It's hard to put a dollar value on what I do. When I first started up my daycare I phoned around and surveyed what other childcare providers charged. I was inexperienced in the daycare world and without special education (or first aid/CPR courses at the time). So I came up with my rates based on all of these variables (and I'm pretty sure they were on the low side).
As time went on, my experience started adding up and I had the first aid/CPR courses, I raised my rates. Since that time, I've tried to work out flat rates verses higher rates when the schedules vary. I've increased my rates when new families start, while grandfathering others with the old rates. I had intended on raising my rates last fall, but I had been treated so fairly by all of the families (that could afford to do so) that I just didn't have the heart to do it in the end. At one time, I had a single mom that came to me even though she really couldn't afford the rates. She paid much more than her budget could afford and I looked into getting licensed so that she could be subsidized (but I ended up not following through on that because I liked to have a little more flexibility than was allowed if I had become licensed).
I have worked for the best parents I could ever hope for. There have been rare occasions where I have felt under valued and under appreciated. But for the most part, I have been treated very well. Most of my parents show and tell me how much they appreciate what I do on a fairly regular basis.
I have had many families need to have someone available 5 days a week, but due to varying schedules and grandparents or other family members picking up kids or taking them for an odd day, that they don't always use me 5 days a week. But I have to be ready for these families on a moments notice; they take up one 'spot' in my daycare whether they are here or not. How to handle this type of situation always plagued me. Until I had one family tell me how much they appreciated knowing that I was always here, always available and willing to be flexible. They didn't mind paying me for the times they didn't use my services, because the value to them is that they were guaranteed their spot here. It was at that point, that I realized that yes ... I do have 'value'. And others in similar situations should treat me in the same fashion.
This is where it gets tricky ... this is my business. A person becomes very friendly with the families that come here. I think it is possible to maintain a business attitude and at the same time feel a personal connection to the families that I work for. I pride myself on the relationships I have with 'my parents'. I feel like we are working together in raising these children. I feel very much part of a team. But when the lines shift and it is like a friend working for a friend, it gets more complicated to work out the financial end of the equation.
I have lost one family because of the money part of our deal. We were connected on a personal level as well which made for a very hurtful scenario. When all was said and done, we parted as friends and I still take care of this girl from time to time. Our kids are best friends and this parent has a heart of gold. The only aspect we didn't see eye to eye on was 'what I was worth'. I lost a business transaction but I've kept a friend.
It's hard to mix business with friendship. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. But in the end, it is good to stick to one's principals. I'm worth something. It is simply hard to put a dollar value on it.
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