Monday morning venting!

[sweetness852010]

School buses are cancelled here due the weather here. NOOOO! What im i going to do activitiy wise are plan was to go to play group today but due the older ones here i cant do that. So i dont know what to do? Second of all my oldest dk came in this morning she said she has her own lunch today. Great now my picky eater wont eat because the oldest has her own lunch. And what gets me is the oldest dks mom probally thinks because she sent her with a lunch thinks that shes only going to pay before and after care. I dont think so! (moms lazy and doesnt get out of the car so i have to text or email her). I think im done with before and after school kids. What a lovely start to the week!

[playfelt]

I wouldn't say this is a great day for going out to playgroup anyways. Too slippery for trusting traffic at intersections etc. I would have been staying home anyways regardless of if extra kids were there. This close to Christmas put on a seasonal movie and make popcorn or something. It is very much a cuddle up day.

I only have one today and if the weather continues they plan to leave about noon so could be a really slow day for me. Worried about one of my parents though as she fell on her steps coming out of her house and actually passed out so now hubby is staying home to keep an eye on her. I am on call for taking the child if need be.

[Inspired by Reggio]

Oh no ~ that would not be how I wanted to start a new week either ... can you whip up some 'Christmas play doh' to keep them busy?

[Crayola kiddies]

For the one that has her lunch I would tell her she can save it for school tomorrow cause everyone eats the same thing for lunch .... Then send the lunch home !

[mimi]

Sorry to hear about your lousy start to the week. I agree with crayola, send her lunch home with her. How about popping in a Christmas movie for the older ones?

[sweetness852010]

Sorry to hear about your lousy start to the week. I agree with crayola, send her lunch home with her. How about popping in a Christmas movie for the older ones?

I will be letting them watch a christmas movie while the little ones nap(if they can sit and the little ones sleep) right so far so good they are playing with playdough. Hopefully it stays like this wednesday ill have all of them again due to the teachers strike here in ontario.

[Crayola kiddies]

I'm in the same boat as you sweeteness .... But my own two school age plus my school age dcg play well with the younger one and organize games to play ..... I find it mixes things up a bit for the ones that are here all day ..... So I kind of like the opportunity to spend the day with my kids too.

[sunnydays]

I am down to 2 dck's mainly due to illness, but my own son is home...we would not have gone out today even if buses were running...way too dangerous...even walking, if I were to slip and fall and hurt myself, who is going to be there to take care of the kids? I brought my ride-on cars in and cleaned them up yesterday in anticipation and right now the kids are happily riding around the playroom (I have a big playroom). Later we will do some crafts and playdough as well. I am actually happy to have a break from the school run and an excuse to just stay in and not have to dress all those kids up ;)

[sunnydays]

That's awful! I hope she is okay! This is why I don't go out in this weather,,,imagine if a daycare provider slips and falls and passes out with five kids...really bad scenario :(


I wouldn't say this is a great day for going out to playgroup anyways. Too slippery for trusting traffic at intersections etc. I would have been staying home anyways regardless of if extra kids were there. This close to Christmas put on a seasonal movie and make popcorn or something. It is very much a cuddle up day.

I only have one today and if the weather continues they plan to leave about noon so could be a really slow day for me. Worried about one of my parents though as she fell on her steps coming out of her house and actually passed out so now hubby is staying home to keep an eye on her. I am on call for taking the child if need be.

[bright sparks]

Well, I have my two school aged kids home tomorrow because our school board is striking and holding a walk out so school is cancelled. Fortunatly they are my two so will join in with the daycare kids and hang out in their bedrooms.

[kidlove]

Sweetness, if the lunch is going to cause trouble I would have her put it in the fridge and take it home later, have her eat what everyone else will eat. As far as the older kids being there all day? can they all go outside to play a time or two more than the regular, there must be snow to play in with the buses not running? when i am desperate I also (gasp!):eek: offer a movie for the kids, so many christmas ones to choose from or you can do any christmas craft or activity, bake, make a cheap ornament for the tree, make Christmas cards and mail them to family. you'll be okay, it's just the unexpected that will knock you off your feet sometimes. Take a deep breath and you'll make it, just take control though, if you dont want that kid to cause trouble with the packed lunch dont let her have it, make her take a rest at nap time, and charge the Mother for the Full day, no matter what! think of it the way I do...MORE INCOME! ;)

[crafty]

Mondays can be rough ! My OWN kids are acting up today man o man. The others are having ahard time sharing or are just plain whinny. Hope it doesn"t get too bad for you. I baked shortbread cookies this AM which we decorated just after snack ...It helped passe time and keep them occupied since we can't go out. I was planning on making them as christmas presents but today seems the day for it so parents will be getting their presents early :)

Now they are all down for an early nap and they are all OUT already :) Hope there are cookies left when they wake up hihihi

[Smitty]

Yes snow day here as well. Six thirty I get the first text message to see if the kids can come.(they normally are in school) except the mom asked if I could take them for 4.5 hours. I said sure but I am wondering if she thinks that is a half day. (My half day rate is for anything under four hours.) I guess I will find out when she pays me. My little one was up half the night last night so I am pretty exhausted today. We have a movie on now and we are sitting next to the fire. So nice. We have already done our craft for the day. I was just wondreing if anyone has a clause about half days. I feel that if the kids are here for lunch it really should be considered a full day rate. Any opinions? I had a mom drop off her three kids and pick them up after lunch and pay a half day rate and I felt like it was unfair. We eat lunch at 11:15 so how could I possibly have a half day that started in the morning when my opening time is 7:30. i guess I could just stretch lunch to 11:30 on those days.

[kidlove]

Smitty, my half day is 1-4 hours and full is anything above 4 hours, even 15 minutes. My half day charge is also 5$ less than full day charge. :)

[treeholm]

I don't have a half-day rate because it still takes up a full-day space. If a child comes for a partial day, they still have to pay for that day's spot. I also wouldn't just "find out when she pays me." Can you imagine your dentist not knowing how much he or she would earn for your appointment until they found out what you paid? You're the business owner, you tell her what she pays, not the other way around.

[Crayola kiddies]

Yes .... What treeholm said .... Tell her what she owes !!!!

[Smitty]

I will, I have absolutely no problem telling her she owes me for a full day but I'm not going to make an issue of it unless it is an issue. I was just wondering if she thought that it would be a half day rate. My client has my policy book where it is clear that a half day is four hours or less. Can you imagine if i responded to her text message "yes you can bring your kids but im charging you a full day"

[playfelt]

When you subtract what they would normally have paid for the before and after it isnt' usually that much more for them to be there the full day so it isn't as much of a shock to the parent as it might seem.

As for the lunch the parent likely had it made already and wasn't totally sure on what she was supposed to do since this is the first snow day of the year.

This is a good t ype of thing to review in the fall newsletter with the idea of ok poor weather is potentially on the horizon here are the policies....