Cutting back a day?

[MsBell]

I'm not sure what I should do, I had a child unexpectantly give me notice (mom quit her job to stay home) This little girl was my only full timer, the rest are part time (less then three days a week). I have a new little one starting in the fall, full time. I have advertised that I have a spot, but no interest yet. My question, with my full timer gone, and the new one not starting until fall, on Monday and Tuesdays I only have one child here (different ones) I really don't relish the idea of working all summer, two whole days for one child, so I thought I would take Mondays off.....how do I bring this up the the parents? Do I ask them, or tell them? I am okay if they come tuesdays instead, or just take the day off, but I can not afford to lose them all together (this child comes Wednesdays and Fridays too) What do I do? I LOVE the idea of having Mondays off, but don't want to be difficult for these parents.

[Judy Trickett]

What do I do? I LOVE the idea of having Mondays off, but don't want to be difficult for these parents.

Then you take it off. You tell parents your hours/days are changing and you go forth. Does Walmart ask YOU if they can change their operational hours? YOU are your own boss. Do what is right for you. Period.

There are some really great dcfamilies out there. But, that being said I know with 100% certainty that they ALWAYS do what is right for THEM, when it is right for THEM. So, you need to do what is right for you. And if you want to take Monday's off then take it off.

I started working a four day week back in 2009 and haven't looked back. I LOVE it. And I have absolutely no problems finding clients.

[5 Little Monkeys]

While I do agree with Judy that you should do what is best for you, I think comparing a small hdc to a giant corporation like walmart is silly. We are small business owners and we have to think long term what is best for our business to keep us in business.

If you can afford to take the loss in pay and you think the clientele available to you will support it, than I say go for it!! Having 3 day weekends would be fantastic and something that I know I would really enjoy. However, that being said, there are a lot of hdc's (and centre dc's) in my city so being open one less day than the others would not serve me well business wise.

Enjoy it if you take it though!! I would in a heartbeat if it was the right choice for me

[MonkeyPrincess]

i would definitely approach the family to try to rearrange the days that the child comes. I would make it sound like you have made up your mind, just so you aren't easily swayed by some smooth talking parent who wants things their way. Ask them if they can come on different days. See how it goes. I wouldn't want you to lose them altogether, but if you can condense your workweek to four days, then woo hoo for you! Do you know exactly why the child comes Mon, Wed, Fri? Were those days you chose or the parents chose?

In the fall, i will be condensing all my kids to four days too. I will only have 2 full timers who come 4 days a week, and 2 part timers who will each come 2 days a week (they share a full time spot). My kids will both be in school full time and i plan on making Fridays 'my day' so i can volunteer in their school, clean, do groceries or just simply take the day off for myself. It will be lovely, and i can't wait

[Lee-Bee]

If it is just for the summer make sure you tell them that. They may be more than willing to take the Mondays off as their vacation. Make it sound appealing to them. If you take Mondays off will you still take a full week or two off? If not them tell them that due to your lighter load on Mondays and Fridays you have decided that in place of 1 or 2 weeks of solid vacation you will take every Monday off until September. This means they don't have to coordinate the weeks you take off with their holidays or find alternate care. Spin it so they win too.

[Secondtimearound]

I did basically the same thing ! I just asked if they could switch days around , so now I am Monday , Tuesday and Wednesdays !!! Thursday and Friday off !!!
I am interviewing a family and they wanted Tuesday , Wednesday and Thursdays , I said yes I would but when she found out the days I worked she said she would switch days to the same ones !!! Yay !!! Hopefully everything works out tonight !!! At the interview !!
I say just explain and see if they can switch things !!!
Good luck !!! Long weekends are great !!!

[nschildcare]

You can make the rules as you want. Just realize that your current families may not be able to make the new schedule work for them and may have to leave. Give them enough of a time frame (whatever your termination notice is in your contract) to make alternate arrangements if they need to. In other words, don't drop a bomb on them a week before.

I think it's all in how you approach this. I see two ways:
1 - You don't want to lose them. ASK them if they can change the days as you would like to have Mondays off for the summer months only. If they have back up care available, and are a good family, chances are good they can manage. You never know until you ask!
2 - You don't mind if you lose them. TELL them that your hours are changing for the summer months. While you hope that they can make it work with their schedules, if they can't, the last monday you are available for care is X date.

I have done both of these with families when I have needed to make changes to my hours/schedule etc for various reasons. I never share the reasons of why, just state it as is. Once I lost a family (and that was ok, I made the changes to 'help' them leave) and the other 3 times the families have been able to make the necessary changes and stay on.

I always try to weigh out both sides so it is 'fair', but in the end, I am the one who has to live with my decisions and I come first. (and no way would I want to work for one kid only over the summer - feel you there).

good luck!

[bright sparks]

I have only been working M-Th since September. While I don't regret it I can't tell you how many families I have had to turn away because I can't accommodate their 5 days a week. A lot more families only want 4 days these days and grandma has the child one day a week so its not like there are no parents who can't work a 4 day week but it's still not the majority at least in my area. Because I have chosen to lose a day I am also very strict on filling the 4 day spots with 4 days not someone who needs 3 days as I can not afford the loss. I have had a spot open for quite some time now. I had kids leave in Sept for JK and that left me with 1 kid M-Th, 1 kid Tues, Thurs and 1 kid M,T,Th so my numbers were very low. I managed to get a M-Th signed up for Nov start and another for Jan start and my T,Th kid left at Xmas. So now I have 1 full time spot and a spare day but my 3 day week kid will be leaving in Sept too. Regularly I consider picking up the Friday again when I am saturated in 5 day week enquiries but I have to stand my ground and focus on the benefits of having that day off. A 4 day week is fantastic and totally doable for many families but we can not control who enquires and no matter how many people suggest that if a family wants to make it work they will, this just isn't reality. Just because you want something doesn't mean you can do it.

[daycaremum]

I have Thursdays off. I have one specific family of 2 that doesn't need Thursday care, and I had every other kindy kids that didn't need every other Thursday. So after the kindy kids left I just decided to not be available to anyone on Thursdays. I have missed out on clients that needed 5 days a week and I am in a smaller community so it took about a year to fill 2 empty spots.
I will again have two empty spots in September after a year of being full, and I am fully aware that it may be difficult to find new kids that can go somewhere else on Thursdays, but I'm prepared for that.
Once the family that doesn't need Thursday care is done with daycare (their youngest is just turning two) I think I will switch to being closed on Fridays. That's a while off yet, so we'll see how it keeps going for me as far as finding clients who can manage the 4 days a week.