The Challenge of Effective Communication in Daycare
The love and devotion that goes into running a child care center is phenomenal. Once you get yourself clearly established, it’s wonderful. Having a great reputation in my community as a child day home, I boasted about my quality childcare and reliability. My daycare was closed only on statutory (federal) holidays, but should I close for any other reason, I aimed for a minimum of three months notice so that families could make alternate arrangements. This high standard of communication in childcare is essential, as a story of a parent’s mistake will illustrate.
Normally, parents would bring their children into the daycare, help if needed, and leave for the day. The longer a family would be in attendance, the more comfortable they became, sometimes even just bringing their children to the door and leaving. This level of trust and understanding is a key component of effective parent-provider communication in childcare.
This particular family had been attending my day home for three years. The father of the family was self-employed, and Mom had climbed the ladder quickly in the bank she worked for (requiring extra working hours). The closing hours of my day home and Mom’s day coincided perfectly, even the statutory holidays, making the relationship perfect. However, in order for her to be done her workday, she had to start earlier than when the daycare opened. So their balance was Dad did the morning drop-offs, Mom did the end-of-day pick-up. Their children were older, 5 and 6. When their father would do the morning daycare drop-off (normally in a rush) in the morning, I would open the door, and he would leave. Unfortunately, this would pose a problem neither of us accounted for…
At the end of the day Friday, I explained to Mom that I had an emergency appointment on Monday and I would need to close the daycare for the day. They were the only family booked for that day, so I felt comfortable with the unavoidable short notice. Getting up Monday morning, I reminded my own children (ages 8, 10, 14) that I had to leave. They knew to head to school by their regular time.
As I was driving to my appointment, I got a phone call from my oldest child. Fully expecting the call to be about them fighting, I pulled my vehicle over to the side to answer the call. Answering the phone, my oldest quickly says, “Mom, there are kids here for Daycare”. Flustered, I told him to remind the father that I had an emergency appointment and that I had to close, I told his wife on Friday. Quietly, my oldest says, “Mom, he dropped them off at the driveway and left before I got to the door.” Grateful my children were still home, but frustrated with this turn of events, I called their Mom. Embarrassed, she left work, grabbed her children, drove mine to school, and promised to call me later.
Apparently, there was a mix-up of communication, the downside to two busy working parents, and the sudden closure was missed by the father. This incident highlights the vital importance of clear and consistent communication in childcare settings, especially in homes where both parents have demanding jobs. In conclusion, the father never made the same mistake again, always watching for me to open the door and wave 🙂