A rates question...

[playandlearnhere]

Hello all,

I am new here. I just started doing daycare for a neighbor who had to return to work after a leave of absence. Her husband was working contract work, just 3 or 4 days at a time, then a week off. So I was 'on call', but lots of breaks in between.

Yesterday, they informed me that he would take a full-time nights job starting last night. So now he wants to leave the kids for 4 to 6 hours (he won't know how long), every day. Today he fell asleep and didn't bring the kids until 10 am. (yes, that means a 3 yo and 4 yo were playing while he slept). They were here for only 4 hrs today, but had morning snack, lunch and afternoon snack. I felt like I spent the whole time preparing food and then he picked them up right after their afternoon snack!

Would you charge more? How would you set up a fee for this type of day? Tomorrow he said he'll drop them off earlier so that he can just go to sleep. So, maybe it will be 6 hrs and I'll be able to justify charging for a full day.

Thanks in advance for your advice!

[Wonderwiper]

If I'm serving lunch I would charge full fees. Maybe you could come up with a flat rate that you charge, regardless of actual hours.

[playandlearnhere]

I was doing full day / half day flat rates. But with him working night shift now, I could see him maximizing those 4 hours to his benefit. He doesn't like being a stay at home Dad. Hopefully he'll be tired enough in the AM that he'll drop the kids early. I told him today that he could drop them as early as 7 am. I'd rather have them early and be paid a full day, than have them for 4 hrs and be running around making food all day.

[MonkeyPrincess]

This is my opinion but personally I would charge a daily flat rate as well, and i would need a better idea of the hours the kids would be there. If the dad got a full time night job, then is he working the same hours every night? If so, then he would sleep for a set amount of hours during the day, right? I understand that you are still trying to work out the kinks, but i always prefer more details. Are the kids coming every day now?

If you you feel bad about charging for a full day if they are only coming for part of the day, then charge 5 -10 dollars less, depending on your rate. if you regularly charge 30 per day, charge 25. You have to give them snacks and a meal, that means they are there for a good portion of the day. Don't undersell yourself. You are still working a full day regardless of how many hours these kids stay.

[cfred]

I also used to do half day and full day rates. Now I only offer full day. Realistically, you're not going to be able to fill that other half day with another child, so it's money out of your pocket to accommodate someone else's schedule. You can't even count on regular hours as he's shifting it around. If a child attends my daycare for 1 hour or 10, it's the same fee....no exceptions. That would be my recommendation, but I can probably bet you're second guessing yourself because you don't want to take advantage of a client. Trust me....you're not. This is a business and any large daycare would have the same policy. You need to look after your own interests.

[5 Little Monkeys]

I'm just curious as to why they had both snacks and lunch at your place in a time span of 4 hours? I give meals and snacks at pretty much the same time every day and it's over a 6 hour period. That is too much food in 4 hours IMO.

I charge a flat daily rate (except for one family...they are grandfathered in to some new rules but they very rarely send her a half day so it doesn't matter) but if you want to charge a half day rate that is up to you but I wouldn't be giving half day children all 3 meals/snacks.

I would also set up some boundaries....dad can't just drop off whenever he feels like it. I don't know about you but I am a daycare with a program not just a drop off centre.

[Lee-Bee]

Unless he is consistent with his hours whether he uses you for 4hrs or 6hrs your whole day is shot. If you don't know ahead of time when he is coming and going you can't make plans or run errands or do anything but sit around waiting. Therefore, full day fees and he can arrive and go as he pleases (within reason) or firm hours with a slight discount.

All that said, I wouldn't take on such a family as it is hard on the kids to not have consistency and when it's hard on the kids it is hard on you.

[playandlearnhere]

I'm just curious as to why they had both snacks and lunch at your place in a time span of 4 hours? I give meals and snacks at pretty much the same time every day and it's over a 6 hour period. That is too much food in 4 hours IMO.

I charge a flat daily rate (except for one family...they are grandfathered in to some new rules but they very rarely send her a half day so it doesn't matter) but if you want to charge a half day rate that is up to you but I wouldn't be giving half day children all 3 meals/snacks.

I would also set up some boundaries....dad can't just drop off whenever he feels like it. I don't know about you but I am a daycare with a program not just a drop off centre.

Agreed. We always do snack at 10:30 am, lunch around 12:30 and afternoon snack at 2:30. Their kids were starving right after lunch. I mean they ate everything I put out for snack and then again at lunch, I put out more food and they ate all of it. By 1:45 they were 'starving' again, so I put out a plate of apple slices. It was ridiculous today. I wonder if they didn't eat breakfast?

I really do need to work on setting boundaries. Right now they are walking all over me and have no idea that it really matters. I tell them what I need, but I'm not good at being firm.

I think I need to adjust my contract/agreement with them this weekend, and sit down with them. In light of the changes to his employment, there need to be changes to our agreement.

Since I don't have any other clients (just this families 3 children and my own), they tried to tell me that I have to take their kids 5 days a week, since I had agreed to watch the kids until the end of the summer. But I had to put my foot down and say that I will not do more than 3 days a week, as per our original agreement.

I don't want to be a full-time day care right now. My own kids are still very young and I am not ready to dedicate myself solely to this job.

I really appreciate all the advice from you seasoned veterans! I think that next time I need to set up a contract, I will meet with someone who has more experience and see if they can help me close some of the loop-holes!

[Busy ECE mommy]

Charge a set flat rate per day. I don't do 1/2 day rates, as you can't fill the spot the rest of the time. Ask him to drop off earlier, so there is a consistent routine in place for their day.
I do snack at 915am/lunch 12pm/snack 315pm
Do these kids not nap at your house? Why don't you suggest a 9-3ish schedule, then the snacks and meals will be spaced more appropriately.

[5 Little Monkeys]

Ahh I see. I was trying to figure out how 3 meals/snacks would fit into 4 hours lol. IMO, you need to space it out a bit more. If they are only there for 4 hours they don't need to be eating right at drop off and than every two hours after that. They are 3 and 4 so they old enough to wait until snack IMO. I would feed them twice and thats it, especially depending on how much you are getting paid.

You will need to set boundaries with the parents as well as the children. Since they are the only family you look after, I would definitely set up a schedule. If it's 9-3 or whatever, this allows you to plan your day with your own children for when you are done work. It would be nice to know if you had time to run to the store before they got there or whatever it may be. I wouldn't want to just be sitting at home waiting for them to show up and than wondering when my day was over.

Good luck!!