Dropping off early

[Inspired by Reggio]

Yup I agree with Judy ~ my hours of operation are set for a reason

If you arrive early you sit in your car until your car clock says I am open ~ if your clock is FAST than you best set it to MINE cause all my clocks match my computer and phone which are both automatically set to the online one the governments use to determine the 'time' and sets itself on daylight savings and power outages and so forth so is 'accurate'!

Their ability to PLAN their commute is not my problem

The reality is that unaddressed the 3 minutes early turns into 5 minutes, 7 minutes, 10 minutes and just keeps getting 'earlier' cause it is allowed and they get more time to 'relax' when they get to work and so forth ... I say this from experience in centre care where we had clients constantly doing this both at the start and end of the day and because staff 'rotated' and the consequence was never 'consistent' parents just kept doing it cause majority of time they got away with it and if not they just waited outside or paid the late fee if they got a staff member who enforced the rules

[michellesmunchkins]

What do you ladies suggest for those who are arriving early but your already open. This client is leaving in a few weeks, but I have others who are doing this as well. Technically, I am open at 6am. Her scheduled drop off time is 8:15. For the last few weeks they have been showing up at 7:35-7:45...no need for it since nothing has changed in their lives. STill the same commute etc. So technically I am open, but now she is getting 30-45 minutes of extra care without even asking me.

[Inspired by Reggio]

What do you ladies suggest for those who are arriving early but your already open. This client is leaving in a few weeks, but I have others who are doing this as well. Technically, I am open at 6am. Her scheduled drop off time is 8:15. For the last few weeks they have been showing up at 7:35-7:45...no need for it since nothing has changed in their lives. STill the same commute etc. So technically I am open, but now she is getting 30-45 minutes of extra care without even asking me.

This I would address in a few ways ~ a conversation that went something like ...

'I have noticed that there has been a gradual change in drop off time for XXXX resulting at earlier and earlier drop offs which is posing some challenges for the program. First as discussed at beginning of care I feel strongly that children need and thrive in consistency this is why upon enrollment we 'set' hours of care in our contract for service, second my arrival and departuress work best when 'staggered' so that there is proper parking spaces, room in the foyer, opportunity for me to support a child into or out of the program and so forth which is why I set hours of care upon enrollment with each new client to help plan this, also I plan daily activities and when to start and stop new things based on my hours of care so children are not arriving right at the end of something they will not be sad they missed or leaving in the middle of something 'fun' and finally I need my hours of care and actual care to match as close to possible for my record keeping and tax purposes of use of home for business and so for all these reasons I need you to please STICK to your hours of care as per our contract ~ if you need to CHANGE these than we can discuss that however if you are needing MORE hours than previously agreed up please note there would be additional fees because the fees your contract currently state are reflective of the hours agreed to at that point of signing that contract and how they fit into the aforementioned criteria at the time."

[apples and bananas]

That's exactly why I don't post "open" hours. I post close hours on my website cause that's the latest, but no open hours. And I never tell clients when other kids arrive. For example, I have one child that comes at 7am every day. A client once asked "I notice little suzie is here every day when I arrive, what time do you start? " My answer "Her drop off time varies some days... and then when she's sick or on vacation I get to sleep in a little" This way they don't know.

Again, I have a great system. My front door is open and welcoming when I'm open and closed when I'm not. If my door is shut then someone has gotten something wrong! Some days I have a drop off at 7 and then not until 8:30. My door opens at 5 to 7 and closed after the arrival until 8:25. It's how I control it.

[Inspired by Reggio]

I wish I lived somewhere I felt safe to leave my door open

I use to be the same way Apples and Bananas ~ open door policy where they just came in. But in the past couple years we've had daytime home invasions in this neck of the woods and another time someone robbed a bank and took refuge in a house 4 doors down from me and we had our area 'locked down' and swat teams on the street and at each house

So now my door is now ALWAYS locked here even when we are home and clients have to 'knock or ring' .... only time it is not locked is if I have a client who has arrived and not 'left' and another one shows up for them.

When we upgraded our door I had order that an extra 'hole' be put in cause I had intended to have a keycode deadbolt put in above over the handle so I could have that locked during business hours but give clients a code to let themselves in and lock it when they leave again ... and than the door handle would house a second deadbolt that would be locked anytime we are not open for business .... however the bloody door game and they made the upper deadbolt hole 'smaller' than the door handle whole cause apparently 'standard deadbolts' are smaller but the key code lock will not fit cause it is not 'standard size deadbolt' it is door handle size whole ~ so not it sits there waiting for us to find someone who is willing to make the hole 'bigger' for us ~ so far no one is willing to try cause its a stainless steel door and if they 'screw up' it is not 'fixable'

[fruitloop]

If a parent shows up early I tell them they are early and I don't open until 7:30am. I go by my cell phone time. I tell them that even though it's only 5 minutes and it doesn't seem like much, I can get A LOT done in 5 minutes. They get it the first time I tell them and are never early again!.

[Momof4]

I said on page 1 that I open at 7:30 and would not open my doors one minute early. But I'm very lucky that my first clients are usually here at 8am and most of them are like clockwork for dropoff and pickup times.

Then I have one family who arrive anytime between 8 and 8:30 and pickup anywhere between 4 and 4:30. I never know exactly when they will be here morning or evening, but it's ok and doesn't bother me. If they were coming after 9am and I want to be out the door to go someplace at 9 I'd be mad. And if they were coming late and were the last pickup of the day I'd be mad again, but they are the 2nd last pickup of the day so they are not making me mad.

It's different in every case for everybody's situation because we are all different.

[apples and bananas]

I wish I lived somewhere I felt safe to leave my door open

I use to be the same way Apples and Bananas ~ open door policy where they just came in. But in the past couple years we've had daytime home invasions in this neck of the woods and another time someone robbed a bank and took refuge in a house 4 doors down from me and we had our area 'locked down' and swat teams on the street and at each house

I just locked my door.

[Inspired by Reggio]

I just locked my door.

Sorry did not mean to spread my paranoia

[apples and bananas]

Sorry did not mean to spread my paranoia

LOL, I live in a fairly safe area and lucky for me I have family on both sides of me always home. As it is my backdoor is always unlocked cause my hubby comes home through the back door several times during the day, he works close. My set up is just really good for a daycare arrangement.