15hr day?!?

[DCMG]

I have recently had a new DCB start with me and at first the Mom told me she needed care once a week from 6am-6pm for the first 7 weeks...not the whole truth. This past week she mentioned that she would now need to drop off at 5:30 and wouldn't be here until 8/8:30. To which I said NO, that I only agreed to the 6am (this is 1/2hr earlier than my regular start time but I said yes to help her out...single Mom) and I would only do the 6pm until the beginning of March to give her time to make other arrangement for 5pm or earlier pick-up. She pick-up on Friday and said she has exhausted all her options for pick-up and not sure what she should do now, she loves having her LO here but may need to look for other care to which I answered "we all need to do what is right for our family".
Looking for opinions...should I bite the bullet and agree to the 7 weeks of hell on Tuesday and what should I even charge for that long of a day?

[mickyc]

UMMMM.....NO! If you make exceptions for her you have to make exceptions for everyone and next thing you know you will be working 15 hour days for everyone. What kind of job does she have that she actually works 15 hours a day too?

I would say unfortunately it doesn't work for you and if that means she needs to go elsewhere then so be it.

I never understood why people say they are flexible with their start and end times. I figure out what hours best work for me, what hours would actually suite a lot of families so I can fill spots and stick to them. I work from 7:30-5 Mon - Fri NOT NEGOTIABLE!!

[Samantha33]

Questions. Do you want to do this at all for the seven weeks? How much is this interfering with your family or personal life? Do you want the extra income she brings or would you be willing to wait? What kind of a client will she be after the seven weeks? I always try and answer these before making my decisions. The last will be an important decision. I would never keep these hrs. but if I did I would ask myself these questions then weigh the pros and cons. This is your business. You don't want to be pushed around and taken advantage of. Not now or in the future.

[2cuteboys]

For me, 15 hours is far, far too long for me to be an adequate caregiver. Heck, my kids are barely up for 15 hours (and they are my own and I love them). I couldn't handle it with another one.

In addition, how old is this child? Being out of the house from 5am to almost 9pm is too long for a child IMO. I think a nanny in the child's own home would be a better choice for this mom.

[DCMG]

I honestly don't want to do it at all...and I don't need to keep this child as I already have a replacement waiting. She is in school and she is not sure what her next round will look like t come the summer she will have a full time job so the hours will be 6:30-3:30. A little background about me is I have 3 of my own kids (8,4 & 5mths), the older 2 are quite busy with hockey and my husband is a contractor. The DCB is only 11mths old and I already addressed my concern about the hours and his age with the Mom but she didn't even acknowledge.
I guess my big question is if I do say yes to this what should I even charge her?

[bright sparks]

I honestly don't want to do it at all...and I don't need to keep this child as I already have a replacement waiting. She is in school and she is not sure what her next round will look like t come the summer she will have a full time job so the hours will be 6:30-3:30. A little background about me is I have 3 of my own kids (8,4 & 5mths), the older 2 are quite busy with hockey and my husband is a contractor. The DCB is only 11mths old and I already addressed my concern about the hours and his age with the Mom but she didn't even acknowledge.
I guess my big question is if I do say yes to this what should I even charge her?

Your first sentence answers your questioning and you shouldn't invest any further in this as you have already made your choice and should just acknowledge it and move forward.


I honestly don't want to do it at all...and I don't need to keep this child as I already have a replacement waiting.

So you obviously don't NEED to have this child for 15hrs for financial need as you have someone in the wings. I appreciate that she is in school so I understand the early start and late finish if she has to commute and has an 8am class or an evening class and wont be able to pick up until 9pm or thereabouts.

I'm going to be really straight and blunt with you now and this isn't meant to be rude or cruel, but simply not beating around the bush and to the point..... How on earth are you going to be able to care for your own young children, including your baby, sufficiently when you have another child hanging around, and your husband likely won't be around all the time to lend a hand if he is busy with his own job? Your older two have hockey so there's lots of running around with them which is hard enough with a baby on top of that AND an additional little one in tow. I don't think it is even worth giving the matter of how much to charge for the 15 hour day a moments thought. The mother needs these hours regardless of whether you, I or anyone else thinks it is to long of a day for the child or not. It's really irrelevant what we think or if the mother acknowledges it or not. It sounds like this mother is just doing the best she can while trying to get a decent education so she can work to provide for her child. This may be the lesser of two evils when it comes to handling things as a single mother in her situation. Yes she should for sure get a Nanny, or at the very least have a babysitter collect her son earlier and take him home for his dinner and bedtime routine, but as others have said, a 10 hour day which seems to be the average length of day for most of us is long enough, let alone 15 hours with 3 of your own. Walk away from this one, you don't even need this child so tell the mother asap that it is a definite no so she can get on with finding alternative childcare that meets her needs. She likely couldn't even afford the long day as it would be such a premium service.

[Busy ECE mommy]

How sad for that little one. My under 2 yrs crowd can attend for a max. of 9hrs in my care. That's the same policy we used for infants and toddlers when I worked in a centre. When does the child ever get time to bond with Mom? And how do you find the energy for yourself and your family after working a 15 hr day? There are some days, that I'm exhausted after 9.5hrs, so I can't imagine more. Is there a daycare available at her post secondary institution, so at least she could see him between classes? Suggest to this Mom that she needs a nanny, who can cater to her family's needs, and this child can have a more normal routine. He should be in bed before he's even picked up from your house at 8:30pm. Move forward with your waiting list and let this family go.

[bright sparks]

@busyECEmommy.....it s one day a week which is still rough but it isn't everyday. There are millions of children who don't see one of their parents on days that they leave before they are up and return once they are asleep. Fortunately some have the other parent caring for them but many people do not have that as they are single parents. It's a long day but it's once a week and only for 7 weeks. Better that it's now while he is very young than in a few years. As long as whoever looks after him takes good care of him, he will be fine. I just see this as a much bigger issue for whoever is the caregiver for 15 hrs straight on those days. Poor caregiver not poor kid.