Future Spots Available

Hello All,

Am I the only one getting annoy'd with people wanting to hold spots 5 to 9 months in advance?

We have been getting a sleuth of "new" moms wanting to secure their daycare spots for when they go back to work when their children are only 3 months old.

Do these people really think we are going to hold a spot open for them for months without them paying for it? We need to make our money too...

Will you have an available spot open for him in January? I always want to say, lady, you do realize this is still June right?

Does anyone else have this issue?

I don't really let it bother me. I think parents just don't understand how the system works. Also, they are told to get on waitlists right away when it comes to centre care so they start to stress out and be proactive and get their names on a million lists. I have a standard email response I copy and paste basically offering to put them on my waitlist and call them 2 mos before care is needed.

I usually tell parents that I can add them to my waiting list and will contact them when a spot opens. If I have a spot open then I email them saying the spot is open on ___ day and if they are willing to pay ahead of time to let me know and we can set up a meeting, if they aren't willing to pay then they will be put back on the waiting list. If I know now that I have a spot available for January then I require a deposit and nothing more. I agree, I just don't think they really understand how it all works and that most times we don't get a lot of notice when a family is leaving.

It doesn't annoy me. I actually prefer these parents over the ones who phone me and say "I'm going back to work next week and have no care. Can you take my child?"....Ummm, no. Why the heck wouldn't you plan ahead of time! (yes, some situations are different and plans fall through but there are a lot of parents who don't start looking for care until 2-4 weeks of mat leave ending)

I actually suggest to many parents to get on waiting lists as soon as possible. I keep a waiting list and when a spot opens up, I email those who needed care around the time my spot is opening. I wouldn't hold a spot unpaid for them but I will take down their name and contact info.

For example, I have a child starting in July full time because I have one leaving on mat leave. She has committed to this spot for a couple months now and got the spot because she preplanned and looked for childcare ahead of time and paid her deposit. She was going to take the spot a couple months ahead of time but it just worked out perfectly that I had a child leaving when she needed care.

I am a planner and like to have my bases covered so I appreciate parents like that too. If they were wanting me to hold an empty spot for them for months than I would just politely tell them the reason why I can't. I however haven't had these requests but have had parents ask "will you have a spot open in xxx amount of months"...most of the time I say I can't guarantee it but there have been the odd times that I know I will have a spot opening up that far in advance. You won't know until you ask right?