Not sure what to do about terminating

[gramma]

I re-started my daycare back in September after having school aged kids for a few years. i decided that it was more consistent and better income to have babies/toddlers. i filled all my spaces before i re opened with 1 of the spots being held for a start date in november. this dcb was supposed to be a long day 2 days a week and a normal day 3 days a week but just prior to the start date it was asked if i would do 5 days with the extended hours, plus it would only be 5 days one week and 4 the other. uggh. i had been holding the spot for months and now was caught between a rock and a hard place because there was no time to fill the spot if i said no. so here we are a few months in and the early morning start and i do mean early and not finishing until 5:45 is killing me. not to mention that my dd wakes early everyday (she's a teenage and needs her sleep) and my hubby has had to adjust his schedule because i'm so tired in the morning. its just not working but i feel horribly guilty because they were one of the first to sign on with me. The other issue is that although nothing has happened i, know that there will be issues with the mom. she is very nice for the most part but every now and then something comes out of her that is very condescening. she only communicates via email or text which annoys me and her emails never address me, it just gets right to the point of her message. I have no doubt that to her i am just the babysitter. the little one who is very sweet is also very demanding in that he wants to be held when she wants to be held and you all know that we cant do that. he has a definate temper in him and is capable of crying for al ong time if i dont pick up. I had some time off from this one over the holidays and found that being able to wake at a reasonable time made a huge difference. I also didnt feel like i needed to be in bed a 9 in order to get a good nights sleep. I dont know how to handle the termination. Do i give them the opportunity to change their hours first? to be honest when the change in hours happened i honestly thought that mom would realize how much time she was away from baby and make the change herself but she seems to want to be a work more than at home. any advice would be appreciated.

[apples and bananas]

I had a similar issue a while back. I ended up terminating them. I simply stated in my termination letter that I would be changing my hours and would not be able to accomodate them any further.

This is what I wrote:

Dear "daycare mom"

When I first started doing home daycare, it was with the stipulation that I would still be able to be there for my kids. We have been finding that my hours are starting to interfere with homework, dinner and general care of my own children. Therefore, I can no longer provide care past 5:30 to your family. Effective May 1st, my work hours will be 7 am to 5:30 pm.

Due to this, and financial reasons, I am unable to continue to care for "suzy".

She is a wonderful girl and I will miss having her around. I wish you all the best in finding a caregiver that meets all of your needs. Please feel free to give my name and phone number to another caregiver if they require a reference.

"Suzy's" last day of care will be January 30th. "

I hope this helps.

It's a really tough desicion to make.... You are putting your family first and that's a really important thing to do. I would start advertising to replace immediatly in case she bolts with no notice. I gave 30 days notice to this one and she stayed ( no choice, couldn't find another caregiver to do the hours)

[gramma]

i'm pretty sure that they will have a hard time finding someone else to do the early morning hours so im not afriad she'll bolt but having said that i have a deposit and they pay on mondays. i'm prepared to take the loss to save my sanity. i just know that mom will not take it well and will say something that will make me ask them to leave right away. i feel bad because its something that i took on but on the other hand it wasnt supposed to be 5 days a week either.

[Crayola kiddies]

I would let her have the opportunity to change her hours ( if you want to keep her). I would just say that the current hours are interfering with your families hours and that in order to have some sort of co-existence between work and home you will need to shorten your operating hours. Effective xxxxx(whatever the time frame is required for a change in your handbook) the new hours will be xxxx to xxxx. Let them know that you would like to continue caring for xxxx but you will understand if they have to make alternate arrangements.

[gramma]

thanks crayolo kiddies. i'm doubtful that they will be open to changing hours, even when mom has a day off she asks if she can bring him. sadly i think work may be more important but you are probably right i should make the offer first.

[Crayola kiddies]

Well letting them have the option puts the ball in their court but from what you have described it sounds like you should actively start advertising. Good luck!!

[gramma]

i actually may not have to advertise as one of my clients has a baby who is curently being looked after by a family memeber because she was a preemie and they didnt want her in agroup setting because mom had to go back to work when she was only 4 months old. they have indicated that they will take the spot so i just have to sort out details.

[Momof4]

You said long days, but you didnt' say how long. Are you letting them take advantage of you? I have a limit of 9 hours with $5/half hour for extra time and another $5/half hour extra before 7:30 and after 5pm. The extra fees are meant to deter long days for the sake of the child and for me. It's funny how families can find a grandpa or grandma who can make the trip to help out when push comes to shove. But if we let people take advantage of us they will do it every time.

[gramma]

no worries there momof4, I am charging accordingly for sure. they start at 6:30am and have until 5:45 to pick up. as i said, it wasnt supposed to be 5 days a week but at the last minute when she wanted to change it, i didnt want to start interviewing again, i wanted the income to start as I had planned.