I enrolled this family almost 3 yrs ago - At the time of interview I told them I open at 7 - they said that wouldnt work they needed 6:45 - so I didnt turn away business for 15 minutes. All my other families come at 7:30. So I get up EARLY only for this family. Well she is continually late...every single day she comes 5, 10, 15 sometimes 20 minutes late..
I have said something to her 4 times now - when I say something she comes on time for a week or two but then goes back to the same thing.
She is always blaming the dog on taking to long to go to the bathroom, or cant find my keys, or shoes or whatever..ALWAYS has an excuse.

Well, Im about fed up. and Im almost ready to tell her that I am changing my hours back to 7. I have given her plenty of "warnings" .

Do you think this is acceptable to just now tell her my hours are changing or do you think I said I open at 6:45 who cares if she is 5, 10, 15+ minutes late..those are my hours anyone can come at anytime..

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Personally, I never care when their late showing up, Better than being early, And it usually gives me an extra 5-10-15 minutes to myself, I enrolled a little boy, for 6:45am(but my hours start at 6:30am, hes my earliest though), And I dont think hes ever been here before 7:05, But like I said a little extra relaxing time, Since I start breakfast at 7:15. It can be so hard gettting out of the house with children, I was always 10 minutes late with me Son at daycare when I had him in one, He was scheduled at 6:30, But I could never make it, something always held me up, and actually alot of times it was me misplacing my keys, I'm horrible at that I really wouldnt worry about it, but thats just me.

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Would you mind if this family decided to leave? if you don't, I would definitely say something. I had a family just like this at one time, they did not leave when I changed my hours back to 7 a.m., they just changed their hours at work. Hopefully it will work out the same for you!

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No,I wouldnt mind if they left but I'm pretty sure they wouldn't.

I try and not let it bother me but it does..I think because my #1 biggest pet peeve is people that are late .. I think its rude and very selfish. ( AND I LOVE my sleep... )

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Personally I wouldn't unlock the door until 7:00am, since those are your actual hours. Send out an email or notice reminding parents of your open/closing times.

That's just what I did when I had a mom that thought it was ok to just arrive 5-10 minutes early. I didn't really bug me until she 'requested' that my sprinkler system turned off before her arrival (it turns off at my opening time of 6:45am). Now I don't even turn on the lights or go to the daycare area until I am open. There have been morning that she is standing outside the door when I unlock it, but whatever. And my sprinkler still turns off at 6:45am.

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i agree with jewels - i say get up, get ready, and lie down on the couch until they show up.

that's what i used to do.

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You could ask Mom if she no longer needs the special accommodation you were offering her by opening early. Even though she's given you excuses, you could say..."I've noticed you may not need for me to open at 6:45 for you any longer" and take the convo from there. Who knows....she may say OK without any further discussion.

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I get up, get dressed, wash my face, brush my teeth, etc....then go back to bed. Sometimes for 5min, sometimes for 40 minutes. Happens ALL THE TIME. I decided a long time ago that I get paid from their start time so they are paying me to sleep.

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That is a way I try to think about it - she is paying me to sit there...so it helps me get over it.

I've laid in the couch before many times and when she comes in I just continue to lay there and then I get up all tired acting - today she came at 7:05 - used the "couldnt find her keys" excuse for the millionth time. Think I will buy her a key finder for Christmas.

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I think this is a very good way to bring up the subject. You may be suprized with the outcome!!

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I would flat out tell them in your next newsletter that effective such and such date you are returning back to your normal opening hours of 7:00. Are you paying you to open early?

I would have to lock the door at my former center because of the parents that would bang on the door at 6:25 or earlier if my car was out there. Even if the lights were off and the door locked, they would still bang on the door.

