We have a situation at our daycare centre that some of you may be familiar with. Due to the regulations surrounding licensed childcare facilities and the exorbitant cost of running such a centre, there are sometimes issues when it comes to dropping Everly off in the morning. The ratio of adults to infants/toddlers is 1:4 which means if Everly is child 5 to arrive in the morning, and that arrival occurs before the next staff member starts their day, the parents have to wait. It’s complicated. In an attempt to keep costs low, the centre works to keep staff levels to a minimum and not pay staff to sit there when there aren’t enough children. One of the ways they work to combat this is to have a staggered start schedule that combines the infant and toddler programs at the beginning and end of the day.
2 staff member start at 7:30am, one in the infant program and another in the toddler. That means there are 8 spots for children to arrive. On most days, 24 children attend total. At 8:30am, a 2nd staff member starts on the infant side which means we’re up to 12 spots, split between the groups. As long as there is space on one side, you can drop your child off and leave. But if you’re lucky #13, you’ve got to wait until the next staff member comes on at 9:00am. Don’t even worry about what happens if you arrive at 9:05am to find 16 kids already in attendance because then? You’ve got to wait until 9:30am.
While some days we arrive at 8:20am to find 2 staff members and 3 children, there are way more days when we arrive at 8:34am to 3 staff members and 12 children, and are asked to stay until 9:00am to retain the ratios.
If you’re doing the math that is 26 minutes of time I should be working or could have been sleeping, that I am instead standing in the childcare centre I pay $1224/month to, to essentially watch my own child. This can be infuriating. It has the domino effect of making me (and the hubs since we do drop off together) late for work, which makes me later to leave, which means she’s there longer in the day, which means the centre is deluded into thinking they need to back end load the staff to retain ratios. It’s dizzying.
This is a conversation that goes on and on with the centre. While parents understand that there are rules, they are also often in a hurry and being asked to wait over 20 minutes can feel like an eternity. Newsletter are sent out frequently, asking parents to adjust their schedules to reduce these complications. Unfortunately MOST parents take that as an indication that they need to arrive earlier, and the race is on. We’re all running it. Who can get there sooner?
Seriously it gets to the point where, if we’re in a particular rush and we see another parent coming, I stop and wonder if I should REALLY hold the elevator for them or not. The first in first out rule gets ugly when you’re trying to get to work on time. I would never be so rude as to actually race, but I’d be lying to say if I haven’t day dreamed about it. On the flip side, there are some great parents in the program with flexible start times (us included) who will offer to stay even though they were technically through the door 1.5 minutes before you and are technically allowed to leave. It even gets silly to the point where we’re all arguing who can stay, who should go and bartering for a trade off the next time.
On the days I have 100000 things to do, I am so frustrated with the system I want to scream. Why am I paying for childcare I cannot freely use during the open times? Why isn’t there a better system here? Don’t they know this is a waste of my precious time? Why am I standing here watching you do your job instead of doing mine? And WHY did I choose to hit snooze one more time because I KNOW if I didn’t HIS mom would be standing here in cold sweats as the prep time for her morning meeting slowly slips away instead of me…..
I know, it is kind of an awful to think that way. One of those working mom things you don’t like to talk about. I really am standing there, wishing the time away, holding my breath and trying not to take my frustrations out on the lovely and amazing daycare professionals. It’s not their fault, they don’t make the rules or the schedules and they sure as heck do enough but, sometimes you just want to SNAP! It isn’t because I don’t love my kid enough or because I want to get away from her or because I prefer working over mothering. It’s not that at all. It’s that this is our routine, I have plans and responsibilities, and while my employer is more than flexible and understanding I have clients, many of whom are located in a time zone 3 hours ahead of me, and none of whom want to hear “sorry I missed our meeting, I was playing with playdough.” (I try not to schedule anything until 10:00am PST but you East Coasters and your 6am starts!)
It just feeds into the guilt I already lug around. Shouldn’t I enjoy those extra minutes with my daughter in the day? Shouldn’t I just embrace that time, spend it with her while she gives me a tour of her favourite toys? Shouldn’t I just be happy that everything else at this place is amazing, and realize that parenting is a logistical nightmare, and that no matter my best intentions there are days where things just will not go according to plan?
Of course I should but sometimes, I just can’t. Mommy brain has to make room for Employee brain in the mornings. It’s a shared space, but when Employee brain is knocking on the door, Mommy brain runs and hides. Mommy brain is all sunshine and roses and toddler kisses, but Employee brain is a nagging hag of deadlines and task lists, and she is louder and meaner. Most of the time she waits until I’m en route to work, but on the days that we’re standing at daycare too long, she invades. She starts her psychological warfare and Mommy brain can do nothing but retreat and start up the guiltcycle in anticipation of 5:00pm, where she will prove to me that yes, she too can nag and yes, I am a terrible human being.
