I think your letter with the ammended ended sounded awesome!

Isn't it amazing how when you put your foot down to working within a 'reasonable day' suddenly they can 'make it work'

I remember when I amended my hours to 7:30 - 4:30 for my normal daily fee and started charging additional fee for 'extended hours' if you needed care before 7:30 or after 4:30 - amazingly suddenly every single one of my clients who had been slowly using over 9 hours of care a day suddenly were able to arrange their drop off and pick up to stay within the 'normal daily fee' ... I find that the more comfortable clients become in your program they more they feel it is ok to leave their child there even when it is not 'needed' but just 'easier for them' ... when I worked in centre care it was NORMAL for most children to be there from open to close regardless of parents work hours - parents would use the extra time to run errands, go to the gym, go home and clean the house and so forth 'child free' cause it was easier ... but if you put more $$$$ on it or threaten to terminate suddenly they snap back to the original agreement