Should I Have Put a Stop to This a Long Time Ago?

I think it's a little excessive calling everyday to "check-up" on child. I understand wanting to know how your child is doing, but I would feel like I was micro managing the daycare provider. I've done the check-up before if my son was out of sorts that morning or evening but it was just a quick call.

I would trust my son's daycare provider would call me if anything was concerning or needed my attention.

I would think if my son has been in someone's care for 2 years, without incident, I wouldn't feel the need to check up on them. Unless I thought otherwise, but even then I would hope that we had a strong enough parent/provider relationship to talk to them about my concerns.

Best of luck

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Well, if you're not sure they're coming back, I wouldn't worry about it. But, if they do, you might let them know what your schedule is and the best time for him to call. Give him a half an hour window and explain that your priority is working with the kids so answering the phone during some activities can be really disruptive. Have you considered setting up a parent cam that you can turn on for them to log into during certain times? Then he could see his daughter and not have to call in to disturb you. Maybe during "circle time" or some other structured activity.

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Don't say anything unless they are coming back. I agree that you could just let them know a good time to call and the camera is a good idea. If you say anything just tell the truth. Say you love that they call b/c it shows what loving parents they are, but it isn't always easy to get to the phone b/c your focus is on the kids. I worked at a doggie daycare when I was in college. They had us write a report once a week for each dog. It was just a few lines of info. but the "parents" really liked it. Maybe you could do something like that just once a week. You could let the parents know who or what their child has been playing with, how he/she is doing at meal or nap time, or just some funny little thing he/she said. Good luck.

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Hey S.~

That was kinda funny sitting here reading what you wrote,cuz I use to have an in home daycare till I had 5 of my own to care for, and I really feel for you right now cuz I would always get parents doing ritual things too that would really get to me sometimes. I use to have a mom, for instance, that would drop off her child and every time she would enter into my home she would "Make herself at home",which was fine-I was just having a prob. w/ it, and just wander throughout the house and open the refrigerator to put her childs cup into it and walk into bedrooms follwing her child....etc. and the only way I found to release the frustration that I was having w/ the matter was to "re-vise" my contract(which did not happen often) that I had w/ all my family's that I cared for, and state in it that the pick-up and drop-off area was in the front living room ONLY- But any time that I would get another parent doing something that got to me, I would re-vise my contract and put whatever it was that they were doing in there, give it to them and I would point out a few of the revisions, including the one that I was getting stressed out with, and then have them sign it again.

I do want to add that if you never let them know that it is bothering you, they will NEVER stop and then you will start to become irked with even more things that they start to do over time and then ultimately despise watching their children. You have already stated that this is a wonderful family, but you need to tell them the problem that you yourself are having with the phone calls, just be creative with how you tell them.
Hope this was of some help to ya~
A.

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Hello S., I understand how this may be annoying to you but I personally don't see it as unreasonable. As a working parent I often wonder about how my children are doing during the day. I am aware of how many things that I am missing out on. Phone calls, emails and written daily reports are the only thing that a parent who works out of the home has to get a picture of what their child has learned or done during the day. If phone calls aren't working maybe you could keep a notebook of sorts where you can write the days events in it and just explain that this would be an easier way to communicate what that little princess is doing each day if phone calls bother you so much. Other than that I would also have to say that these parents are providing you for a service and if they want to talk to you for a couple minutes each day about their daughter that is part of the package. If you don't like it tell them and maybe it is time for them to find a new child care provider. Good luck.

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