Does your daycare do this? How do you handle it? Are you able to just go with the flow and embrace those extra mommy minutes, or do you start climbing the walls and screaming inside your own head like SOMEONE I know?
ETA: The centre does keep track and make adjustments. Actually, since I originally wrote this, I emailed one of the directors and discussed my difficulties. She said they knew it was happening and were in the process of adjusting and have since had a staff member starting at 8:45am instead of 9am and it has made all the difference! I love and adore my daycare, and completely understand why this happens. It’s still frustrating but I know they do their best and are working on it.
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I had never heard of this problem before, but I’d imagine quite a few people face it! That would definitely make a morning more hectic than it already is.
Oh, and $1224/month? Holy. Hell.
Shannon recently posted..Beyond Compare
It’s the going rate here for sure. It’s hard to manage but I am used to it and at least have the luxury of a flexible start time.
Brandee recently posted..“We Have Kids For Our Kids”
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We don’t have this problem because our center staffs more people in the morning than the afternoon. Pick up times range from everywhere between three and six (teacher’s kids get to leave earlier than us 8 – 5′ers), but most drop off occurs between 6:30 and 7:30.
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They do this too but the problem at our centre is, regardless of the drop off times, everyone seems to be leaving their kids there until the very very end, meaning the HAVE to have staff on in the afternoon. There are a lot of times where the morning is over staffed so they have made adjustments to, ha, keep costs down.
Brandee recently posted..“We Have Kids For Our Kids”
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Wow. In my opinion, that is ridiculous. You pay A LOT of money to have your child in daycare full time, that should mean that you are able to drop them off from opening to close and it’s their responsibility to properly staff. Do they charge you $1/min you are late to pickup? I would suggest $1/min deduction off tuition for every minute that they aren’t properly staffed.
Twitter: jessieyeager
OH! I loveeee this!
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I actually don’t know what happens if we’re late on pick up as it’s never happened to us. I agree that it’s ridiculous, but I also understand their reasoning. They are very transparent with the cost of running the centre and what we pay, and it’s already only 70%, so I know they are doing their best. Which, on a busy morning, isn’t actually making me feel better.
Brandee recently posted..“We Have Kids For Our Kids”
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Wow that sounds terrible! My center is big enough that they have a few floater staff to cover breaks. Sometimes there is a shuffle in the morning and you have to wait a few minutes while they get a staff from a room that doesn’t need the coverage to move to where they do, but I have never had to wait longer than a few minutes.
It generally seems that people drop their kids off and pick them up around the same times though at my daycare, and they do keep track of it, so the director can make schedule adjustments if they need more coverage. I would hope they would be tracking this and realizing maybe someone needs to get in earlier, then make the change.
Twitter: katieyoda
They do keep track and make adjustments. Actually, since I originally wrote this, I emailed one of the directors and discussed my difficulties. She said they knew it was happening and were in the process of adjusting and have since had a staff member starting at 8:45am instead of 9am and it has mad all the difference!
I’m really not sure why the drop off times swing so widely but, I suspect it’s the old West Coast mentality of flexible work days heehee.
Brandee recently posted..“We Have Kids For Our Kids”
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Our $1300/mo daycare (ouch, yes, that hurts to say) has full-time “floaters” that help out in the morning until the second teacher arrives – they serve as back-up for the several different rooms at our daycare/school – when teachers need to go to the bathroom, eat lunch, etc. Thankfully there isn’t ever an issue because there is always a “floater” available – and on the rare occasion that there isn’t a floater, then the director or other staff go in.
We have floaters too but, the issue is when we need 2 floaters and only have 1. It’s a game they play balancing budgets and staffing, and sometimes it works, others it doesn’t. This centre has several locations and so the directors aren’t actually on site full time. It’s so complicated.
I feel better that other people pay what we do for care! Everyone always chokes when I tell them!
Brandee recently posted..“We Have Kids For Our Kids”
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I’ve never heard of that before! I’m not sure if it’s common here in Minnesota or not. My daughter goes to a home daycare, so we do not have that issue. Of course home daycare has its own downsides (like the provider taking vacation time, etc – for the record, i’m 100% on board with) which I’m sure you don’t have at a center. I hope they figure something out! Good luck!
