How Long a Day Will You Agree To ?

[sunnydays]

My hours are 7:30-5:00pm, but each family has to choose nine hours of care per day within that time period. I used to be open until 5:30 and I HATED it! It was just so hard to get dinner ready and get my kids fed, bathed and to bed on time. Now I am often done at 4:30 and that feels so divine...totally worth getting up a bit earlier to open at 7:30 as I now have time to spend relaxing with my own kids before cooking dinner and they get to bed on time and I still have some time to relax in the evening. I think you are right to pass on that one...it makes life so much more stressful and tiring!

[Play and Learn]

My hours are 7:30 to 5:30, but in retrospect, I should have said I would close at 5. I did tell families that closing at 5:30 means I need to be out the door at 5:30 (two nights a week I have to leave for other commitments by 5:30, including teaching at the university). One Mom comes either right at 5:30 or a few minutes later if traffic is bad. I have told her repeatedly that 5:30 is the outside limit, not the time to aim for. New inquiries are being told the hours are 7:30 to 5:00, and when the one little girl goes to school in September, everyone else will have 5 pm as the outside limit.

Do you have a late fee? I would implement that ASAP with that mother!

[GymMom]

I have 1 dcg that is here from 6am - 6pm 1 - 4 days a week. I had just opened my dayhome when I agreed to take her on - against the advice of all the very wise ladies on this site. She is a great baby and parents are great too - but the days I have her are LONG. The early mornings don't bother me too much, but I HATE the late pick-ups as it really eats into my time with my family. My posted hours are 7:30 - 5:30 but I think I will change that to close by 5:00 as I have kids come and go.

[fruitloop]

My hours are from 7:30 - 5. I have 1 family that starts at 7 and they pay me extra to open just for them. I won't work past 5 for anyone.

[jodaycare]

For two weeks out of the month I work from 6 am to 5pm (some nights 5:30) and for the other two weeks I work from 6:30 am to 5 pm (sometimes 5:30). It is a really long day.

[Momof4]

I'm open from 7:30-5pm but work usually from 8am-4:45 and no family exceeds a 9 hour day. I charge fees for early or late or exceeding 9 hours and parents don't like to pay extra fees. I figure that most people work a 7.5 to 8 hour day and I'm giving them a whole extra hour for commuting, so 9 hours is the max.

[BrightEyes]

Thanks for all your thoughts and comments ladies. :flower I think I'll take a pass on this one. After some further questioning, she explained that she's commuting from Arnprior (quite a drive) so I "know" that she'll be arriving here closer to the 6 P.M. mark - especially with winter roads etc. I'll just have to hang in there and wait to find a family who' a better fit.

Yes, Arnprior is a good length of a drive! It would probably be a long day for you.

[Mama Drama]

I work 7 AM - 5 PM. Anything more is way too long for me and the child. My parents have been pretty good about pickups. Also, I make sure to include their scheduled pick-up time in their contract ie. 4:15 pm which helps.

[3xbluemom]

I am open 7:00 - 5:30 and will take kids for up to 10 hours during that time. Anything over 10 hours - so if they wanted the entire time, there is an extra fee. Although right now I have a couple part-timers who I have here noon-6 on Tuesdays. Their mom is a friend and I'm not full right now, so I deal with it, but at the end of this school year (because she doesn't work during the summer), I will be telling her that if I can't keep them past 5:30 next year. It runs into me making supper and stuff, and with my oldest starting kindergarten next year, I imagine life is just going to get that much busier.

[Momof4]

3xbluemom, 10 hours is a really long day. Children are really affected by that amount of time away from home, at least in my experience. Are you in a city where the parents have a really long commute time? That's crazy! Put your foot down and you will be amazed that the parents can make arrangements for dropoffs and pickups. They have family members, Mom, Dad, grandparents. Every one of my clients makes arrangements every day so that they never go over 9 hours. I just had a Mom who had to work overtime on Friday, yuck, but she was 1/2 an hour late so arrived with my late fee in her hand.

I adore the children in my care but I need my evenings and weekends and alone time for myself and my home and social life and my family and so do you!