Getting Parents Out The Door
A provider’s biggest pet peeve is when parents don’t pick up on time. Now you and your family are also late for any activities you might have had planned for the night. It’s especially frustrating when this makes your child late for their activities. Whether they show up late or are just a talker, you need to speed them on their way so your life can go on, make your dinner, or get to your doctors appointment.
Some parents always run late and always have a reason for it and that will never change. There’s no changing them. Some parents are clueless that you have a life after day care so you’ll have to get tough, be direct, and lay it on the line with them. That can be hard for even the most seasoned providers.
The first step is identifying what activities are important to you and you family and then explaining to the parent that they can’t be late. When parents are late it’s because they are completely clueless or they have made a conscious decision that their life is more important than yours. Secondly, you need to be brave and let them know how you feel. Ask them how they would feel if their child missed a ball game or if they had to cancel a doctor’s appointment. When all else fails take things in your hands. You must decide if this chronically late family is worth the trouble and if they are, how can you make it work.
A real good trick is to never tell these parents what time your appointment is or they’ll decide what time to pick up at. By setting the pick up time you can build in whatever cushion you need. If you have an afternoon appointment you may need to take the whole afternoon off. Make sure to communicate verbally and visually. A newsletter or a note on the door works well and follow up with a reminder the night before. Some parents will still claim they never knew. Make sure they have back up day care and help them find it if necessary. Be firm and let them know that missing your appointment or getting to the game late is not an option. On the really important things I’ll take a half-day or even the full day off so I don’t have to worry about someone being late.
Sometimes we need to have a helper on hand so we can get to our appointments. My helper charges me a flat rate per hour and I let the parents know ahead of time this cost will be passed on to them if they are late and they are required to pay a very high hourly rate on the spot. Most parents don’t like that.
My closing time has a fifteen-minute grace period and if they are later than that or they are just hanging out my overtime rate kicks in. You may want to have some parents log in and out so you can keep track of their time and make a point. Some long-winded parents just keep on visiting and have no idea how the time adds up.
When dealing with late or longwinded parents providers must decide how tough to get and then be firm about it. From first hand experience I know that it’s neither easy nor fun to lay this on a parent. So good luck to you and find a friend or another provider for encouragement and support. Hopefully the parents will understand where you are coming from.
Patti Jo Lawrenz
pjltips@aol.com
