Advice Plz!

[Core12]

It seems that anytime I really appreciate someone they disappoint me and it hurts! One day I’m so grateful for a family in my care and then the next day it’s something like dcb of this family tells me that his mom said my curtains were “unsafe” or I find out that a Superman poster I gave to this dcb was thrown in the trash bc it’s “not good for him” and then this past two weeks DCM says to dcb at pickup, “did you have a good day? Should we come back tomorrow?” I believe she says this deliberately to let me know it’s a privilege to watch her three yr old son and 1 yr old daughter.
I’ve known for a couple months that she will take her son to a “preschool” and am irritated that she seems disappointed that I didn’t teach daily or have a craft. Her son has said that he won’t get to “watch all this tv” when he goes to preschool. Well, I’m not changing. If I feel like a break...the kids are watching tv. I do a lot with the kids but it’s never enough. I detest being forced to do what they think I should do and therefore am not going to.
Dcb just told me that his parents told him that he has picked up enough and I need to have someone else help pickup! (We are all picking up)!

[Cat Herder]

You will have to change your mindset for this type of thing to stop feeling personal to you.

All of the comments are about services offered by your business, not you personally. It is likely this family is expecting a more structured, classroom-like environment, which you don't offer. It could be really quickly cleared up with a conference to discuss these parents' expectations and what you are willing to offer. It likely began from a misunderstanding of curriculum and daily schedules to start.

When they enrolled what were they looking for? What questions did they ask?

[Cat Herder]

It is also possible that she could have caught wind of some QRIS marketing materials for parents. That is how it began here, ads on TV, articles in the newspaper and social media posts. Parents began demanding it, for the same price, of course.

[rosieteddy]

I would be calling a meeting with this family.Not acceptable to ask those kinds of questions. I personally would say something like "if you are not happy with the care ,is this your notice?".I would call them out for asking if he wants to come back.It is hard to not take it personal.If the family is not happy ,makes your time feel wasted.

[Ariana]

I would most likely address these types of comments outright as they are said. I have often told parents that we did painting or crafts but their child was not interested in sitting to do them. I am not going to force a child to do a craft when they should be playing. Of course my program is all about play and the parents know this from day one. If they are expecting constant crafts they can go elsewhere.

Most parents do not have a clue about what is important for child development!

[Cat Herder]

Originally Posted by Ariana

I would most likely address these types of comments outright as they are said. I have often told parents that we did painting or crafts but their child was not interested in sitting to do them. I am not going to force a child to do a craft when they should be playing. Of course my program is all about play and the parents know this from day one. If they are expecting constant crafts they can go elsewhere.

Most parents do not have a clue about what is important for child development!

In all fairness, neither does QRIS. As long as we are required to have 75% of our wall decor as children's art with mixed media and multiple samples per child at all times, we must continue to do art and crafts regularly.

[AmyKidsCo]

Originally Posted by Cat Herder

You will have to change your mindset for this type of thing to stop feeling personal to you.

Yup. Once I realized that parents will always, always, ALWAYS do what's best for them it made it much easier to NOT bend my rules or go the extra mile.

I also ask myself "What would Kinderkare do?" If a group center wouldn't bend a rule, stay open late, take a late payment, answer the phone on weekends, etc, I don't either.

[Cat Herder]

Originally Posted by AmyKidsCo

I also ask myself "What would Kinderkare do?" If a group center wouldn't bend a rule, stay open late, take a late payment, answer the phone on weekends, etc, I don't either.

I love this. Perfectly stated.

Of course by my age it's more like "What would the DMV do?"