Once I arrived at 620 and there was a family waiting for me. I got out my car and they started getting out of theirs. Umm I said..we aren't open yet. Mom (she knew!) said what?!? I said we don't open until 630. What?!? said mom..I thought ya'll (I am in TX ) opened at 6:15! No sorry I made her wait of course

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what Aya477 said..just tell them "hey, I'm thinking you don't need the special accomodation anymore." I love my sleep too. Every minute counts in this job! I would rather stay in bed another 10 minutes instead of worrying if they are going to be at the door. Same thing here, could they come at 7 but never show up until 7:15. So I stopped coming out until 7:05 or so instead of 6:45. Just me.

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Considering at one time I was working 15-16 hour days, I would be upset. I never wanted to work those hours, but to get and keep enough clients to pay our bills, I had to work long hours because that's what some of these moms had and if I wasn't willing, they'd go elsewhere. So, I had some kids start at 7am (day only kids). Then there were others who were here from 10 or 11am until 10 or 11pm. So even if I got a 5 min shower and went straight to bed after they left, I was looking at only getting 6 hours of sleep (from the time I actually fell asleep until I had to leap out of bed to prep for the day). So if my 7am didn't come until 7:15 or 7:30, that would mean I could sleep in an extra 15 -30 minutes (which was VERY precious time). And I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my sleep. Trust me, I moan and groan when I have to get up in the middle of the night to go potty every hour (pregnancy).

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I mind if they are early or late!! Their hrs. are posted on their contract. I have to be at places with my children's activities, etc... if they are late, I am late, missing things, etc. I have dealt with this several times, and I hate it!!

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I totally agree with you- do not open your doors til their contracted times! Make up a monthly newsletter to place this in. I once had a family show up 15-20 min. with the loudest truck I have ever heard, revving it up in my driveway, to keep it running!!! It was reight next to my 2 yr. old's room. It sucked!! I finally had to tell her, she needed to park on the street, a little bit down the subdivision, away from her windows. UGH!!!!!! I opened 15 min. early for her as well!!! IT SUCKED!!!

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See now I understand being really frustrated with someone arriving early, Or late in picking up their child.......But if its within your contracted hours, and their supposed to be here at 7am, And don't show up til 7:30 am..........Thats 30 extra minutes without the child........I love it when their late in bringing their kids!! I understand you opened early for them, So I say like everyone else, Tell them your going to have to stop it, If they are going to continue to get here later, Me personally I love waking up an hour before anyone gets here, I love at least 30 minutes to wake up with no children around, and mine still peacefully sleeping in their beds, I can have a cup of coffee, and watch some news, And really wake up, before having children crying all around me....so the later the are in dropping off........the more Quiet time I get.

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I TOTALLY agree with you on people being rude and selfish when they are late. And I LOVE my sleep also!! I stay in bed until the last possible second.

If they have been late for a couple YEARS, I would just start planning on them at 7:00. Leave your lights off and door locked until 7. Sit and watch tv - either in the dark, or in a room that isn't in the front of the house. IF, IF, IF they come before 7, just take a LOT of time to get to the door, then say "oh, I didn't expect you so early." If they go, say, a month without coming before 7, then just assume this is their new time. Then if they ever do come prior to that, you can honestly say you DIDN'T EXPECT them that early. I've answered the door in my bathrobe for parents who have come prior to their expected time. Yes, I was up, but it's just a way to show them that you really aren't ready for them till 7 (or whatever time). They'll get the hint. I have a mother who normally comes between 7:30 and 7:45. Sometimes she's my first, sometimes I have kids about 7:15. She never knows if she's going to be first or not. So she used to show up randomly, unexpectedly, at 7:10 - 7:20. Well, if it was a day I started at 7:15 anyway - fine. But at times, it was a day when she was going to be my first at 7:30 or later! Needless to say, most of the time I was just stepping out of the shower, or not quite dressed, or whatever. After a few times of answering the door in a bathrobe with wet hair, she got the hint and would let me know the night before if she was to be early the next day. I know your situation is kind of the opposite of this, but I'm just showing that if you make them uncomfortable, they get the hint!!!

