I must not have sent the message I was working on during quiet time, its on my computer, I'll send it out tomorrow.

Anyway, in my area it is no longer 'this is how I run my business and seeing if the child/family is a good fit', now it is very much a parent dictating how we are going to run our business. Many caregivers in my area have agreed to reduced rates, non paid holidays, etc and other demands from parents. Its definitely a parents market. I really understand the necessity of making changes to meet parents demands to maintain an income level in a highly competitive market where there seems to be 3 times more spaces than there are children.

This is part of the reason why I find daycare so stressful these days. I need the income and there are several other caregivers who are just waiting to get their hands on new families. It's been so depressing, just 3 years ago, a group of about 10 caregivers would all get together at the park with our crews. Now, there is only 5 caregivers who still have children, non of us are full, 2 of us with 4 and the rest with only 1 or 2.

I pre-screened my families too with regarding to the field trips. All my families were good with the field trips and were told that when I won't do field trips. I really feel that they have forgotten, which is normal. My newest family has been with me for over 2.5 years, even I don't remember what we covered in the interview, I just know it is part of my interview process