What hours do you keep?

[fruitloop]

I didn't really know what to set my hours at when i started my home daycare last year so I set Monday to Friday 7am to 6pm. I find it to be a very long work day sometimes when the kids get dropped off just after 7am and most of the time don't get picked up until after 530pm. I have been thinking about closing earlier (maybe 5pm or 530pm) because some days we don't eat dinner until 7pm or 730pm.

I sometimes think that my parents take advantage of me and leave their kids here for the whole 11 hours because they can (I have subsidized daycare children). They don't work long shifts and i know they are able to pick up their kids earlier but they choose not to.

I don't want to lose the kids I have but I don't want to lose my family time too.

They ARE taking advantage of you if they don't work that long of a shift but choose to keep the kids there that long. An 11 hour day for kids? Are you kidding me? No way would I work an 11 hour day. 9.5 - 10 hours is sometimes to long. There is no reason a child needs to be in daycare for 11 hours/day. That's brutal and I feel sorry for kids that are there that long.

[Play and Learn]

I sometimes think that my parents take advantage of me and leave their kids here for the whole 11 hours because they can (I have subsidized daycare children). They don't work long shifts and i know they are able to pick up their kids earlier but they choose not to.

I don't want to lose the kids I have but I don't want to lose my family time too.

I ask parents what time they need the daycare, so I know when the child is coming, and when he/she is leaving. This gives me an advantage, especially if I can have a school-ager come before and/or after school. My parents are great as they let me know if they're going to be early/late for drop off/pick up.

For example: My hours are 7:30-5 - child A comes from 9-5, child B comes from 8-4:30, child C (school-ager) comes from 7:30-8:30 a.m.