Halloween hours!

I am curious if you close earlier on Halloween. I ask my parents to pick up no later than 5.. Only one had a problem with that but she always has a problem with something.
I gave all the parents over a month's notice. I want the kids gone by 5 so we can go to my brother's house for dinner, something I have been doing since his own children were toddlers ( kids are now 21,and 19). We will trick or treat on his street and then come home in time for a 8pm bedtime.

Luckily my brother only lives 3 blocks away.I am looking forward to taking my 14 month old out to a few houses even if I do have to eat her candy lol ( we bought her some new little people to trade in the candy for)

I am fortunate to not have any kids past 5pm on Halloween and the one that comes at 5 has 3 children, 2 school age, so I'm sure she'll be here early.

However, if I did have kids late I would close at 5 as well, with 30 days notice. There's nothing wrong with that. The entire reason I do this is to spend time with my kids, if I can't do that then what's the point.

Last year I had 2 little ones booked in until 9pm on Halloween night. I just assumed she'd switch shifts as I thought she'd like to take the kids out... but nope... I closed early on her with little notice. I"m sorry, but I think it was just disrespectful to think that I would miss out on halloween with my kids to hang out with hers. LOL.... they aren't with me anymore. :)

My "little one" is too big for trick or treating, but yes, in the past I have closed early and the parents are ok with it as they had to get their babes ready too.

I already close at 4:30 so no worries here.
I think 30 days notice is fine and if she's late dole out a heafty late fee.

Seems reasonable to me ! I mean, presumably she likes you as a caregiver (in part) because you enjoy these kind of "kid friendly" activities.

sounds just like me, I asked all parents to pick up as early as possible (meaning close to 5) thats about 30 minutes early...I too ,have one Mom who seemed to have a problem with it, and she too, seems to have a problem with alot of things...go figure she has a baby and has no need to get ready for trick or treat. Her night will be just like any other. No big deal here, just a little trickier to manage a baby, serve dinner, and get my kids dressed for in town trick or treating. :) not my first rodeo here, chaos of Halloween and difficult parents...had many of each. BRING IT! :) HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

I close at 5:30 anyway, so it's the same on Halloween. We don't go out until it gets dark anyway.

Thanks for the feedback!! I assumed most parents would want to be home early for their own children.
My difficult mom is actually a nice person but she wants to manage my day right down to the last second and she is the mom that calls or texts many times throughout the day.

Last week I had a horrible headache on Friday and no pill would touch it so I made grilled cheese for the kids for lunch because its easy and they all eat it no complaints. She did not like that as the kids had grilled cheese on Tuesda, so I got a long winded email about variety in her child's diet whatever lol

i sent home a letter today stating that: Since I am planning on taking my children out Trick or Treating before it gets to late, my family and I will be eating dinner around 5:30pm. I ask that you either send a snack for your child to eat during this time or pick your child up before 5:30pm. Please let me know at morning drop off which you have chosen to do. Thank you for you cooperation.

I have one girl who get picked up at 6pm. After taking to the parents at pick up, they are all going to try to pick up early. :)

Im fairly lucky I only have 3dck on wednesday, 2 of which are siblings. All are being picked up before 5 which is great for me. I didnt even have to ask, they all let me know they had re arranged schedules in order to do so. If they hadnt, I would have requested early pick up. Its once a year, not that hard for people to deal with.

I don't have any children who presently stay any later than 5 anyways so I didn't request they be picked up early, but they're all being picked up by 4:30 anyways! Feels nice!

I have two kids here until 6pm tonight :( mom always works late on Wednesdays.....she "might" surprise them and come early but we'll see. Dad works midnight shifts so he's not home after 4pm and 15yr old sister wants (with reason) to be with her friends. So......we'll see.