Ha well we have closures over Christmas AND Pro D days like in school so, it still happens but, definitely a different word in home vs. centre. I mean, I think, I’ve never taken her to a home centre.
Brandee recently posted..“We Have Kids For Our Kids”
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Our pre-school has a rigid drop-off window so school starts between 8 and 8:25, and you only get so many lates a yr before getting fined. That way, they have the right # of staff. It up to us to keep a schedule, but that’s so much better than what you describe. That would ruin my whole day! Especially feeling guilty for not appreciating the extra time. I would find a new school.
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That would infuriate me much much more. A rigid drop off would mess up my whole day. I need flexibility because as you know, toddlers often have their own ideas of how the morning would go.
I LOVE LOVE LOOOOOOOVE her school and, even if I didn’t, wait lists here are 2-4 years long to get into daycare, I couldn’t change if I wanted to.
Brandee recently posted..“We Have Kids For Our Kids”
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I pay $300 a week to send my 19 month old to home daycare. She is open at 6:30, and only has 5 kids (she is licensed for 6). She does close at 5:00 PM in the evenings, so I scheduled my work hours from 7:30 to 4:30 to pick her up in time. If I am not done with my work, I have to leave anyways. I have had to come back to work in the evenings to finish stuff up before. My 4 year old attends pre-school at a large daycare center, it is open from 6:30 AM to 7:30 PM, so it is much more flexible. I am aware of the ratios, though. But for 3 and 4 year olds the ratio in the US is 1:10. I have never had an issue with this. My center has a floating assistant and the director (or assistant director) of the center on hand at all times. If I had the same problems as you were having, I would switch centers! You and some of the other parents should contact the director. Obviously she/he needs to come in earlier to make sure these ratios are met. You paying too much to deal with this, and I would make that known!
Actually, since I originally wrote this, I emailed one of the directors and discussed my difficulties. She said they knew it was happening and were in the process of adjusting and have since had a staff member starting at 8:45am instead of 9am and it has mad all the difference!
It’s a multi site centre so the directors aren’t at the location unfortunately. They have some floaters but it’s hard when they need more than they have on staff, you know?
And daycare in my city has wait lists that are years long. It’s almost a miracle to even find any so, switching wouldn’t be an option but, I would never switch her. I love the centre so much I couldn’t’ imagine going anywhere else.
Brandee recently posted..“We Have Kids For Our Kids”
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We paid $1250 a month for infant and toddler care, so I feel your pain. It’s dropped to $930 a month now that Baguette’s in a 2-year-old room, where the teacher/student ratio is different.
But one of the things we’re paying for is the “extended day” schedule. I don’t know how your school’s payments are structured, but ours has prices for half-day (9-12), full day (9-3), and extended day (6:30-6). If your center doesn’t already do something like that, maybe they would consider it. You don’t have to stay, and they know how to staff–and the costs are covered.
Tragic Sandwich recently posted..Baguette Goes to the Opera
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Hmn they do part time and full time. They are open 7:30am to 6:00pm for F/T, I have no idea what the rules are for the part timers. Ours doesn’t drop until the ratios go to 1:6 in the 3-5 year old program, which is then a $350 savings.
That is an interesting concept though, the extended days. Next time we have a survey I will actually mention that!!
Brandee recently posted..“We Have Kids For Our Kids”
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For me, I’d have to find a different day care. If I’m going to have any time with Baguette after I get home, I have to drop her off when I drop her off, and I wouldn’t be able to hang around because the school couldn’t find a way to staff accordingly.
Tragic Sandwich recently posted..Baguette Goes to the Opera
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Wow, I’ve never even heard of this. But I don’t have a center I go to, just a house. Well I know about the ratios, but never have heard of making the parents wait. My provider has 2 assistants that come in around the time most kids get dropped off. We’re usually one of the first to drop off anyway.
And I still can’t believe the cost of daycare for you. I pay $130 a week ($520 a month, and every third month I have to pay an extra $130 because the way the weeks are laid out). It was $160 a week til she was 2.
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And you know what is crazy? That cost only covers 70% of the operating cost of the centre. The government subsidizes it because they are a non-profit. Nutty hey?
