Quote Originally Posted by Serendipity View Post
Like I said, I am not allowed to continue trying to prove my point. But I will respond to your post.

Your neighbor did not receive a single thing for Christmas from her parents. Nothin', nada, zilch. Not even a thank you so apparently receiving year end bonuses and gifts isn't the norm everywhere as much as some people think.

Maybe I am wording my thoughts wrong and this quote says what I am meaning better.......

"Our culture is changing. The way that most parents look at child care is that it's terribly expensive and "too much" in the first place.

All the effort and gift giving providers do for their families isn't going to be something the families translate into honoring the provider in the same way because they don't believe they should or they believe YOU (the provider) should be the one doing the celebration and giving. If that's what they believe then it may be time to believe them and follow in line to that belief.

If you are dealing with clients that have this belief system it may be best to just stay out of the Christmas loop completely and carry on as you normally do throughout the year. If you do a bunch of Christmas stuff with the kids and for the parents you actually may be setting a thought process in their minds that your ROLE as a provider is to GIVE to them. It may actually backfire on you and leave you empty and sad.

You don't have to do crafts, parties, gifts for the kids, gifts from the kid to the parents etc. You can go with the belief system the parents have and not do a Christmas between your kids, clients, and yourself.

If you really want a year end bonus or gifting why not consider building a paid vacation into the end of the year for YOU to look forward to? If you are already doing that then maybe another idea is to raise your rates two dollars a week per client and put that one hundred dollars a year per kid away and have THAT be your year end bonus. "
Was the neighbor part directed towards me? I don't know who you are speaking of but I will take your word for it.

I do agree with the rest of your post. I don't do much as far as crafting and our xmas party is mostly home made stuff. When I do a party the parents are wonderful about pitching in. Some do cash and some bake or buy pizza for us.

I would encourage providers who don't have year end bonuses to set up some kind of weekly fund to go into a year end fund. I've suggested before things like a "party and paper" pot where the parents give two dollars per week per child into the fund which would cover any party expenses, craft expenses, and some leftover money for the provider at the end of the year. Each slot doing two dollars a week will land a hundred dollars per year per slot to cover celebrations and give the provider some extra coin at years end.

Ask for coins and have the pot in the arrival and depature area so parents can see it grow. Use the sorting of the coins as an activity once a month and stash the money away. That way you have money for little presents or crafts and a little something for yourself.