Day care etiquette question
ladygeek83
member
My husband and I are new to having a baby in day care - we just started in September when I went back to work part time. I have a glut of use it or lose it vacation time I need to take before the end of the year, so this week is my last week working until 2013. I was thinking of next week bringing in our baby for our normal scheduled days - one for a usual full day where my husband and I would take the day off to go skiing (at a place nearby, and bringing our cell phones so we can go pick him up on short notice if needed), and two more partial days so I can get some pre-Christmas tasks done. I am planning on keeping him home the week between Christmas and New Years.
Is it considered bad etiquette to drop off my baby at day care if I am not going to work - either to spend the day doing something fun, or to get chores done? If it matters, we go to a small non-chain center of about 60 or so kids total. We are billed monthly, with a strict policy that you always fully pay for your scheduled time even for days when the center is closed, or your child does not go due to illness or family vacation. My initial thought was that there's no reason this shouldn't be OK, since we have already paid for him to go those days I have off, so as long as I bring him in on his normally scheduled days the center is open, notify the director in advance of any planned change in our drop off/pick up times, and we make ourselves available to pick him up during the day with reasonable notice if he were to get sick, they shouldn't care what I do during the day. But at the same time, there's something that feels a little weird about it - so I want to make sure there's not an unwritten rule that this is not OK.
So I thought I'd throw a post out here and check with other parents of kids in day care to make sure this is a good idea before solidifying the plans with our provider. Thanks!
Re: Day care etiquette question
No problem here I am doing just that today. Go in joy your time off I would let the Daycare know you are not reachable on your work number but they really don't need to know everything you are doing.
Edit - that should say you are not reachable on your work number & if they need you they have to call your Cell phone, but this really only matters if they have your work/desk number.
We have my son in daycare 2 days a week and I am home half those days and I love it. I don't feel guilty at all. He needed the socialization, my husband needed to get work done(he normally stays at home, I work 3 days a week), so we started him and it's been the best thing for him and for us.
Go enjoy yourself!
There are a lot of parents who do exactly that, have the kids in DC so that they can do something else besides work from time to time. As PP have mentioned, as long as you pick up your kids on time your DCP doesn't really "care" what you're doing during the day while the kiddos are there.
Go skiing, have fun!!!