School pickup and Younger kids

[Rachael]

s….how bad do you think leaving the toddlers in the van is? They are all kept buckled and I take the keys and lock up when I get out. Again…I only do it if I have full visual of my vehicle.
I just think that some days they are more safe inside the van and staying there than it is for me to haul them all out.

I think it's really bad, sorry but I do. Sure it's unlikely anything will happen but that's not the point. You are being paid to care for children and leaving your own unattended is bad enough but someone else's! Yikes!

If you truly believe that this is acceptable - tell all the parents of these kids. Let them determine if they view it as okay. If you aren't willing to do that, then deep down you know that they would be less than impressed, quite rightly.

I don't know about the regs there, but here, registered provider or not, your would be shut down.

We've had providers shut down for leaving the babies napping in their cribs and walking to the end of their driveway to meet the school bus that stops right there.

Not acceptable, on any level, IMO.

I understand the issue with an anxious child but that's a further complication which you need to resolve not at the expense of the client's children.

If my child were in your care and I found out you were leaving my son in your car to tend to your own, I would pull him immediately and I would report you too for negligence. See, the problem is, people are really protective of their children and when they are paying someone to care for their child, they expect you to actually be there. Not in a building, or nearby where you can see the car, they expect you to actually be with the child.

As a side comment - unless I'd agreed in advance to your husband sitting with the kids when you did the school run, I'd also have a really big issue with that. If I'm reading that correctly, you leave the premises with your partner caring for the client's kids, to pick up or drop off. I wouldn't accept that either - again, I am paying YOU to watch my child, not your family members. If I had agreed to it in advance, I'd have wanted police and abuse checks for him too.