How do you deal with Pick Up Time vs. Closing Time?

[Inspired by Reggio]

My fees are based on nine hours - so as long as they are under nine hours I do not really care if they go home first or not cause I get for some cleints in some industries it is just easier to 'clean up first' I have a few dads in construction and they STINK this time of year and are covered in yuck sticking to their skin I do not blame them for wanting to shower in peace first .... HOWEVER

Routine and consistency are important to children and I stress this throughout all my policies ... so if their normal routine is to go home at X time and a client wants to do an errand or something they need to let me KNOW ahead of time so that I can prepare the child for the 'change' in routine so that stress and anxiety they feel over seeing others go home before them and so forth its lessened because if I am NOT informed than I too am feeling stress and anxiety over 'did something happen, were they in an accident' and kids can pick up on that

It is RESPECTFUL to take the two seconds to CALL and say 'I am running a little late today and will not be there until X time' and as long as that is within their 'nine hours' of care so be it and I can just support the child with what to expect as a result of the 'change' ... if it were past my CLOSE time than there would be an extended overtime fee associated with the extra overtime and work entailed

Personally since they are not past your 'close time' and under the nine hours I would just tell the dad ... I empathize with your desire to shower or run a quick errand however if you could drop me a text or call and leave a message so that when your normal pick up time passes I can double check and be able to put your child and my mind at ease that everything is cool and you are on your way just running late' ... and I would use that time to remind 'if you go over nine hours of care my overtime rate is X per minute or whatever you have in place