Thankfully, I have only had experience of this a couple of times.
Once a new parent didn’t come to collect her child at the contracted time. I had another child due to arrive soon, which would mean that I was over the number of children that I was registered to have.
I tried phoning her mobile, to see if she was stuck in traffic- no answer, so I phoned her work to check that she had left on time, her manager informed me that she had left 2 hours ago, so I contacted the person she had nominated as an emergency contact, this was her mother-in-law, who was very helpful, apologetic and collected her grandson ,before my next child arrived.
However, the following day when the parent brought her child, she confronted me with”Why did you tell my mother-in-law that I hadn’t collected my son?”. She then told me that she didn’t have a great relationship with her and didn’t want to give her another reason to put her down.
I calmly explained that as I couldn’t get hold of her and was concerned that she may have had an accident, it was either phone Social services or her emergency contact and if she hadn’t wanted her mother-in- law to be contacted, maybe she should have given another name.
Once she understood my issue, she apologised and promised to be on time in future( I think that because she had finished work at lunchtime, she had gone shopping and lost track of time).
Another time I was looking after 2 brothers when their father didn’t come to collect at the end of the day, I did manage to contact him and he admitted that he had forgotten he was collecting ( to be fair, his wife usually did this, so I felt that ot was a genuine mistake).
When he eventually arrived he asked if I required payment for the extra hour and a half, to which I said I dad.
A mother who I had been child minding for a long time was typically late; I feel that some parents think that because a child minder works from home, they have nothing else to do but sit and play with their child. One time when she was late I had to cancel a dentist appointment, meaning that I was given a fine of £10, I explained this to the child’s parent who happily paid the fine and wasn’t late again without checking with me first.
One afternoon I received a phone call from Social services asking if I was able to collect a boy from the local school, his mother hadn’t turned up and when the head teacher had asked him why he told her that she had gone on holiday, not knowing what to do, she phoned for help. The social worker had contacted me as I had worked with them previously offering respite for parents. This child wasn’t keen to come home with me until we established that he liked building with Lego( that I had loads of) .
The social worker managed to find a relative of the boy’s who she brought to my house a couple of hours later.
Hopefully this hasn’t alarmed anyone new to child minding, It is a rare occasion that no one collects a child, most parents are responsible and stick to their contract.
As always questions and comments are welcome.
Until next time.
Karen
x
I’m astounded by this. Keeping child care people happy is a huge stress here. Once you’ve found a good place, you high tail it out of important meetings ‘not to be late’. At the day care centre the late fees were huge so that was incentive too.
Maybe I should have charged a late fee, I always tried to have a good relationship with parents, as it is essential in early years
No way. You can have a good relationship but that also requires them to respect your time and rules and pay accordingly. Good day care is like gold and you do anything to keep your child’s spot!! (But you are kind and understanding). 🙂 #Stayclassymama
Yes and maintain a good relationship with the parents, for the sake of the child, it is difficult at times, but I believe it is essential in early years, thankyou for stopping by and sharing your thoughts
I can’t believe the mum who went on holiday without apparently arranging for someone to pick up her son from school – it’s hard not to be judgemental about it! Thanks for linking up with #kcacols – I hope you can join us again next time!
This is an interesting read X #globalblogging
I’m ashamed to say that I have never stopped to think what would happen if I were late to collect my daughter … I guess I would call nursery and ask for help. And if I had had an accident, there are several names on file whom can be contacted. Thanks for sharing your insights #TwinklyTuesday
good reminder to people that its just as important to be at somebody’s house on time as it would be for an school or center #KCACOLS
It was an often occurance at the children’s centre I worked in. I remember we tried different tactics such as imposing fines to help prevent the children having to wait until 7pm or having to call the social services x x #BloggersClubUK
I couldn’t imagine being that late to collect my child. I’m usually slightly early. It must be so frustrating from a child minders point of view. #BloggerClubUK
Wow maybe I am a bit naive but I just can’t believe that incidents like this happen. I am always in a mad panic to make sure I make the school gate on time. I hate the idea that my daughter would even have to look around to find me! It can’t be easy for you to have to deal with these types of situations. And worse for the poor kids. That is a real eye-opener of a blog post! Thanks for linking it up to #globalblogging x
Interesting read. Things arise but I always think its better to be early rather than late, I’d hate for mine to get upset, wondering where Mummy was. Thanks for linking up #twinklytuesday
I am relieved that most people realise that their actions have an inpact on others. Lateness can be upsetting for a child as well as the childcare plus it may lead to other problems such as those you mention (cancelled appointments etc). Thanks for linking up with #stayclassymama
I was 30 minutes late for collection from school just before Christmas. My usual 10 minute journey took 50 minutes due to traffic. School couldn’t contact me as I was driving/sat in traffic. Luckily they were able to get hold of my husband who made his way down. There had been quite a few parents affected by the traffic and the school were brilliant about it. I was horrified and in a right state by the time I got there a few minutes after my husband. The boy said he was worried, and I think that also really upset me.
I guess things can happen out of people’s control sometimes, but it must be really stressful for the child minder, particularly when you don’t know what the problem may be.
#AdventureCalling
I was always very anxious about collecting my children on time- if not early – from their childcare provider. Not only for the sake of the staff, but also for my children. I wouldn’t ever want them to think that I wasn’t going to be there. #adventurecalling
ultimately you’re running a business from home. people should be on time to collect. if it were a nursery, you’d get a late fine for collecting late. #KCACOLS
This must be so difficult, we have only been late picking up from nursery once, and that was enough of a shock to not do it again! It must be tricky to manage as a childcare provider. Thanks for sharing your insight #AdventureCalling