This doesn't bother me to be honest - although I know other providers that get annoyed by it. Sometimes they drop their children at the scheduled times and sometimes they shoot me an e-mail the night before to ask if a later drop off would cause any inconvenience to the planning and if so, would I prefer regular time or by a certain time so not to mess up my plans. Likewise, they often pick up a bit early too if they have had the day running errands.

Either way, as a single parent myself who would have loved a half day to herself when they were little, I can absolutely understand how productive a day off work without the children would be. Fair play to them if they are able to swing it for themselves from their vacation entitlement.

Different parents have different parenting stills and some prefer a little time to themselves and don't feel driven to sharing every second with their children. It's certainly not my place as a day care provider to get annoyed about the choices others make for themselves regarding their down time.