oh sandylynn that sucks! I have a child who's father works from home too, and looks after baby brother (16 months) at the same time...but still sends 4-yr-old dcg to me 3x a week. They base it over mom's schedule, which I understand, but I get pretty pissed when they ask me to keep her an HOUR later until mom is done work, when I know dad is already at home and could easily pick her up at regular pickup time, it just wouldn't be as "convenient" for them.

I am starting to realize there is a difference between clients that really NEED care and clients that just WANT it, if that makes sense. Clients that have a steady, full-time work schedule for both parents obviously NEED me, and they tend to appreciate me more than clients who are simply using me for "convenience" or to "give mom a break." In future, if I have a choice (which I probably won't, but one can dream I think I'll be trying to find clients who really need care, and hopefully that will stem the flow of people who, despite my warnings, continuously just don't show up, or show up hours late, or pick up late with no notice.

My hours are 7-5, which I recently shortened from 5:30...I agree with the rest, that last half hour was torture, especially when you're trying to get dinner started and clean up the kitchen after the tornado of craft time. It didn't help that my "problem" kids were here from 7-5:30 (or later) every day, even when their parents were off for the day or got done earlier. I am all for helping a client out every now and again, but when it just became an abuse of my lenience, it was one more nail in the coffin to terminate them.