One Stay Home - They All Should Stay Home!!

[Rockgirl]

Bottom line for me: I operate a daycare program. On days I am open, I expect children to attend. I don’t care where parents are, or what they are doing, as long as I can reach them if needed.

Like BC said, if I want time off, I close and take it.

[JaeB]

Yes I expect them to be here also if I'm open I'm just speaking from what may be best for the family not for me. Trust me she would much rather have kept her daughter home instead of getting that late fee

[Rockgirl]

JaeB, I understand….I was speaking of the part about parents not thinking about us being tired of kids who aren’t ours. I’ve just accepted that that’s exactly what I signed up for.

[Cat Herder]

My clients do bring the younger children to daycare when the older ones are out of school. All my teachers do it for the entire summer, every year.

It allows them to do age-appropriate activities with the big kids while the little ones are safely with me, the same place their big siblings were at their age when the parents took time off, together, alone (marriage is important, too).

The younger siblings take up the majority of the parents time on nights and weekends, without school closure days the bigger kids would rarely get alone time with their parent. - The same problem my own kids had with me running a daycare from home during their school closures, that I wish I had noticed much sooner than I did and still have regrets about. It balances out when the big kids move on to college/life and the younger ones are still at home. That happens sooner than you think.

[JaeB]

I definitely get what you're saying the older kids still need that time with Mommy and Daddy because the younger ones tend to take up more time and in turn can kind of have the older ones resent the parents but I always encourage my families to find a method to the madness. At the end of the day that child is still a part of the family and family should find ways to allow their kids one on one time . If Little Johnny is a handful then I believe parents had to have to find a way to get him to adjust to the family dynamic because his brothers and sisters are important. a lot of my families don't have backup care or reliable babysitters or anyone they can count on and most of the time they don't even have a car for that matter so for that reason I do not close very often, my children in my program do not get sick, and I tend to ask the parents what days do they have off so I can do my running around on the days that they are off so it does not mess with their pockets. Now she could have brought her child all she wanted to but because the other three were off she in turn broke two policies required temperature in the am prior to entry and 9:00 cut off time.

[Cat Herder]

I would have stopped them at the door, too, for arriving after cut-off time. I do understand your frustration with the cumulative issues, over time. It adds up. Then they accuse us of "overreacting" on a small issue. That is why I am a stickler on every issue, now. Not because I am "inflexible" but because I don't want issues to escalate to the point that I have to term them on my front porch, in anger, every again.

[Valerie928]

Final update: family came in 9:06 and did not have the required temperature (as long as these illnesses keep popping up I will require a temperature prior to anyone coming into my home I show concern at 98.9 have them retake the temperature to see if it goes down in about 10 to 15 minutes if it stays the same I put the family on notice that they may be getting a call back later if it goes up they for sure stay home) with child already ate breakfast when it was already prepared here . All of this could have been avoided if SHE STAYED HOME!!!!!

98.9 ? That's not even close to being a fever.

[Annalee]

We have logged temps since the pandemic began and we know what is not normal for each child; some run high, some run low. My autistic child always run 99 but my niece runs about 97.5 so we know what is high or low for each child?? So 98.9 could be high for my niece??

[JaeB]

This is another problem I have with this forum 98.9 is not even close to a fever for you!! To meet 98.9 means that something is brewing and although you may wait for a illness to be full-blown at 101 I'm not willing to let it get to that point hence why I get my parents all notice at 98.9.

[Valerie928]

At the end of the day we are all humans. A fever is not a fever until 100.3

[JaeB]

Well fortunately for us here in my state we don't wait until temperatures reach over 100 when the child illness has gotten full blown

[GirlMomma]

Now I have the very unnecessary task of letting her know that cut off time is 9 am regardless of what her schedule is at home 🙄

I would’ve told her that and I wouldn’t have accepted the child at 9:06.

[JaeB]

Oh trust and believe me she got an earful parents know when they're not going to make the cutoff time especially if you're sending me a text at 8:53. So to sum up the story she most definitely got a late fee that she was not happy about.

[JaeB]

Blackcat31 good morning and sorry if I'm being short and somewhat aggressive but my experiences are not yours until I let you know what's going on in my area and my program and in my city and state you really wouldn't have a clue I'm just letting you know the Dynamics of my program and what goes on here. Now I mentioned where I come from because that brings about a whole different dynamic of people what's your programs and your government and your licensing office may have going on where you live it's totally different where I live and that dynamic totally contributes to how our programs are ran and who has what kind of access to our programs.

[JaeB]

Valerie928 no I take notice of a possible fever at 98.9 and even then it's iffy because some children were sick and did not have a fever at all. Because I received temperatures every morning I have a pattern of what each child temperature may be so if someone has a pattern of 97.5 and then all of a sudden I get a temperature in the morning that says 98.9 that's a huge jump coupled with if the child has a runny nose, a cough watery, eyes and etc. Now granted people can be contagious during the first couple of days which we might not notice but I've been pretty good about catching when the children have something brewing as opposed to catching their colds because I was lenient and did not put the parents on notice at the onset. Maybe you guys see so much illness because you wait until the children are 101 and at that time whatever illness they have is full-blown and has at least a couple of days to spread throughout your child care. But hey what's good for the goose may not be good for the gander.