Brandee recently posted..“We Have Kids For Our Kids”
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Our daycare adjusts teacher start times based on the parent start times. We’ve been at two daycares, and both ask within the enrollment paper when drop off will be. They use this to plan. We ran into this with Abby’s infant class (our daycare only combines young toddlers and older toddlers in the morning). It happened twice and the director rearranged teacher start times because another parent (who was there before us) started having to bring her kids earlier (twins). And of course we suffered having to wait b/c they didn’t inform the director. Once the teachers talked to this parent, schedules were rearranged. Also, there is also a director/assistant director/supervisor there in addition to regularly scheduled teachers. That way they can fill in when needed. I personally think it’s ridiculous that your daycare asks you to adjust your schedule. I mean you are paying them. I thought it was standard practice. Having to wait more than 5 minutes is not acceptable. It seems like other parents are frustrated too. I’m wondering if you all banned together to bring this issue up to the director, you could start a movement.
And the guilt…I have that too. Especially on mornings when the toddler is running late with all the toddler morning nonsense and I’m in and out within a couple minutes. It’s not fun. Not a good start to my day.
Twitter: wa_tracy
They do keep track and make adjustments. Actually, since I originally wrote this, I emailed one of the directors and discussed my difficulties. She said they knew it was happening and were in the process of adjusting and have since had a staff member starting at 8:45am instead of 9am and it has mad all the difference!
I guess the issue is, everyone comes and goes as they please. For instance yesterday we dropped E off late because we had a tough morning, and yet, she was still only the 5th kid there at shortly after 9am. Today, we were on time and there at 8:25am, and there were 7 kids already there, and 1 coming in when we did. It is literally all over the map, so I do understand to an extent what is happening but, it doesn’t make it any easier.
Is there ANYTHING we don’t feel guilty for?
Brandee recently posted..“We Have Kids For Our Kids”
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I’m guilt filled for all the things
And yes…parents dropping off at different times than they originally say, especially when daycare is starting to work with you is the pits. Of course life happens, but parents could do better at communicating too so staffing can be adjusted if needed. So glad that this is starting to be resolved.
Twitter: wa_tracy
Part of it is the size of the organization. I think there are 11 centres with 4 programs each which means a lot of things to coordinate. They make changes and do adjustments but, it just seems to take awhile to get there.
Brandee recently posted..“We Have Kids For Our Kids”
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Wow that is jacked. We did have that at her old daycare. Key word OLD. But there are so many other reasons for that.
Anyhow I can’t imagine they’d make you wait so that they could cover the kids. That’s horrible! That’s why YOU pay THEM.
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They are just doing what they are regulated to do. If they let us leave and get checked, the centre will shut down or at least be fined or something.
I love everything else about this place, and they have listened to our concerns and started to make adjustments so, I think we’re on our way to better!
Brandee recently posted..“We Have Kids For Our Kids”
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Ours sucked. They didn’t even acknowledge it. I actually called licensing because they never actually paid attention or seemed to care. And there was one day when she didn’t have a bottle for SEVEN hours, and then there was the bruise….so yeah
I’m glad they are working with you guys!
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This is absolutely insanity! I get the ratio thing, our school/daycare has it too, but never about drop-off. And really, if it’s that much of an issue, I would think the daycare director should adjust staffing accordingly. Do parents just do dropoffs at completely random times? For us, it seems like it’s the same kids there at about the same time on their daycare days…so pretty easy for the director to schedule workers and such. I would seriously be LIVID if I showed up at 8:34 and I had to wait until 9 AM to leave.
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It is, completely random. I mean I can’t exactly talk, sometimes we’re there at 8:25am and others at 8:53am. It all depends how the morning goes, and maybe because we’re so flexible we take a little advantage, you know?
But this is the problem. Like I said, sometimes at almost 9am she is the 2nd kid there. What a waste to have 2 full staff sitting in the room during that time, you know? They already have funding issues.
Luckily, they have adjusted and added a staff at 8:45am and things are much better
Brandee recently posted..“We Have Kids For Our Kids”
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Yes
Twitter: mannlymama
So didn’t mean to put Yes. Dumb mobile app. But yes we have dealt with this from time to time. Our center uses the admin staff in these occasions. Like there is always a director or director’s assistant there in the morning. They can come balance numbers if they get out of hand. This usually was the drill. We yelled down and they came to stand guard until the next person got there. This was a big problem when our center switched from being corporate to community because of costs. Teachers were getting there early but couldn’t even clock in. It took time to work out but i can say since moving to 2s, we have never have had this problem again.
Now we are actually going to a smaller setup where Landon will be in a class of 6 2 yr olds with 1 teacher on monday due to some situations. YIPES! God bless her and 6 potty training toddlers! Good thing the teachers are really good friends and give and take like pros. I love them.
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I’m still trying to figure out how my center works this, but there are occasionally different people in there at drop-off and pick-up. I would be sooo frustrated with that situation at your center! I’m glad you emailed the director and they are working on it – surely there must be a better way.
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