Ummmm WOW ya that attitude would not fly here ~ one of the longest part of my contract reviews is 'daycare closures and emergency back up plan' and making sure that clients know that they need to have a back plan of their own of someone who can care for their child for them OR a work environment that is supportive of calling in sick last minute cause that is the reality of 'home based childcare' is that we work alone and if we are down for the count than there is nothing we can do about it sometimes!

Like you I always TRY to give clients as much notice as possible about an adult family member subbing for me while I go to an appointment or what not but if I or a family member who live in my house are SICK than the daycare is CLOSING because A) who wants a house full of other peoples children running around when they are sick cause that is NOT conducive to recuperation and B) why would I want to expose the other children to whatever we are brewing by having them here in the house where even if we are in another room the 'air' is circulated through to the entire house and most germs are air born in someway ????

I have not had to close due to 'illness' very often but both times there was next to NO notice cause sadly I had NO NOTICE myself .... either woke up at 4 am to the sudden urge to vomit and another time where I went down for the count after having opened already without any notice just one minute feeling fine next minute I am throwing up and between vomiting tossing the TV on and telling the kids to sit on the couch and not move while putting the infant in a high chiar ans I ran for the bathroom between tasks and called parents between explosions ... so they got a phone call that was COME NOW and every single one of them or someone from their family was here within 15 minutes of being called ~ cause that is what is expected.

Call me a bitch but for decades I had to deal with the stress of calling in sick in centre care and bosses being 'pissed off' cause of the inconvenience it caused them to have to get a supply and so forth that I decided I would be damned if I was going to be made to feel the same way in my own HOME .... so I actually tell people during the interview process / contract signing when taling about closures is that calling to tell clients I have to close the daycare is stressful enough for me and the financial hit that it is going to cause me being 'sick' often because I have caught something a daycare child has brought into the house so that the last thing I want to have added to the stress of doing so is the frustration of the client saying 'oh crap your timing sucks' or 'Oh can I send him for a couple hours I have a meeting and I do not have a back up plan' and to please note that IF I ever hear anything like that when I have to close it will be the last time you have to worry about me closing cause service will be OVER and I will be suggesting you try a 'centre' where you do not have to worry about closures and back up plans