Having them dressed at pick up *rant*

[bright sparks]

While it is not fun to endure the switch in behaviour once pick up time starts, I still do not have the children dressed to go. The room is pretty much picked up. Everything each child needs for home time is all set. I do gate a smaller area at the entrance way of the daycare and once the parent arrives, then I escort the child (de-toyed already) through the gate for the parent to get ready. I've opted not to have them ready to send out the door as I have overheard and been apart of many parent discussions where they view this as a red flag (or have been told it is a red flag). Some have pulled their child from other daycares because of it. Since we are not inspected this few minutes at drop off and pick up is their few minutes to view the daycare. Is it reasonably clean? How many kids are there? What is the general atmosphere/mood etc. Some say it creates a feeling like you just can't wait to get rid of their child for the day. An unwelcoming feeling, especially if they are picking up well before closing. Then of course there is a few that are the complete opposite and really just want to avoid the gong show at the end of the day and get home. So really you can't win I've just opted to limit the chaos.

I think you make an extremely valid point their Discoveries with regards to how parents will interpret their child being dressed and ready to go but there is no reason why you can't be upfront with parents on why you have them ready for pick up. If you give them an explanation then they are less likely to think you to be deceitful or preventing them from entering the daycare. I have lots of young ones right now so can not be away from them for more than a minute at pick up time incase they hurt themselves or get in to trouble as they are all cruising furniture right now on their way to walking independently. Also as soon as the door goes they all think it is their parent so start screaming and crying so I need to be able to diffuse that situation rapidly, not chase their child around or entertain them at the door for 10 minutes with casual chit chat. All my parents know that if they need to chat more extensively they can call or email before 7pm and I make sure at pick up they are given any necessairy feedback on the days events, although most parents get a quick update via text or email daily at their request. I'm not just passing the child out the door the minute they step in, they are all very clear from the start that pick up and drop off needs to brief as it is a high traffic time and very busy.