How Long a Day Will You Agree To ?

[Monday 2 Friday Mama]

I agree - I need to have some portion of the evenings free - both for business stuff (running to the grocery store to get fresh fruit for the daycare babies every couple of days, or if I'm interviewing families - I get a lot of families who are finding 6:30 P.M. too late to come by to meet with me.) and my own life. *Gasp* a daycare provider who wants to do more than just schlep babies all of her waking hours - imagine that ! ;D

I think the standard really varies. You have to do what you are comfortable with. I used to be open 7:30 - 5:30 but have gradually decreased as families leave and now I do 8-5. There is no way I could stay open until 5:45 now, that just creeps too far into my evening. For interviews, I just tell them my times and they have to either work within them or look elsewhwere. It's amazing how they can end up conforming to those times if they really want to.