Spin - Do you charge for YOUR vacation days?

[5 Little Monkeys]

This is how I view it....I am a small business owner that provides a service out of my home. If I am not open and am unable to provide the service, why should families pay me? I would not pay my plumber, hair dresser, nail artist etc for times that I am not able to use them.

I am in the same area as mickyc and superfun and like they said, it's not the norm for our area anyways so even if I did charge, I likely would have a hard time finding clients.

When I started, I decided to charge for 11 stat/civic holidays and be closed but at a $10 less per day fee. I also charge $10 less per day if the parent takes holidays. At the time, I was the only one I knew that did this. It was my incentive for parents to choose me but also an incentive for them to keep their child home when they could which then in turn makes my day easier It has worked beautifully! I very very rarely have children here on parents days off or parents holidays and I am still paid but not feeding or caring for their child so in the end, it balances itself. The parents like that they are getting a deal on these days and I like that I'm down in numbers and can sometimes go out on field trips in the car.

I am very lucky that we are in a good financial spot to be able to offer the care I do at the price I charge. If we were in debt and I needed all the extra money I could get, I would likely not offer the discount for the families vacation but I would still not charge for my vacation as it just doesn't feel right to me. Each to their own though!

*Just as a side note....Does anyone know any other small business owners that still get paid if they are not working? (other than daycare providers I mean) Genuinely curious...not starting a big debate lol