Power Outages

So today due to the nasty storms weve been having, my power went out at 5am and didn't come back on until almost 1pm...I contacted all my dcp and they chose not to send their children...we had candles, a fireplace and gas stove so I was really sufficient but glad parents made that decision....However, I do not have an conditions in my contract about power outages...As it is beyond my control and not really my choice to close the daycare, how does everyone else handle it? paid day or not?

I re-sign all contracts in September and am planning to add something in for power outages.

I think if you were planning on being open then they pay, however I would have closed without pay as I think it is a safety hazard to remain open in a power outage, especially with candles.

And yes, it is beyond your control but the reality it is beyond the parent's control as well. I wouldn't send my daughter's to a dc without power and I wouldn't want to pay

Well I have it in my contract that in case of power outage closures fees are still due. However, since you do not currently have it in your contract ... I would tend to agree with the others and not charge until you have it in there.... for arguments sake.

I did not plan to open, nor did I plan to charge....was just wondering what others did

We have had outages before and I remained open - most families were in the same situation so child would have been too cold or too hot at either place and parents were still expected at work in most cases. Parents when asked were told to dress child in extra layers and/or supply extra stuff.

Expectations obviously have to be adjusted. We have a main floor play area we kuse for part of the day so we just used it all day, made sandwiches and snack type foods cheese and crackers, granola bars, fruit, etc. for meals. Was glad to get the milk used up as the day went on.

Parents were expected to pay for the day and never had complaints even from those choosing to stay home.

NOT OPEN......HAZARDOUS hmmmmm.......My power was out today and I remained open and will in the future.......I don't really think its a big deal, takes a long time for a house to get really cold Id put sweaters on them, and candles for what? open your curtains and let the light in it wasn't dark here for me all day, and the power is out if anything its alot safer no? I personally need the money and cant close for every little situation......and If the parents don't want to bring their kids here to play with the other kids and stay home with them in the same situation and miss a day of work then so be it but I will be open and therefore will still be paid :)

This is my policy on blackouts:

Quote:

---

If the power does out, I will remain open unless I feel it is unsafe to do so. If I feel I need to close I will call/text you to come pick up your child.

If the power is out in the morning, I will try to be in the lobby until all the children have arrived.
If the power is out at pick up, I will try to have all the children waiting for you in the lobby.
If you would like to pick up early, please do so. If possible call my cell or text me. My home phone will not work.

If I am unable to do meet you in the lobby, please very carefully come and knock on my window to let me know you are here and I will let you in the side door.
If the door to the lobby is open please just walk right in.

I have battery operated lanterns, so we will have some light. If its nice out, we will go outside and play all day. If its cold out, please send extra socks/slippers, and sweater to help keep your child warm. An extra blanket is always welcome as well.

---

Not all parents can take the day off due to a blackout. I will be home anyways so I might as well be open.

If you live in the country and electricity operates the well pump and means no usable water then yes I can see it being unsafe.

Biggest unsafe is the chance that it gets really bad and parents get stranded and you get stuck with the kids.

Most of us are parents too and we have to cope with our own kids and a few more doesn't really change what we have to do. No candles used here either. I have several flashlights with LED lights I can use to move around with and rely on the windows for light. Mostly we would just play and not do crafts or other close up type activities. Do a lot of singing or read a story I pretty much know from memory anyways or sit in teh dark and focus the flashlight on the book. For nap put all mats in same main floor livingroom on the floor so body heat from breathing helps warm room. Put blankets at the base of outside doors, cover registers to prevent cold air coming up them. It will be noon before the house gets too cold and then it is naptime - sleeping bags work great for putting over them - asked parents to supply one if they could and have a couple extra. Just as with anything we need to have a plan in place to cope in an emergency. This is sort of a planned emergency in that we are going into it knowing a lot of information.

Today is ice pellets and nasty outside. When I cooked on Wed I also made a ham so today's lunch was cold sliced ham as I had planned a meal that didn't need cooking just in case. There are great advantages to knowing ahead that a storm is coming.

Apparently I need to clarify....I had one candle on in my washroom at 7am as it was pitch black and my daughter had to go to the bathroom...I did not have numerous candles floating around my house causing any sort of dangerous or HAZARDOUS situation, whatsoever! There was lots of light in the house, I have a gas stove so I was able to light it manually and my children and I had a lovely lunch sans dck

To have done it in the past, I find that is very hard to operate without power for the entire day. My house is surrounded by trees and the sun in the afternoon is at the back of the house and I do not get sun in the daycare area in the afternoon. I have an old farm house it's drafty and it gets cold really fast. I have a well so the power goes out there is NO water. I simply think it is hazardous if a child injures himself and I have no working phones or running water. My nearest neighbour is about a 5 minute walk .What if it happens on a day my cell phone dies ..You know Murphy !!

On top of that but not a real factor to my decision for this, I plan my menus and I am on a very tight budget right now. My first year was ruff ... haha So I don't always have a fall back plan for lunch. I may not have anything we can eat cold. Anyway different people, different situations but I think it my case, it absolutely makes sense to close for safety. I NEVER take risks.

