Trouble with a Mom

[Inspired by Reggio]

Do you actually take the kids to your doctors appointments? ...

For appointments that I have CONTROL over booking the time and date I either choose after hours if the office is open or I book them ALL on the same day and take a personal day ... so the annual eye doctors, physical, dentists and so forth.

But when I do not have control over when the appointment is booked and 'rescheduling' will mean months longer to see someone than yes I have and do ~ I give my clients the OPTION to have their kid tag along if it is something quick and typically my mother or aunt joins me so that she can watch the kids at the park or take them for a timbit if the weather is not nice while I run in to the appointment and than we carry on with our day ~ if they do not want their kid tagging along they are free to come and pick them up and keep them home for sure! If I cannot get someone to 'help' me that day than I book the day off!

As most of my appointments the kids have tagged along to in the past were 'specialist follow ups' like the dermatologist and endocrinologist so not something I have control over booking and they take like two minutes for the Dr to ask a few questions and go over test results or to refill an annual script .... so to me it is a financial hardship and an inconvenience to clients by taking a whole day off or a half day for something so minor that takes less than 5 minutes out of the day ....if I worked out of the home this is something I could do on my lunch hour or break without inconveniencing anyone but as I am self employed I have to find balance ~ I save my time off for when I am too sick to actually work so that I pose minimal inconvenience to my clients ~ and they all seem to appreciate that about me

For me it is about finding a 'balance' of professionalism ... one of the largest cons any client choosing between a home based program and a centre program will share is that in home childcare the 'unreliability' of the provider and needing too much time off work is what makes them choose 'centre' care over our model ~ I want to minimize that con for clients where I can and be seen as professional in that I am THERE for the clients and if that means they agree to have their kid tag along to something so be it.

I have peers who take their daycare kids to the school concerts and even on school field trips so they can be 'there for their own kids' while still not having to close and inconvenience their clients ~ personally I think that is an awesome compromise as long as the clients are cool with it ... one of the great things about home childcare is its 'flexibility'!

These are all practices I make clear during the interview so obviously a potential client with your concerns would not sign a contract with a program like mine and that is cool ~ awesome thing about home based childcare is everyone is able to have a different business model so that there are options out there for every clients values ... no need to be cookie cutter childcare where we are all the same