Just wondering what everybody's hours of operation are?
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Just wondering what everybody's hours of operation are?
745-445 mon/tues....730-445 wed/thurs/fri.
I am not normally flexible with my hours but I needed to fill 2 spots fast so I took a parent that asked if I could be flexible until 5. I knew that my early days would eventually have to end because a lot of parents around here need care until 5 so I agreed. Her child's first day was yesterday and she got here at 447 and was gone by 453 so it wasn't too bad. I also don't get the kids ready but I will be with her son to get them out the door faster!! lol
I'm "open" 7-5, but none of my kids show up until 7:30 :)!
I work from 7:30 until 5. My first child walks in the door right at 7:30 and the last one usually gets picked up at 4:50-4:55 (sometimes the same child). I am so done my day by 5pm!! I used to be open until 5:15 but that last 15 minutes was torture lol. so glad I shortened it, would love it to be shorter but I know that will never happen. I had a person call yesterday asking if I could open for 6:30 am and my answer was NOPE!! I am not flexible at all with my hours.
I used to be open till 530 and than shortened it to 515 and than 5 and just recently 445. It worked out perfectly that every time a child left, they were my last ones so I was able to shorten my day for any new clients coming on board. I am not willing to be open past 5 though.Quote:
Originally Posted by adaycarelady
6:45- 4:30
7:30 - 5:00. I'm already watching the clock... ;)
hey there, when I opened my hours were 7:30-5:30. I moved it slowly to 5:15 and now my hours are 7:30-5. However, my hours are changing in the fall to 8-5pm and I am soooooooooooooooo excited!!!!!
My hours are 6am-6pm and for years I worked all of them :(
Now my first usually starts around 7am and the last leaves (as of 2 weeks from now) at 5:15pm. I live next to a major artery into the city, so I kind of need to keep my longer hours available.
My hours are 7:15 to 5:30....I interviewed a couple and they told me they needed 8-5...funny thing....they started showing up at 7:15!!!!! When I asked them about it (as my next child comes about 7:45)....they said they didn't remember saying 8-5 (I have it written in my book from interview time)....so I have 1 CHILD for 45 minutes first thing in the morning....what's the best way to move this early bird to at least 7:45....HELP
oh...p.s. This father WORKS OUT OF THE HOUSE...PRETTY MUCH SHOWS UP WITH HIS CHILD IN HIS PJ'S.....ONE DAY HE CAME AT 7:05 ...when I questioned him he said..."YA..SORRY... .SHE WAS IN A HURRY AND RUSHED ME!!!! (THE CHILD WAS A YEAR OLD)???? I THEN ASKED HIM..."OH...DID SHE DRIVE THE CAR HERE TOO"....I'm telling you....it's parents like this that make you want to just throw your hands up in the air....
oh sandylynn that sucks! I have a child who's father works from home too, and looks after baby brother (16 months) at the same time...but still sends 4-yr-old dcg to me 3x a week. They base it over mom's schedule, which I understand, but I get pretty pissed when they ask me to keep her an HOUR later until mom is done work, when I know dad is already at home and could easily pick her up at regular pickup time, it just wouldn't be as "convenient" for them.
I am starting to realize there is a difference between clients that really NEED care and clients that just WANT it, if that makes sense. Clients that have a steady, full-time work schedule for both parents obviously NEED me, and they tend to appreciate me more than clients who are simply using me for "convenience" or to "give mom a break." In future, if I have a choice (which I probably won't, but one can dream :) I think I'll be trying to find clients who really need care, and hopefully that will stem the flow of people who, despite my warnings, continuously just don't show up, or show up hours late, or pick up late with no notice.
My hours are 7-5, which I recently shortened from 5:30...I agree with the rest, that last half hour was torture, especially when you're trying to get dinner started and clean up the kitchen after the tornado of craft time. It didn't help that my "problem" kids were here from 7-5:30 (or later) every day, even when their parents were off for the day or got done earlier. I am all for helping a client out every now and again, but when it just became an abuse of my lenience, it was one more nail in the coffin to terminate them.
