child has allergies, is teething, didn't sleep well,...blah. This is pretty universal with all my families, past and current.
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SilverSabre25 03:10 PM 10-21-2013
Other. It's tied between having enough kids enrolled/enrolling new ones, and cleanliness/organization.
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cheerfuldom 03:26 PM 10-21-2013
Mine is a toss up between clueless parents and screamer babies. I no longer take children under 9 months because I really feel that it is a rare baby that can tolerate the hustle and bustle of full time daycare, meals, napping without mom....it almost always results in a lot of crying. It's probably two thirds of the babies that just cry soooo much. Its just awful for me and them. The clueless parents are all loving, hard working people. They have just never been around kids and it's shocking the things that these people don't know....complete lack of common sense sometimes and also, poor listening and communicating skills with me. I work for middle class folks, they all have good jobs, it makes me wonder how they do at work when it takes three reminders that I am closed for holiday a particular day.

Never have payment issues, love to clean and organize, don't mind paperwork, and rarely have the illness policy issues. Not too much trouble with potty trainers either. I seem to have the opposite issue sometimes...parents that do not want to potty train the kids when they are clearly ready!
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Crazy8 03:39 PM 10-21-2013
Originally Posted by JenNJ:
I chose Other. It isn't policy issues, it is just thir parenting. 50% of them suck at being parents. They provide the basics, but otherwise they let their kid call the shots and look stunned when their child listens to me. Sigh. It's exhausting. And that is coming from someone who chases toddlers all day!
I was kind of looking for an option of just "parents" - cause it is so many things. Like their inability to tell a child "no" to ANYTHING and like the one who is now texting me 3 hrs after pick up asking about the bump on the childs head - the bump I commented on when they walked in the door this morning.
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LaLa1923 03:49 PM 10-21-2013
Originally Posted by Blackcat31:
What is the BIGGEST issue you personally have with your child care/business?
too bad we couldn't choose more than one option
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e.j. 04:34 PM 10-21-2013
I picked "other" because my biggest problem I have running my day care is me!

Initially, I was going to say my biggest problem is parents not following policies which for me, would include late payments since I do have a payment policy that is not followed or ignored more often than I would like. The more I thought about it though...I realized that "Parents not following policies" is a problem for me only because my backbone is not as strong as it could/should be. It's a work in progress and my backbone is much stronger than it was when I first started out. After all these years, you would think it shouldn't be an issue for me but I still feel like a big, bad witch when I have to confront a parent and enforce one of my policies.
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Childminder 06:21 PM 10-21-2013
I put payment because of issue I have with subsidy kids but my biggest issue right now is getting children. Enrollment is at it's worst. Never have I been so low.
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melilley 06:39 PM 10-21-2013
I chose child behavior only because I just opened in Jan. and so far the parents have followed my policies, I haven't had any payment issues, I haven't done taxes yet (though I am behind in recording things on MMK) etc..
I do, however, have a 24 mo old who is aggressive, but mom and I are working together and it's getting a little better. And I also have a 14 mo. old who used to cry everyday and it slowed down and now he's back at it every day.
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EntropyControlSpecialist 07:13 PM 10-21-2013
Lately it has been with children's behavior. I have found that a.) only children who are their parent's whole world and b.) children who have parents who want to be their child's friend and want them to be happy all of the time REALLY make my day difficult. Most of the children can adjust quite well here.

Although, parents are a very close second at times. Right now I have a good group of clients and I feel VERY thankful that I have weeded out the ones that didn't respect me. It made me very sad.
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TwinKristi 09:06 PM 10-21-2013
Originally Posted by CedarCreek:
I voted other because my biggest problem (besides one bad apple former parent) is getting kids enrolled because of the amount of illegal and cheap providers.
Same here. I haven't had too many issues with the other things yet, it's just getting kids at this point. Was full and now almost empty!
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nanglgrl 09:39 PM 10-21-2013
I picked parents not following policy, it's not all of them but I always have 1 or 2 in every bunch. They act like children and are constantly trying to text boundaries especially with my sick policy. I use my backbone most of the time (sent a child home today and said he couldn't come back tomorrow) but they still test them.
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Sugar Magnolia 03:41 AM 10-22-2013
Other......enrollment.
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daycarediva 03:55 AM 10-22-2013
Originally Posted by EntropyControlSpecialist:
Lately it has been with children's behavior. I have found that a.) only children who are their parent's whole world and b.) children who have parents who want to be their child's friend and want them to be happy all of the time REALLY make my day difficult. Most of the children can adjust quite well here.

