Petty complaints...

[5 Little Monkeys]

May I ask what sort of accommodations you provide for your parents and children at your centre daycare? I am genuinely curious.

I have worked in centres and now have my hdc. I can easily and honestly say that accommodating multiple families in a centre where there are plenty of staff is much EASIER than doing the same in a home daycare where there is often only one adult present. For sure there are things that we can be accommodating with in hdc's but that is up to each individual provider to decide. Only they know what their personal limits are and what is best for their group at the time.

For example, we had parents pick up late in centres often. It wasn't a big deal because we had staff scheduled 15 mins past closing time to deal with this. That's not an option in hdc...we are here open to close, for some that is 10-12 hours. We all have the right to having a life outside of work.

It is easier to accommodate a child that doesn't nap in a centre because there are multiple staff to entertain and supervise the children. In hdc, we don't get coffee breaks and lunch breaks without children unless they are all napping at the same time.

It is easier to accommodate children with behavioural issues in a centre because again, more staff. In some cases, children are paired with a staff and that staff member is responsible for only that child. In hdc's we are supervising 4-8+ in some cases and it's not as easy to care for a child that needs constant, individual attention while still giving quality care to the others.

In centres, staff have coworkers for moral support and to vent too. Hdcprovider's don't have this so daycarebear is like a group of coworkers to some of us. It allows us an outlet to vent, ask for help, tips and suggestions to better ourselves and our businesses. I don't think there is anything wrong with this as long as confidentiality is kept.

Yes, I am being paid for a service that I chose to offer.....but this is a service that I provide out of my home and that means that it's my rules. If a parent asks me to do something differently, it is up to me to decide if I want to accommodate that request or not. If a parent has a request that is unsafe or unrealistic for me to accommodate than I am not the right dc for that family and perhaps the family needs to consider centre daycare where accommodations are more easily adaptable. There were times that parents asked for things in centres as well and we would have to say no to them too. There are rules and policies in place for a reason. I would be leery of a place that accommodated to every request and I would likely not enjoy working there because just like children, I like consistency.