Thank you CrazyEight for your reply....there is no question that we are one of the most underpaid...and taken advantage of businesses out there...I remember many years ago...I had a couple approach me to look after their little one but asked if I would consider charging less with no receipt...they said they would struggle weekly to pay my rate....and that they would rather have the lower rate weekly instead of getting it all at once at tax time...RELUCTANTLY.. .I agreed....STUPID STUPID STUPID...These people shook my hand on this agreement....not only did they claim me (and yes I was wrong to do this)....but she had the audacity to show up at my home the day after she asked for the receipt (cra audited her)....are you kidding me....help parents out...never again....WHO PUTS THEIR CHILD SECOND,....I WAS THE CHILD'S 2ND MOTHER....we loved that little boy....if you could have seen this child's face when I told him not to take his shoes off and that he wouldn't be staying...the mother was shocked! She says "well you could have told me you would not take him anymore...I wouldn't have gotten ready to go to the gym now"....SERIOUSLY! Maybe you could have told me how you were going to BACK STAB YOUR DAYCARE PROVIDER...when she was kind enough to fall for your BS sob story...she ruined for all parents that come here...I trust NO ONE...don't like the contract...go elsewhere...absolute ly NO EXCEPTIONS TO THE RULES IN THE FUTURE....
sandylynn - I suggest changing your hours. They said they needed care at 8 and other child starts at 7:45 then switch your hours to 7:30 or 7:45. Also no children showing up in PJ's!! This is something I do not allow!! They must be ready for the day when they get here. Also enforce the rule that your door will be locked and not answered until your opening time. You come at 7:05 then stand outside or sit in your car until I open my door.
I do not have standard open and close hours. I require parents to contract for specific times.
If a parent works from 9-3 I contract with them from 8:30-3:30 and do NOT allow them to use anymore hours than that.
I bill parents according to their contracted pick up times and consider them late (and charge a late fee) if they do not pick up at their contracted pick up time....even if I still have other children in care past 3:30.
Each family MUST tell me the hours of care they need, we contract for that time ONLY and are billed accordingly.
This completely eliminates the child who is here from open to close. If I do have a child that is here all day, they are paying a MUCH higher rate than the others so it is worth it to me.
I also charge more for any time (in 15 minute increments) beyond 9 hours per day.
I know EXACTLY when I need to start work each day and when I will be done each day. Some days, I am done as early as 3:00. I am actually making more money now doing it this way than I did when I was simply open from 6:30-5:30 and had every kid here the whole day every day.
My handbook reads "I do not have standard open to close hours. I operate on contracted hours only. I am not willing to contract for services before 6:30 a.m. or after 5:30 p.m."
Lol micyc....it wasn't the child in the pajamas...it was the father!
He obviously rolls out of bed...and gets the child here as early as he can get away with!
OMG!! I would definitely be changing your hours!!
I am open 6 am to 5pm for two weeks of the month and 6:30 to 5 the other two weeks. On the early weeks, I have one that comes at 6 and leaves at 3:30. two others arrive at 6:30 and they leave between 4:15 and 4:30, one arrives at 7:45 and leaves at 4:45 and my last one arrives between 8:30 and 9 and leaves at 5. In Sept, I will start at 6 am everyday except Wednesdays and my last one will still leave at 5.
OMG jodaycare - how can you not be burnt out! There is no way I would work that many hours in a day.
I would be burnt out as well!! I have a friend who recently opened though and is working 11 hour days. She is from a small town though and has parents who commute so it can't really be avoided. She is up those hours anyways with her own family so she says she doesn't mind it.
I certainly couldn't do it!
Yup! 6am-6pm here. But I am one of those whom live in a smaller town where everyone commutes to the Toronto area. Yay for me! lol
Oh my goodness !! Wow I can't imagine !! I open at 8 and close at 5 ,
I am currently 6:30-5:30 and there is no early pickups here. I used to be 8-5:30 which was wonderful for my own family in the morning but in January I took on 2 new early families. They are gone by 3:30 but it is still a long day with staggered start times. My 5:30 family is leaving for school in September so I will be changing my hours to close at 4:30 which I am sooooo looking forward to. I have turned away 4 families who need later hours and will hold out for the schedule that will work for me.
Oh believe me as I get older, it gets harder to do those long days! I have been working 11 or 12 hour days since 1994 when I started my home daycare. I think I am heading for burnout since my patience is running pretty thin these days, and I am convinced that I am in premenopause so that doesnt help either. I currently take 4 weeks vacation per year but am considering upping it to 5 in 2015! Thank goodness, my next holiday week in coming up next month.
I am impressed ! I'm a newbie , coming up a year lol !! I love so much of the work I do and wish I had an administration team to deal with parents lol !
I must say I really enjoy each of my families now !!! I went with a couple of families I wasn't sure about and learnt the way of experience to be picky ! But I'm sorry after 5 is too long ! Ugh I can't do it personally ! My dd was going to bed at 6:30 before dayhome and I upped it to 7 just to get some time with her !! I'm so drained done nights and still have soccer ect !!
I wish there was a way to visit each other's dayhomes ! Everyone sounds so interesting !!!
Wow way off topic !!
