Daycare calls me for everything, and I'm in meetings most of the day

willow_puzzle_854627 Sept 2026

I'm the first contact on our son's daycare form because I do the morning drop. My partner is at home most days now, so it probably should be the other way round, but the form was filled in months ago and the daycare goes down the list in order. This week: a call about a missing spare vest, a call to ask whether he can have ragi porridge, and a call because he 'cried a bit at nap'. