I have been thinking of doing a parents night out, after hours of course. I have never done this before and I'm not sure of the licensing rules in California. Do I need to stay within ratio even though technically it would be after hours?

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I did this at Christmas time. Parents loved it. I plan to do this again in July (Christmas in July) I am a family daycare. My family participated. The kids had fun and the parents loved not having to pay a babysitter for a night out. Christmas was my gift to my parents. July is parents appreciation. I had them bring the child's pj's and we had no schedule to follow like normal daycare. I took out things we normally don't play with often. We watched movies if they wanted. Read books. Ate pizza, and foods we normally don't have during daycare. July I will prob do barbeque. It was fun watching both parents drop off and pick up instead of one or the other. This is a perk that I enjoy giving to my families-

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In TX you are required to let licensing know about PNO. Unless they changed that rule but that's what I remember

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I do this monthly and yes, you still have to follow all of the CA lic requirements even though money is NOT being exchanged and it is not during your typical hours.

When I do it, I open it up to all of my families and ALL of their children, even if they are not a member of my daycare. The first 5 children to sign up will close the list. I have one child of my own that accounts for my capacity.

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We host PNO's about once a quarter. Have a pizza and movie night with a fun craft or something similar. It's a nice perk to allow the parents to go out and leave baby with someone they know and trust... Most of my families don't have alot of extra family in town.

In my state, we are still required to follow licensing requirements for PNO's, too. I let my licencor know when I'm going to host one just so nothing comes up, and everything can go smoothly.

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Ratio's are set up for a reason.

If you want to have more kids after hours I don't think it would be a problem. Your having more of a party then daycare. I would just make sure you had the extra help. People do invite people over to their homes. I guess if your charging the parents then you would, but if your not and opening up your home you wouldn't. California has crazy rules- ask your licensee.

I invite the siblings. My family all helps for the night. We carry on like daycare for the most part, but we are more relaxed.

have fun

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I was told that if they are your Daycare kids that you are hosting a PNO for then you must follow all LiC rules.

If you have a party and you had people over, that is different because parents would also attend providing more supervision

If I were you I would call licensing and ask for it in writing. I can't stand how grey the LIC rules are in CA. If you ask one licensor they will give you one answer if you ask another they will give you a whole different answer.

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Thank you ladies for responding. I will call my licensor just to be sure. I would really like to thank my parents for being so great and I'm sure the kids would love not having a "daycare schedule" to follow and just have a night of fun!!

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I love doing the PNO.... we have a great time. i order pizza and all of the parents bring sides...fruits, veggies or something like this.

We play games, eat a dessert and then watch a movie...lights out at 9:30 pm.. Pick up is at 10 or 10:30pm......

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