I used to have a dck that came at 4 am. in the morning and my daycare is open until 4:45 pm. Now THAT made for a super long day. Currently my earliest arrives just before 7:30 am. and the last one leaves by around 5 pm. My main issue with the parents is that they will be home from work and leave their child here up until 4:45 - 5:00 pm. How do you enforce that pickup is when the parents are done work....it exhausts me some days to have kids here for 9 hrs + Also, I have a total of 25 days off in the year, I send home my vacation day schedule in February every year and I always get parents who say "oh I didn't know you were off next week"....I always reply with, didn't you read my calendar I sent home and record what days I am off....grrrrr...it frustrates me to no end. I've been doing inhome daycare for 28+ years and feel that 5 weeks vacation is warranted in order to get some much needed rest and relaxation and recharge. If I was working out in the real world for that long, I would get 6 or more weeks. How do you deal with parents who make you feel guilty for taking time off
martymonty - unfortunately we cannot control what the parents do, if we are open until 5 then we need to be prepared to keep the kids until the end of the day. I do have in my contract:
"It usually takes approx. 5 minutes to get your child ready and out the door so please remember I close at 5pm and would appreciate if all parents don’t show up right at 5pm to pick up your child."
As for vacation time - I quit worrying about what the parents say. I deserve my holidays (I usually only take 10 days a year and it is never in a row). We all deserve our time off and too bad if they don't like it. I do a monthly newsletter that I email to my families. Maybe that would help remind your families on which days you have booked off. I find that parents need a lot of reminding.
I open 7:30-5pm and that is long enough. I used to do 10 hr days, but not any more. There is no work-life balance with this job, so you've got to reclaim time to put your needs first.
I have 4 weeks vacation in my contract, but usually only take 2 weeks. When I go over 2 weeks, people give me a hard time-GIMME A BREAK! I'm too burnt out with only 2 weeks, so I'm going to start taking more, and not feel guilty about it. Over Xmas sounds like a great time to do it!
I am open from 7:00am - 5:45pm. Normally I open at 7:30, but had one family start care that needed the extra 30 min. They pick up earlier though. If I didn't need the income, I would have turned them away. When my numbers go down, I usually try to be flexible even if it means working an additional 30 min. a day.
Actually adaycarelady market your cleaning to other daycare providers. I know there was talk on a couple of my facebook groups about not wanting the lady in to clean during daycare hours and instead wanted them in on Sat morning while they went shopping or out for brunch and then could come home to a clean house. Add in some toy sanitizing and washing of daycare bedding and you might just line up a few - even if it is once a month for some just to give them a break from having to do it.
Hey you never know, I've had a few children brought here in their pj's. Even if they come here early I don't think it's the daycare provider's responsibility to dress their children, they should be planning a little bit better.Quote:
Originally Posted by sandylynn
Thanks martymonty, you've given me an idea.I've been thinking about sending home newsletters but didn't want to waste more paper and ink. I think I'll just email all my clients my newsletters instead A! Thanks!
I feel like a slacker now!
Core business hours are 7.30am until 4.30pm. I will open at 7am if needed for the Military as parking around the base is horrible. I won't close late.
Used to work longer hours but my client base changed and for about 3.5 years they were all gone by about 4.20pm so I decided to carry on with that.
lol....my hours are 730/745 to 445. If I didn't have my 445 child I could be done at 4/415! I love it!! Living in a small city where the commute is no more than 5-10 mins is the best!!Quote:
Originally Posted by Rachael
I go for the professional couples who have some flexibility with their schedules. That way, the one who starts later, drops off and the one who finishes first, picks up. I have one young couple who work shifts but the paternal grandmother picks up around 4pm for them and then takes the child home until the first parent gets in from work.Quote:
What kind of clients do you have? I want them kind of clients lol. I'm guessing people who work 8-4 and people who go to school?
We also have a massive military presence here as the port in Halifax is one of only two in Canada which remain open year round. The base employees and the military posted there, tend to start work at 7.30am and finish around 3.30pm/4pm. I will open at 7am for them as parking around the base sucks and of course, I know they will be here on time for closing.
We also have a lot of hospitals so again, although I avoid nurses who tend to work shifts with rotating days, there are lots of supporting staff who work 8am until 4pm - office administrators, intake staff, appointment staff, etc.
I'm about 25 mins from down town Halifax so not in the core at all. It is harder to find these clients, but they are out there. Fewer of them here in the burbs but I have learned to hold on for the right client even if it means a vacancy sits empty for longer than I'd like. Since it's often a 4 year commitment until their child goes to school, it's a long time to be extending hours etc for a client which isn't quite a match.
I seem to get a fair amount of teachers too - even though I charge on days reserved and not used, and they know when they come, that they will be paying through the summer/christimas vacations etc.
I avoid those who go to school. And, we have 4 (I think) universities locally. For me, I have found that they want to pull their child in May and return in September which is understandable but it means 8 months a year placements only and I'd rather have a more stable core group if possible.