I agree different ppl different situations :) and in your situation id defiantly close but most peoples situations aren't typically like that (yours is special lol) generally speaking its not unsafe

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by mommylove

NOT OPEN......HAZARDOUS hmmmmm.......My power was out today and I remained open and will in the future.......I don't really think its a big deal, takes a long time for a house to get really cold Id put sweaters on them, and candles for what? open your curtains and let the light in it wasn't dark here for me all day, and the power is out if anything its alot safer no? I personally need the money and cant close for every little situation......and If the parents don't want to bring their kids here to play with the other kids and stay home with them in the same situation and miss a day of work then so be it but I will be open and therefore will still be paid :)

---

I was referring to needing candles and this being unsafe. I would close because my daycare is in the basement and it would be too dark and therefore unsafe

I managed, but it wasn't ideal. Power went out at 11 am and didn't come back on until 7:30 pm. I kept expecting it to come back on. We had lots of stories. The funniest moments were when my 18 month old dcb was upset because we couldn't do our music class after nap, like we ALWAYS do. He kept pointing to my iPod speakers saying "music please." When I said we couldn't he yelled 'MOTE' (the remote). He was trying desperately to tell me to USE THE REMOTE WOMAN. How do you explain a power outage to a toddler, sigh... He also couldn't understand why we couldn't go outside, and kept trying to get his coat and boots saying, "side!". I was so worried about falling branches (we have a lot of big old trees, and limbs fell and blocked my driveway 3 times today!). Glad today is over and the power is back on... to top it all off, I have a group of 6 guests in my scrapbooking studio for a retreat this weekend, and I had to cook their dinner on my fireplace. My husband was able to hook up a generator in the studio (not in my house) and told them they could have either heat or light. Being scrapbookers, they chose light. They said they could always put on a sweater, but they couldn't scrapbook without proper lighting. That made me laugh out loud.

I also run my daycare out of my basement but I grabbed some toys and craft and we hung out on my main floor and since the kids aren't up there often they played nice together and we had a chill out day upstairs that being said......you didnt say the candles are hazardous you said "I would close cause it would be hazardous to be open during a power outage" then you said "especially with candles" then you also went on to say that you wouldnt take your daughter to a dc with a power outage and you wouldnt pay them.........I think most daycare providers policies state if they are OPEN and you choose not to come you HAVE to pay......sorry but I dont understand your logic.

treeholm good for you for making the best of your day its crazy how much we learn when the power goes out lol like how much our toddlers likes the t.v and going outside, sounds like you made it through your day just fine :)

It's funny, I've thought of this before when our hydro went out for a few hours in the middle of the day. I have a poweful flashlight at hand and I remember I used it last fall and my newest baby FREAKED OUT! But we used the flashlight again on Groundhog Day and he was ok, yeesh.

We had a really bad storm in our city last night and the house next door had electrical problems just after midnight, eeeks, thank goodness it wasn't my rental house! We take electricity, breathing, sight, hearing and lots of other things for granted!

Southweatern Ontario used to have a big ice storm every winter around February and my birthday every year - many a birthday party cancelled. It usually resulted in several days of ice, closed schools and power outages. The way the streets had been designed our power actually came from the back of our house and was tied into the same line that served the fire station a couple blocks away. We were always the first house on the street to get our power back and many years we became a soup kitchen to the neighbourhood with everyone bringing over a big pot to boil water and any veggies they had laying around. We always had soup bones in the freezer from getting half a beef so soup it was dutifully doled out. All of the houses around us went up months/years after ours did and their power came from a different transformer.

Along with this though was the fact thanksgiving weekend was also about spending time preparing making sure there were plenty of supplies like canned food that could be eaten as is, flashlights, batteries, fuel for the coleman stoves even though camping season was over - easier to use that on the porch than dig out the BBQ and hope it would work. Sleeping bags were stored where they could be reached etc. We do take so much for granted and forget just how quickly our lot in life can change. Here in Ottawa they lived through that ice storm several years back and even a few of those veterens admit to letting their guard down even though they know the potential results.

Power went out here from 10:00 to 11:30. I opened a can of tuna and have tuna sandwiches. Kids hardly noticed it, but they wanted some music:unsure:. Oh, and they got scared when electricity came back since every time that happens the alarm goes off! So I have 3 toddlers crying in need to be hugged.

What if the power went out after opening for the day. Also a few years ago we had no power for 3 days. I believe that I didn't charge since at that time I wasn't charging for missed days (silly me!)

We're required to close in the event of a power outage. And definitely not supposed to use candles.My 4 yo dcg got really upset when our power went out this past year. But I guess she hadn't experienced a power outage before, not one that she could remember.

Required? by whom?

In provinces where home daycare is licensed they have rules to follow. In Ontario we for the most part make rules that makes sense to us and our situations.

Is there any sort of requirement to be licensed in Ontario based on the number of children that you care for?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by daycaremom9

Is there any sort of requirement to be licensed in Ontario based on the number of children that you care for?

---

If you are not licensed you can have 5 children of any age but if you are licensed there are age restrictions. I'm sure there are pros for joining an agency but the deciding factor for me is that I want to run my business with my own rules and working for myself. If I was with an agency I would have an employer in a way and I don't want that.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by daycaremom9

Is there any sort of requirement to be licensed in Ontario based on the number of children that you care for?

---

Licensing as other provinces know it is not an option in Ontario. A home daycare is limited to five daycare children plus the caregiver's own children do not count.

There are licensed agencies that contract with caregivers to help find them children and take a portion of the fees in exchange for loaning equipment and giving support. Agencies do have limits on the age mix they will allow.