Late pickups

4 weeks ago I started a new dcb. His parents are long time family friends. Everything is great, except pick ups. They have been 10-30 min late half a dozen times in 4 weeks. I was letting it slide because they are friends and I didn't really mind...but this seams to be becoming a habit I would like to stop. I do want to be done work at my 5:30 closing time and as much as I love this boy (I am an auntie to him), I want my own family time and I sometimes need to do errands at the end of my day.

My question is, how do a approach the subject since I let it go those times? I'm beginning to think that because of our friendship I will be taken advantage of. I don't want to sound rude but want them to know that being late repeatedly is unacceptable.

Thanks for the advice!

I would give them a letter stating how much you love taking care of dcb and how pleased you are that he is doing so well. Then I would state that you must now enforce your daycare hours with all your clients as...and then state the reasons in your post.
Good luck

If they are your friends then when they come late just say flat out my closing time is 5:30 and I really need to to be here by then as I need to get dinner on the table and sometimes I have made plans to go out as soon as I'm finished work. Also mention you didn't say anything before because you didn't realize that it wasn't gong to be a one time thing. This is one of many reasons I don't have family friends or neighbours as clients

Yup... I think I offended a few friends when I turned them down for daycare LOL. I just said I don't mix business and pleasure. I want to be able to terminate a child if I need to without worrying if it will affect my friendships.

I use my kids as an excuse for why I need kids picked up by a certain time. I just say we need to be out of the house by a certain time to be at hockey, Brownies, dance, etc. It has worked so far, though all my parents are very respectful in that way. Not sure if you have older kids or not.
I also take care of my best friends daughter and while it is kind of awkward with money and when I need to discuss behavior issues, I love how close I am to her daughter, and that my own girls have a really close relationship with her as well.

I agree with all of the good advice above. I close my doors at 5 just so that if a family is running late, everyone is still out of my house and I can still make it to my own evening committments. i.e. daughter's swimming classes, my own classes, etc. If after you have this conversation with them, they are continuing to not respect your pick up time you may have to get a little more hard core with them. Are you willing to terminate the family/find a replacement family over this ? I'm not sure what the demand for care is like in your area, and the fact that they are friends certainly does make it more difficult to end the relationship. If it were me, I would tell the family that they MUST pick up their child no later than 5:30. If they require care beyond that point in time, your services are available, but you move from a daily rate of "X" to an hourly rate of "Y" - with a minimum two hour charge. =) I imagine that will encourage them to leave work a few minutes early.

My daughter brought my grandson to my daycare for 3 1/2 years. She respected all my rules and signed her contract to abide by all my policies. I gave her a reduced rate because I love them but everything else was the same as for every other family and we never had any problems. Bottom line: RESPECT! Demand it!

Have you considered implementing a late fee? I charge $10 for anything up to half an hour late and then a full day's pay, $30, for anything after half an hour. In the 2 years I've been open I have had 3 late pickups and I think it's because of my late fee.

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Originally Posted by Shannie

4 weeks ago I started a new dcb. His parents are long time family friends. Everything is great, except pick ups. They have been 10-30 min late half a dozen times in 4 weeks. I was letting it slide because they are friends and I didn't really mind...but this seams to be becoming a habit I would like to stop. I do want to be done work at my 5:30 closing time and as much as I love this boy (I am an auntie to him), I want my own family time and I sometimes need to do errands at the end of my day.

My question is, how do a approach the subject since I let it go those times? I'm beginning to think that because of our friendship I will be taken advantage of. I don't want to sound rude but want them to know that being late repeatedly is unacceptable.

Thanks for the advice!

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It's hard having relatives and friends for clients indeed.

Perhaps, you can make excuses why you do need a punctual pick-up....like, you (or your children) attending a course (or have made arrangements or engagements) or that you need some "down time" (to lie down and take a few minutes) before you tackle dinner with your family.
Say it not as a request, but as a way of letting them know how it's going to be.
If they still ignore that, then likelihood that "friendship" is being exploited. I'd start putting a distance on the "friendship".....sad ly, that's usually the aftermath when we've got relatives and friends for clients. The relationship usually disintegrates.

Call their emergency back-up person - grandma or aunt or whoever they gave authorisation to pick up the child - and have the child picked up. Then have a good talk with them about punctual pick-ups (as you would to any clients you have). Give them a letter (which is addressed to all your clients so there is an indication you've given all parents this missive), explaining about the importance of punctual pick-ups....and that in order to stress its importance, you'd be charging late fees from now on!) Charge your friends late fees.

Of all people, your friend should be the first one to understand....and true friendship will not exploit this kind of situation in the name of friendship.

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Originally Posted by treeholm

Yup... I think I offended a few friends when I turned them down for daycare LOL. I just said I don't mix business and pleasure. I want to be able to terminate a child if I need to without worrying if it will affect my friendships.

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Way back, I offered to care for the grandchildren of my hubby. We didn't want any payments but their father insisted on it.....and he made a statement like how it's going to be, but my hubby corrected him (son in law) about how it's going to be in the daycare!

It was really hard even when you want to impose the kind of discipline you have in the daycare....I was walking on eggshells. But there must be fairness to all children. At least the relationship survived, even though it was strained for a few months after that episode.
That's when I really learned.....Never again!:D