[JaeB]

Annalee maybe I should have mentioned that this is the method that we use. Because each family enrolled has to send me a temperature in the morning I can track the pattern of each child's temperature some children's Norm is 98.1 and then some children Norm is 97.3. then I have to take it to consideration what is too low on the thermometer as well such as 95.6 which from my research says that that can mean something is brewing as well. The temperature checks are a good way to keep track of illnesses, prevent them from coming into the environment and keeps parents honest. Because of this method I have not had anything come to my daycare that was not the typical cold

[Annalee]

I did have some rsv and some covid but the temps is just something I chose to do to feel like I was doing something I guess...there are multiple ways but you can't keep all sickness out.

[Annalee]

FYI.....I think the sign in/out outside is the best thing I've done that had the most effective way to keep sickness down! Limiting those who enter has helped.

[JaeB]

Annalee of course we can keep illnesses out but I've done a damn good job we have not had anything RSV ,covid, strep, lice, none of that and even the common cold tends to stick to the child its bothering because we have so much space that my kids aren't crowding all over each other

[Annalee]

I'm not trying to start an argument; sorry? I was actually agreeing with the temp thing but??

[Blackcat31]

Blackcat31 good morning and sorry if I'm being short and somewhat aggressive but my experiences are not yours until I let you know what's going on in my area and my program and in my city and state you really wouldn't have a clue I'm just letting you know the Dynamics of my program and what goes on here. Now I mentioned where I come from because that brings about a whole different dynamic of people what's your programs and your government and your licensing office may have going on where you live it's totally different where I live and that dynamic totally contributes to how our programs are ran and who has what kind of access to our programs.

I think you might need to go back and re-read your thread.

I commented with my personal opinion.
I said nothing about anyone specifically or about your program/area.

You disagreed with my opinion and added the personal specifics.

Not sure how this got to be a comparison between individual areas as my take on your original post was that it was a vent about generalized parent behaviors.
I’m sure re-reading, you’ll see where my confusion comes in.

[JaeB]

You are very much entitled to your opinion as am I but my opinion can only be formed after the information you've given us about how you feel about things which is why I decided to let you know what is going on as far as my experiences the families that I tend to come across and things like that it's no big deal. And the reason why I'm giving comparisons is to give you a good idea about what it is I'm dealing with hence a lot of the women on this thread do not receive government pay for POC children and I do so for that reason we don't have the same experiences if you guys have any at all. Another example the thread where the lady is talking about having to care for someone who falls under the disability act I wouldn't know what she was going through unless she stated it and I also wouldn't know because I haven't had that experience yet. I think if I had the time to sit down and talk to a veteran like you about some of the more modern inner city I'm going to say it again inner City problems that I have gone through then maybe you could relate if you have experiences with the inner city which is the dynamic that I come from and the children I care for come from this environment as well.

[Blackcat31]

JaeB But you don’t know where I live and what type of parents I have in care let alone what race they are or their cultural background.

I don’t see anything in your original post that has anything to do with anything other than parent/provider issues regarding illness and keeping a child home.

I have no idea why this discussion has gotten so blurry and confusing (and bordering on a bit racist) but clearly it has so as a veteran provider, I will do what I do best and just mind my own. 🙂

[JaeB]

Blackcat31 the discussion has gotten blurry because I cannot relate to a lot of the ladies on this forum and as far as racist goes I'm African-American which I'm sure some of you ladies has caught on to that if not then there's the reveal! My experiences shape who I am therefore shape how I run my program but I also have to take it to consideration the community that I serve. my original post was just simply asking you ladies how you would handle the situations I've discussed. Some of you ladies discuss your experience while the other half of you ladies are telling me how things are unrealistic, what I can expect, what a doctor has said, what really isn't a fever and etc. Yes you're a veteran provider but I've been in this game for over 25 years.

[Blackcat31]

I don’t understand the hostility.

Some of your comments are accusatory, as if a child care provider can control illness and what illnesses occur in their care.
Which by the way, they can not.

I’ve taken ONE sick day in 30 years… NOT because I do X or Y but simply because I happen to have the DNA that provides me with a good immune system. It has NOTHING to do with my policies or practices.

When you make blanket statements about preventing illness by doing what you do, you’re essentially saying that providers that don’t do exactly as you do are inviting illness into their programs. Surely you can see how that comes across to others?

You have stated more than once that you serve a specific population and have used that experience as support for your logic and way of thinking but yet never once have you considered others may be in similar situations or even completely foreign situations that you have never experienced yourself.

When you, general you, post on a public forum (made up of a potpourri of providers) it’s assumed you already know that perspectives and opinions will vary greatly so again, I don’t understand the hostility.

Best advice a veteran provider and proficient poster gave me was; Read everything with a grain of salt. Use what you can and leave the rest.

We are all here for the same reason. Let’s support each other.

[Momboss]

Ok as another POC, im trying to understand how race played any part in your original post?

[Blackcat31]

Blackcat31 my original post was just simply asking you ladies how you would handle the situations I've discussed.

…and I responded. But apparently it didn’t sit right with you that I didn’t agree.
As I said…. I’ll stay in my lane. It’s all good

Yes you're a veteran provider but I've been in this game for over 25 years.

…again, I’m not competing. I’ve been “in the game” a long time as well.

[JaeB]

You can take it as hostility or take it as sticking up for myself either way nobody has the handbook to childcare there's a baseline on what we are supposed to do and then it's what we actually do either way I take it consideration that there's some things I don't know that's hence why I ask you ladies but there's also some things I'm quite sure you don't know which is why I bring in details of my experiences either way I'm done with this convo I'm going to do what works for me and my family and I wish you all the best of luck!!