Although, parents are a very close second at times. Right now I have a good group of clients and I feel VERY thankful that I have weeded out the ones that didn't respect me. It made me very sad.
Exactly this.

I have 20m-4.5 years, a reminded, reinforced set of rules that NEVER change and every week I am re-training kids.

Get off the couch, we don't jump on furniture
Don't kick my garden statues
Don't hit the cat
Don't hit your friends
No throwing toys

repeat until blue in the face. The parents watch and laugh/allow it when they're here so I am literally pushing kids out of the door at p/u.

I had a kid break my flag pole (those small garden flags) and his Mom didn't say a word until I put him in T/O. Then she apologized to him. Completely understand why that 3.5yo is a wild child every Monday and P/U.
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caregiver 06:08 AM 10-22-2013
Originally Posted by daycarediva:
Exactly this.

I have 20m-4.5 years, a reminded, reinforced set of rules that NEVER change and every week I am re-training kids.

Get off the couch, we don't jump on furniture
Don't kick my garden statues
Don't hit the cat
Don't hit your friends
No throwing toys

repeat until blue in the face. The parents watch and laugh/allow it when they're here so I am literally pushing kids out of the door at p/u.

I had a kid break my flag pole (those small garden flags) and his Mom didn't say a word until I put him in T/O. Then she apologized to him. Completely understand why that 3.5yo is a wild child every Monday and P/U.
I had replied earlier and said my biggest issue was parents, but I guess kids behavior is also a issue as parents are not disciplining anymore it seems like.
I also have to remind and reinforce my rules all the time too. Like be nice to my cat,pet her nice and no hitting her or kicking her,don't hit others,don't take toys away from another while they are playing with them, no spitting, which one does a lot,no running in the house,no screaming to the top of their lungs and no melt downs when your told to do something,like when it is time to pick up the toys.
One Christmas a few years ago when my tree was up, I had a DCB throw a toy at the tree,on purpose and broke a very valuable ornament,one that my son had made in school and it was very special to me. I told DCM when she came to pick him up what he did and that it was one that my son had made and was very special and all she said was "Boys will be Boys", and didn't even say she was sorry he did this and said not a thing to him about it. I cried after they left because I was so upset that he did this and no apologize from her at all. I had a few issue with the Mom anyway as she would come in in the morning,set him on my new couch to take his winter coat and boots off, to which I asked her not to do that, but she didn't listen and let him jump on the couch as she got him down,to which again I asked her not to do and her answer was to her son,well when we get home, you can jump on our couch at home. Do you believe that!!! Well needless to say, I termed him that day at pick up time. Sorry, but you don't let your child jump on my new couch,or take his boots off on it and not listen when your told to please do not do that. I really hate that saying"Boys will be Boys" that is just a excuse.
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Cat Herder 06:10 AM 10-22-2013
The Fickle State Rules and Regs..... Hands down.
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littleblossoms 06:26 AM 10-22-2013
My bggest issues are parents do not respect me and my home. Yes children listen better than adults.

I right now went on my facebook page and wrote disobey my signs at the front door will be immediate termination
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Blackcat31 06:30 AM 10-22-2013
Originally Posted by LaLa1923:
too bad we couldn't choose more than one option
I considered having multiple options available and then decided not to go that route for a couple reasons...

I do think we all have issues in each area at one time or another but I was genuinely interested in each providers MAIN issue/stressor.

Allowing posters to choose more than one option gives false results then as to what is overall the biggest issue for child care providers is.

Some posters would choose 2 or more options while another would only choose one...so I think that would alter the "big picture" I was trying to see. kwim?
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caregiver 06:49 AM 10-22-2013
Originally Posted by Blackcat31:
I considered having multiple options available and then decided not to go that route for a couple reasons...

I do think we all have issues in each area at one time or another but I was genuinely interested in each providers MAIN issue/stressor.

Allowing posters to choose more than one option gives false results then as to what is overall the biggest issue for child care providers is.

Some posters would choose 2 or more options while another would only choose one...so I think that would alter the "big picture" I was trying to see. kwim?

