Calling all writers lol Need help writing a letter

It's a learning curve, but we do get tougher about enforcing our contract rules as we go along and learn when we will make small exceptions and when it is necessary to be strict. So many children's illnesses are contagious even before there are any symptoms showing, like HF&M and Varicella. We can't get away from the viruses no matter what we do.

I always go by my sick policy and especially my fever rules. There have been times when I've allowed a child to stay for the day when they are so lethargic I have to cancel our plans to go outside for the benefit of their health. Technically I have no reason to send the child home but it's nice when the parents make arrangements when they see that their child is feeling like crap.

I've learned to be very flexible with my plans for this reason especially during the winter when you can have multiple sickies in your house and going through boxes and boxes of tissues and you feel like all you do is wipe noses and wash your hands over and over all day!

It is always very difficult to inforce some of the policies when it comes to health of the kids at care but mainly when it concerned our family. And I must agree that when our kid is sick we do sometimes hope that the parents will keep their kids home so lessen the load and allow us to give our kid more attention. However, if I chose to remain open I know that at least one or two of the kids will be here as the parents do have a hard time taking days off and they are not the type to fear any illness. So if I really believe that what my children have is dangerous or chose to take them to the clinic, then I close.

I can't help but think, that if you decided to remain open, it is not fair to be upset that she brought her child over. :o (although i understand the emotions involved). The way I see it is that the parents trust us in our decision in being able to care for our kid and the others and keep them safe and happy.... every day we open! It is very hard not to be able to take a sick paid day for us or our kids (I know I have a 3 year old and a one year old... and did this throughout my pregnancy and started over 2 weeks after giving birth).... but this is one of the few downsides of our job! :mellow:

I always try to be as fair as possible. If my son is sick and I chose to be open I will clearly tell the parents why I am open and how I planned out the day and how it will affect the other kids because if their kid then catches the same thing.... i am kinda obliged to take them in.

I know my thoughts are drifting from the original content of this post... but was just hoping to get other people's thought on this too. Question to everyone: I don't know how everyone's policies are written out but if you would turn down a child for x, y, z symptoms, are you open when your child has these same symptoms? I have been struggling with this and simply wonder what your thoughts are?

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Originally Posted by Naftafia

Question to everyone: I don't know how everyone's policies are written out but if you would turn down a child for x, y, z symptoms, are you open when your child has these same symptoms? I have been struggling with this and simply wonder what your thoughts are?

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I am struggling with this too! I just wrote out my letter and was like..if your kid has a cough blah blah blah, because I am almost certain that one of the other kids gave my kid this cough bc his parents refused to admit he was sick...other issue entirely, but it doesn't change the fact that he is the one who is proven to be sick and I didn't want to sound like I was blaming them or saying if your kids are sick blah blah blah...cause MY kid is the one who has all the symptoms. I just said, if my son has a cough or an illness, i will be sure to be as honest as possible.

My biggest thing that I struggle with is whether I should charge for care if I or my son is the one who got them sick. I know you say you're kind of obligated, but I don't really agree with that. Because, yes, my kid got him or her sick, but that doesn't mean I should expose the other kids to an illness out of guilt or obligation. I just wonder if I should still charge them. Because I will refuse them, but I struggle with making them pay. Ugh.

Well ...... I believe that there is some what of a double standard when it comes to the 24-hour rule. What I mean is if my child has a fever or has the flu Or a sore throat and I choise not to send my child to school and all my child is going to do is lay in my bed and watch tv then I am not going to close. This is my child's home and if they are sick this is where they need to be and this is the part of home daycare that parents have to accept. Otherwise they need to go to center daycare and pay all the higher center fees that are associated with it. Now if all three of my kids were sick and there was no way that I could properly care for the dcks as well as attend to my sick children then yes I would close and I would adjust the next payment for the parents.

My policy for sick days if that if I am open you pay ~ if your child is too 'sick to attend group care according to public health guidelines' you stay home and you still pay because you are paying for your space within my program and that is how my fees are set.

There are several ways to look at this when setting your fees and policies

A) you figure out how much annual revenue you need to make per space in your program to cover your expenses and still have a viable income and you divide that # by 52 weeks and this is the WEEKLY FEE charged to clients ... you pay that fee regardless of the program being open or closed for Stats, your X days of vacation, their sick days or your X sick days (define how many are 'included' in this fee) and so forth cause they are paying for the 'space' within the program.

B) you figure out how much revenue you need to make to cover your expenses and still have a viable income and you divide that # the 260 work days in a year minus any days you want to allow them NOT to pay you for whatever reason and this is the DAILY FEE charged to clients ... and if the program 'is closed' two days in a week than they only pay 3x daily fee that week or if their child is absent and you have allotted them 10 sick days were they do not pay than they do not pay until the 11th day and than they pay regardless? It is your job than to 'budget' for these lower paid weeks by putting the EXTRA income you earn from clients because you are charging them a higher daily rate each week.

Fact remains EITHER WAY clients end up paying you the same because you need the SAME INCOME to be viable in both scenarios .... so they pay you a higher daily rate and do not pay for closures or they pay a lower consistent weekly fee and they pay regardless .... at the end of the year if both clients do not 'exceed' time off.

So for example I have two fee options

A) is $160 a week and this fee requires payment for the following 'no program' days 10 stats, 10 vacation days for me and 10 personal/sick days for me ~ clients pay for any additional time THEY take off from the program to hold their space ie child's sickness, family vacation or inclement weather where they choose not to travel in it.

B) is $34.60 a day for $173 a week and this fee plan requires payment for all 10 stats but if the program is closed for any other reason their fees are lowered by $34.60 each day it is closed in that week ~ clients still pay for any time THEY take off from the program to hold their space sickness, vacation or inclement weather where they choose not to travel in it. Clients who I have on this payment plan it is MY job to put aside 8% of their weekly fee into my savings to cover for those weeks when their payment 'drops' due to a closure!

If I wanted to allow the FAMILIES time off unpaid for their vacation or sick days those rates would just go up obviously to accommodate for the lost revenue ;)

Bottom line with childcare budgeting is our income is CAPPED by the government rules and regulations ..... unlike other self employed people like a 'hairdresser' for example who can earn as much as they are able to squeeze in per day .... so for example lets say normally they can cut/color 8 clients a day and earn $800 a day or $4000 a week but they know next week they are going to be closed for a STAT they can instead book in 10 clients a day that week to make up for the lost day and they still earn $4000 despite only working 4 days ~ we do not have that option ... we are only allowed to care for X amount of children per day as per our province rules ... therefore our FEES have to be more rigid and reflective of that limitation to our income!