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  1. #1
    Shy
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    Aug 2014
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    School pickup and Younger kids

    I have toddlers in my care during the day and my 4 year old son goes to J/K.
    I've always had to pick up with my toddler daughter in tow. Recently I've had to bring one or two extra toddlers. On a good day I don't mind breaking out the wagon and walking from the van to the school doors. However, lately it's been super cold and the conditions (piles of snow) of taking them out doesn't seem worth it when I can park in an area that I can see the van and wait until the doors have opened and hop out for no longer than 2 minutes to grab my son.
    Question to everyone is….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.

  2. #2
    Euphoric !
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    Ehhh...this is one of those things where you have to pick the lesser of evils. It's a lot of work and can be difficult to manage a handful of toddlers in a parking lot/street and they can be at increased risk when trying to do this in a hurry. At the same time, leaving kids in a car isn't ideal. Sadly many kids have come to harm even when left in eye sight...I read it in the news often enough. That said, locking the van is a big improvement over those that leave it running and/or unlocked!

    My main question is...would the parents be comfortable with what they see if they happened to be outside the school one day when you went for pick up? You need to be ready to explain yourself should they question you.

    School pick ups and bus runs are really inconvenient for home daycare providers. From what I read here many refuse to do them, and many started out doing them to ultimately realize it just isn't feasible. But, when it is a child of your own that needs picking up it means you have to tough it out, or find someone else to bring your child home for you.

    Do you think it is possible to find a older student at the school to walk your son to your car? Pay them a few bucks per day. The school likely has many walkers that could easily do this before they head home. Might be the easiest solution!

  3. #3
    Shy
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    Aug 2014
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    I've thought about hiring someone to help but my son has social anxiety and other issues and I feel more comfortable if it's someone that he knows very well and that's not possible.
    There's a couple other moms that do the same thing so I'm thinking maybe what we should do is possibly figure out a sort of way to watch each others and maybe take turns.
    One thing that comes in handy is my husband and I do shifts. If he's on afternoons then I only do the pick up at the end of the day. If he's on days then I only do the morning drop off.

    It makes me more nervous to have to set the wagon out to load it up or unload it of kids (that can get out at any point and take off if they really wanted to) than to leave them unattended. I'm comfortable enough to ask my parents if it's ok with them.
    2 of my moms leave infants in the vehicle while dropping their toddlers off and they come inside and sometimes even chat so I can't see them having an issue with me being in sight of my vehicle and out for 2 mins! lol You never know I guess.

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by Heather4 View Post
    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.
    Last edited by Rachael; 01-19-2015 at 07:17 PM.

  5. #5
    Expansive... Other Mummy's Avatar
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    I had this exact same problem last year when my daughter started JK. We hired a woman who does school runs only. She retired at the end of the year. This year my other daughter started JK so now I had 2 children to worry about getting to school. I asked any of the other mothers in my daughters class if they could pick up and drop off. We pay her $300 a month to do so, but I consider it insurance for the above reasons that Rachael pointed out.

    Talk to the office, get some names of possible candidates (other mums, neighbours, etc.). Once you've found someone you are comfortable with, have them over for coffee a few times. Have your son get to know them so that might help ease his anxiety.

    Good luck.

  6. #6
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    Wait a minute - if you husband/partner works shifts which facilitate you being able to nip to the school alone without the day care children, whilst he watches them in the warmth of your home - why isn't he doing the school run and you staying with the children you are paid to care for? It seems really odd that you would routinely leave under those circumstances - And, that's likely going to be the client's view too.

  7. #7
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    I think it sounds like her husband does the school run for her when he's able to. But I wouldn't necessarily have an issue with it working the other way either. It's fairly common around here for husbands to be a substitute in daycare.
    I hired an older student to walk my daughter to school. Unfortunately I still have to pick her up myself at the end of the day. If I was in your situation I would just ask each family which way they prefer, nice and warm in the van vs. In the wagon, near you at all times.

  8. #8
    Euphoric !
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    I personally don't like leaving kids unattended in vehicles but I can also see the issue with loading and unloading multiple children. I think the best would be if you could "hire" a student to walk your son to the van or if you and the other moms could work something out. Maybe one mom could stand watch over hers and your vehicle while you get your son and than you do the same so she can get her child. This would also allow you to talk to the teacher if need be.

    In regard to the husband watching dc children, I fail to see why this is a problem? Many daycare providers have a backup provider. It's a benefit to the parents because it eliminates some of the closures that may need to happen if a backup is not an option. Mine is an amazing backup....he works evenings so it works out great! The kids and parents love him

  9. #9
    Euphoric !
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    If driving the kids to the school isn't the problem can you arrange with another parent doing the same thing to take your child to the door and bring him back out to the car at the end of the day - maybe in exchange for one of you standing between the two cars to monitor the kids inside so neither of you have to take the kids out.

    Also see if there is a different way around such that if you arrived 10 minutes earlier you would have time to walk the long way around on what would be shovelled walkways and then have the toddlers walk with a stroller for the very youngest.

  10. #10
    Expansive... babydom's Avatar
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    don't need to b so harsh. Many home daycares have their husbands help out. And why not if they are home u have five kids and need a hand. In my home all the kids love my husband just as much as myself and he's barely here. Also parents would know a caregiver is married and therefor can enlist his help if he has a day off, working shifts, etc. just as a mom would ask her husband for help. As for the car. It is a bit tricky and risky to leave them alone. What I see as the best bet is to ask another mom/teacher to watch the van kiddos for a quick sec why u run in to grab ur son. Good luck. Hope it works out.

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