"How many kids do you have? What are their ages?"

[adaycarelady]

Some parents are so picky lately when I tell them the number of kids I have, either my group of 4 is either too small or too big. Who really cares about the number of kids I have, shouldn't it be my decision how many kids I want to care for? As long as I am not going over my numbers then it shouldn't really be big deal. People need to realize this is my income. Ya like I'm going to terminate a child so my group is smaller and loose income just to accommodate another family! I'd also have no problem having a larger group if the government would allow me to.

[torontokids]

I think parents are just doing their due diligence. They want to make sure you're not over ratio and they want their child to have enough peers to play with. I know when I was looking for care for my first daughter that group size was an issue for me. I was turned off by providers with only 1 or 2 older children as I wanted my child to socialize with similar aged peers. I ended up choosing a daycare centre partly because of this.

Remember that these parents may have a difficult time managing their own 1 or 2 kids and some find it difficult to understand how we can manage 5 kids with all varying temperaments and developmental stages.

I don't think its personal.

[Lee-Bee]

I would be more concerned about parents not asking these questions than those that are asking.

I would be asking the same questions. First off to ensure you are following the ratios and age limits but of course parents want to know how many kids you have. If I want my kid to be in a small group setting them my child being your only enrolled child means you are not the daycare for me. If my child is 4 and you only have babies in care then I would be worried about my child's social development.

The answer to "where are the other children" is a simple they haven't arrived for the day yet. Yes it is a common sense answer...but they are asking a very basic question so no need for more than that!

[Busy ECE mommy]

Do you pre-screen on the phone first? I've done this for the last 2 years, and ask them tons of questions, and allow them to ask me too. I find I weed out alot of people that way, and don't have to waste my interview time. They're probably legitimately concerned about Bill10 ratios.

[crayolamom]

I don't think this is all Bill 10. Some people are too high maintenance and these are the type people I turn down and cut the interviews short. They want the daycare with their childs age group and some go as far as wanting the same gender. If that it a major concern then home daycare is not for you a centre is but chances are they don't want to pay centre prices.

This happened to me yesterday and dad was like "you have no kids here where are they all"? UMMM well your son is the third one and the others are on their way if you must know! I have two families that pay for full time but come part time sometimes and full-time other times. In the last week one of my families didn't come because son wasn't feeling well but paid so its hard for us to ALWAYS keep 5 kids there.

[5 Little Monkeys]

I'm not sure I really understand the issue with this. Lots of parents have asked me these questions (I think I have even offered up this info if they didn't ask) and I have never thought it was negative or high maintenance. To me it just makes sense to ask these questions as I would think it's important to a parent to know who their child's dc friends were and to make sure they were in a group setting that fit them.

[playfelt]

That is a normal question for me at interviews. They want to know how many children their child will be with - some love the idea of lots of pretend siblings and others think their child won't get enough attention if there are too many. They also want to know the age mix - again they want to be sure that their child won't be the odd man out and programming will be geared to a level they are not at while others like the idea of their child being the only baby in care and assume the provider will be able to devote special attention to the baby.