Not sure first 'interview' went well..

[CherryBlossom]

Now I'm fighting my anxiety because I feel as though I did something wrong, but today was my first ever visit/interview and it seemed very short! It only lasted about 10 minutes. It was mentioned that I have a smaller space, but I countered by pointing out that I will provide 3 outdoor play times each day (so plenty of opportunities to run around and burn some energy).
Thing is, I'm the shy, quieter type and always worry that it comes off very negitively...:unsure : I always try to be less shy, and aim for friendly and welcoming. I feel as though I handled all the questions and queries quite well.
How long do visits/interviews usually last for you guys, on average?
I have no children in my care yet as I'm not yet open, and this parent said everything would need to be discussed with the child's other parent (parents are separated) which is completely understandable and yet I'm still stressing and not quite sure why! :no:

[torontokids]

I think landing that first family is the most stressful and we put more pressure on ourselves than needed. I would just look at it as your "practice run" and now you have learned what to do/not do for the next one. I would also think about doing a phone interview before having them come in, in person. You can weed out the "looky loos" and focus your energy on the ones that you have already reviewed your policies with and you are interested in having them join you as well (after screening for issues like drastically different parenting philosophies). Might take away some of the nerves for you and help you relax as you will have a little bit of a relationship already.

I would suggest you rethink about offering 3 outdoor times. Why not just extend the time you are out in the morning and afternoon (1.5 x2)? We spend a lot of time outside and the parents love this but we go out twice a day. Why have an extra transition and another battle of snowsuits?

[5 Little Monkeys]

The first interview is always nerve wracking! Tbh, I still get nervous with them lol. It's a two way interview and rejection doesn't feel good so you of course want to impress.

I was lucky in that I didn't really have a first interview when I opened. The family I nannied for came here when I opened so technically my first interview was my 2nd family and having another family signed on already probably helped!!

As for length of interviews, I always seem to get talkers!! They used to last on average 1-2 hours, I think the longest was 2.5. They are now 30 minutes because I started to say your meeting will be from 10-1030, so they know ahead of time when I expect them to wrap it up! Lol

I don't do phone interviews but do everything via email before meeting. I send them my parent pkg (contract, permission form, sick policy etc) and if they agree to all that, we meet. I ask their hours needed, age of child etc before the meeting too. The meeting is than basically just showing them my daycare and getting a vibe for each other. I also have a smaller play area but my whole basement is the daycare and the size has never been an issue. I also suggest extending your outside time to just 1-2 longer periods. Three times is ambitious and IMO too many transitions for the children...plus in the winter, you'll exhaust yourself dressing and undressing them haha

Hope you hear from them soon! Did you give them a deadline to contact you to let you know if they're interested or not? I very rarely give the impression that the spot is theirs because I like to think about the interview afterwards and decide if I want them or not. Only a few have I offered the space on the spot....and thank goodness irs worked out well lol

[Lee-Bee]

Everyone needs a few awkward first interviews to get better at it.

Mine were all pretty long, 1hr+. A large part of that was just sitting on the floor with the babies interacting while chatting with the parents.

I would reconsider your 3x a day outside as well. It is too much transition and really by the time you factor in snacks, lunch, nap there isn't much time to be going outside 3x. It means you would have very short chunks of time for activities which means less in-depth playtime for the older kids.

The less transitions the better when managing a group of young children. Depending on the age of your group and the helplessness of the children it can be quite the task to get them all dressed and outside. I wouldn't do that 3x a day, no matter how small my play space!!

[CherryBlossom]

Thanks torontokids, it did seem as if this parent hadn't really focused too much on the details of my care/practices etc and was more just there to pop in and view my space.
You make a great point about the snowsuit battles, I hadn't really thought of it like that! Think I'll have to review my daily routine now, haha.
Thanks for the reassurance, believe it or not you've helped settle my nerves almost completely.

[CherryBlossom]

Thanks 5 Little Monkeys & Lee-Bee, as mentioned I will revise my routine to fit 2 slightly longer outdoor play times instead of 3.

I never mentioned a deadline, but I did say that I have other interested parties (which I do, I'm just not sure exactly when they will be visiting) but at this rate they might not even bother visiting! They did say that they'd let me know either way, which I thought was nice as I'm sure most don't extend that courtesy.

Thanks, you're all greatly reassuring for this ol' bag of nerves lol!