I understand that it ticks you off - it would me too. If I'm used to starting at 7:30, getting up 45 min earlier would be misery to me. Then to get up just to have them be 20 min late would really irritate me. I'm with ya on this one!!

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Ahhh good !! I have been laying on the couch and stumble getting up when she has came, I should totally do the wet hair bathrobe thing !! That would be hilarious !

I'm not one that needs to sit and have an hour before kids come, I dont sit and have my coffee and watch the news. Even working outside of the home..I wake up go straight to the shower, get ready and go straight to work. I NEED MY SLEEP. I have two small kids of my own so I am going 16 hours a day...that extra HALF HOUR I could sleep is Major to me !!! She was late Monday, and has been either on time or 5 minutes late the rest of the week..I am just keeping a log of when she arrives so I can have it in writing..because she is one that likes to debate me...so I will have to show her.

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This is not exactly the same, this family did not make me get up early, but this is my story, and how I handled it. I had a family (one 20month old) who started out 3 days a week, then after a few months, they stopped coming because they couldn't afford daycare (parents didn't work). Then mom asked if he could come 1-2 days a week. She kept changing the hours on me, usually at the last minute. I told her she needed to pick a start/end time and stick to it. That worked for a few weeks, and then one day she didn't show up, didn't call. Two hours after she was supposed to be here, she texted me to tell me they were just waking up, but they were heading out then. Then after another hour, I texted her and she replied that N was still sleeping (at noon!!) and wanted to know if I wanted her to bring him after lunch. I told her no, he wasn't going to come right at nap time if he slept all morning, he wouldn't nap at all. I had to tell her that I was going to start charging a "late fee" for bringing him late, just like I would if she picked him up late. I charged the same fee for late drop-off as I did for late pick up. She did move him to another daycare, which was fine, but I didn't think it was fair to the others to sit inside the house and not go anywhere because N "might" show up!

Currently, my first family who is contracted for a 7:45 drop off, doesn't usually show until 7:55. Only 10 minutes late, and I never know if they will be on time or late so I still have to get up on time, but I do enjoy that extra 10 minutes only because I usually don't get everything done the night before, so I do it then.

However, if you've made special allowances for this family, and have been getting up early to open before your hours say you are open, and they are still coming late, I would definitely put a stop to that. Personally, I would do what most on this board have suggested - send out a newsletter saying that you are reverting back to your original hours, and will be opening at 7. Make sure your doors are locked until exactly 7. If this family complains, tell them that you would be willing to keep their 6:45am drop-off, but from now on it will cost X amount of dollars extra. And charge them that extra whether they show up at 6:45 or 7. Make sure it's an amount that will make it worth your while to get up 15 minutes earlier, and that way if they don't show, it won't be such a hardship to be up early because you'll be making so much more money just sitting there.

I feel your pain - I LOVE my sleep too, and I'm so not a morning person!! That has to be the only negative in this business for me anyway! Before I did daycare, I was just a SAHM, and usually slept until 10 or 11am (in my defense, my kids are teens and can fend for themselves!)!!

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I would not turn on the lights till 7am or even the door, if she says anything just tell her that because she was coming late all the time that you figured that she didn't need you at an earlier hour. She will get the hint. And I love my sleep too, I wait till the last second to get up.

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I find this disrespectful of her. She's the same as saying she doesn't appreciate what you're doing for her. You made special accomodations for her because she needed care before your actual opening hours. Now she's coming later than she said she needed. I would definitely say something to her about the late arrival and remind her that you are opening early, for HER. Tell her that you will be going back to the 7am opening time starting on x date. When she's late dropping her kids off, that means she's late getting to work. If she can be late at work this often, then why can't she just PLAN on arriving at your house at 7 am, instead of 6:45? Obviously it doesn't matter too much at her job if she's late or she wouldn't allow herself to be late.
If you find yourself arriving places late often, don't you just allow for more time than you think you need to get ready? It is possible to be on time, even when the unexpected happens (like lost keys).

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