I made up my contract recently to give myself two weeks unpaid off. Parents pay regardless of attendance, meaning they pay if their child is sick or if they take holidays. I do however give them three sick days unpaid per calendar year. I also ask for a two week deposit which is for the last two weeks that the child is in my care. I do that as a safety net, as they can never just walk away leaving me flapping in the wind. I have also decided to be paid in advance from now on, so that's in the new contract as well. If care commences more than two weeks from the signed contract, I require 20% of weekly fees until the start date. In addition to this, I require the contract to be filled out along with other paperwork and the deposit to be returned within one week of the interview if they want the spot. I just had two kids sign on in the past week under the new contract, and parents from both families deemed my contract as "standard".

One thing though...I just signed on a teacher. She said that she knows that it's normal for her to pay holding fees, but I haven't decided what to charge for that yet. I have an entire year to worry about it though, so I am not stressing.