[Van]

when the parents are separated it may take longer to get back to you as they have to decide first which is almost another meeting for them to go to to decide and then they let you know later- then again you may be the only daycare they visit and they say YES to you

[daycaremom9]

I just wanted you to know that parents are hard to read sometimes and even if they seem interested you may not hear from them again. After your interviews just plug along and it will happen for you. I've been in business for 9years and it still takes time to land a new client. It will happen when you least expect it. I had to wait for 8 months for my last client and ended up with two 12 months old starting on the same day. Alot of it has to do with location.

[Suzie_Homemaker]

Now I'm fighting my anxiety because I feel as though I did something wrong, but today was my first ever visit/interview and it seemed very short! It only lasted about 10 minutes. It was mentioned that I have a smaller space, but I countered by pointing out that I will provide 3 outdoor play times each day (so plenty of opportunities to run around and burn some energy).
Thing is, I'm the shy, quieter type and always worry that it comes off very negitively...:unsure : I always try to be less shy, and aim for friendly and welcoming. I feel as though I handled all the questions and queries quite well.
How long do visits/interviews usually last for you guys, on average?
I have no children in my care yet as I'm not yet open, and this parent said everything would need to be discussed with the child's other parent (parents are separated) which is completely understandable and yet I'm still stressing and not quite sure why! :no:

It so hard to judge. Some people naturally chatty and think it all gone well, and they not come. Other people more reserved and then when think they not interested, they want come.

I do phone interview first. That get rid of all people who want longer hour, odd arrangement and people who I not think will fit in on personal level. When people come to see daycare, they already had phone interview, seen paper work and just need see space and meet me. Sometimes that can be 30 mins, sometimes an hour. It just depending.

A agree that 3 outdoor times might be bit much. I have big focus on outside as my house small but we have lot land. In Winter we go out in morning for couple hours if not too cold, in Summer we return to yard around 3.30pm and stay outside for pickup.

Try relax once interview done. It out your control then. And just keep looked after even most successful interview until someone signs on contract and hands over their money. Until they do that, even if they say they want space, they not always mean in. Some parent say they want space to several carer to buy time when decide where they really going.

[CherryBlossom]

Thanks Van, I think they are probably looking at other daycares, as there quite a few around my area, and I'm certainly prepared for it to take a little longer to maybe hear back because they both need to discuss it amongst themselves etc. Guess I just have try not to worry!

Thanks daycaremom, I'm trying my best to keep plugging along, think I just put too much pressure on myself like always. All good things come to those who wait I suppose :)

Thanks Suzie, I'm going to try to go through more of a 'screening' process either on the phone or by email, and gather much more info that way before allowing anyone else to visit, and also to make sure they're fully aware of my policies and have actually read them.
I've already made changes to my daily routine to provide only two, slightly longer, outdoor times as suggested by everyone on here :) think I was trying to overcompensate for the smaller space somehow!

Thanks for all the reassurance and advice guys, it's much appreciated!

[kindertime]

I've already made changes to my daily routine to provide only two, slightly longer, outdoor times as suggested by everyone on here :) think I was trying to overcompensate for the smaller space somehow!

I would also like to add that - especially when you're starting - to be flexible with your schedule and routine activities until you know your group. A long time outside in winter might sound like a good idea, but maybe one or two of the kids are potty training and can't go for long periods without peeing - so being out for 1.5 or 2 hours is actually setting them up for an accident.

When I first opened, my schedule was set that we had snack at 9, went out at 10-11 then in, tidy playroom and lunch. But, at that time, the kids were all here before 8. Over the next couple of years, the drop off times moved back and so most of the kids were dropped of after 8, some even after 9. I was having a really hard time getting them to tidy after coming in. What I realised was that they would arrive, play for a minute, have snack and then go outside, then have to tidy as soon as they came in. They never had any time to play in the playroom. It just wasn't working. So, my solution was to have playtime until 11, tidy, lunch and then go out after lunch. It was January, so we wouldn't be out for a long time anyway, and we would come in and get ready for nap at 1. It worked perfectly, and no more tidy up battles.

[CherryBlossom]

Thanks kindertime, as it stands now the outdoor times are 45 mins for the first one and 1 hour for the second. Obviously if it's extreme weather that will be adjusted to suit.
I'm pretty flexible with my schedule and activities, and even my menus to be honest.