I wrote about 2 issues,parents and kids behavior,but I guess if you want one that is the biggest for your survey, I think hands down it will have to be the parents issue on not parenting. Hope that helps a little with your results.
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KDC 07:33 AM 10-22-2013
I think the hardest part about this job is feeling undervalued as a person. When I worked a corporate job I had raises, promotions, gushing e-mails & bonuses for hard work. I've had a lot of long term families, and they all started out very appreciative, but are now just used to me going the extra mile and 'expecting' it. For Christmas I put together a DVD highlighting the fun things we did over the years set to music it takes a lot of time and energy and I love being able to provide that to my families, this is now an expectation. Now I don't even get a response of 'Thank you'... so guess who's getting generic presents this year? My families. And it sucks, but I'm sick of it being an expectation. Families used to appreciate my crafts. "Thanks for taking the time, energy and $$ to complete this craft, looks great, so special." Now... it gets shoved in backpack - mangled. Because working with 7 children, painting their feet, getting their precious foot prints to look like ghosts, wiping off their feet and letting them shake glitter everywhere is STRESSFUL, but ultimately the kids enjoy themselves and it makes it worth it to see them so excited to give it to their parents, who ultimately crush it, and slam it into their backpacks. =( Mix that with the jerk that just tried to underpay me - I'm just deflated by this job and dreaming about the day I can give notice. Good luck finding someone else to put up with your crap. I love the kids and will miss THEM not their rotten parents.

The kids are why I got into this job, and they're wonderful. The parents are why I will get out of this job. It's a shame.
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Leanna 10:51 AM 10-22-2013
I voted "other." I'd say my biggest issue is organization (my lack of it that is). I am not a naturally organized person and I am CONSTANTLY trying to figure out techniques that will work for me.
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originalkat 11:04 AM 10-22-2013
TAXES! I just dread doing them and it is the worst part of this career IMO.
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My3cents 11:20 AM 10-22-2013
Originally Posted by care giver:
I think the biggest issue I have had in the last few years is with parents, not parenting and not disciplining their kids. It seems like parents today want to be "Their child's Friend" and not wanting to do anything to upset their kids. They let them (the child ) get their way and give them whatever they want and therefor the child is getting very spoiled and when they come to daycare where there are rules to follow, the child has major meltdowns because they are not allowed to do whatever they want or always have their way AND have to follow the rules, which they are not a custom to.
So I guess my biggest issue is parents not wanting to parent. I really can't blame the kids because they are just being like they are at home and don't know anything else until they come to daycare and find out that they have to behave.


I didn't poll, but many issues and they all depend- and they come and go depending on clients, where society is at the time. I could have wrote the above today- Parents don't tell kids no these days. No is a reality of life.

I have one little that comes in here and has a melt down because I have rules, and he just can't do whatever, whenever. Makes for a hard day for all. The kid is smart and sets me up in front of the parent while Mom is here to do whatever it is that this kiddo wants to do- Knowing that I probably wouldn't pick that activity to start off our day with. Parent doesn't understand why the kid can't have free range.

Anyway I could touch base with probably all of these issues. I don't see any one trumping the others, they all have a time and a place to be a hassle to deal with just as hassles are with any other job-
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My3cents 11:24 AM 10-22-2013
Originally Posted by Blackcat31:
I considered having multiple options available and then decided not to go that route for a couple reasons...

I do think we all have issues in each area at one time or another but I was genuinely interested in each providers MAIN issue/stressor.

Allowing posters to choose more than one option gives false results then as to what is overall the biggest issue for child care providers is.

Some posters would choose 2 or more options while another would only choose one...so I think that would alter the "big picture" I was trying to see. kwim?
I guess I will go poll but I honestly think they all have a time and a place depending upon where you are at with everything.
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crazydaycarelady 11:37 AM 10-22-2013
For me it is the red tape of renewing my license. It is sooo much work when I am trying to watch kids at the same time. Plus so much of it is repeated. Like proving I have insurance when I renew and again when my insurance renews. Isn't once per year good enough?

I also gt annoyed with parents and the ridiculous things they do to cope that only set them up for disaster later. Like letting a 3yo wear pjs to daycare every singe day. Not potty training when the kid shows signs. etc.
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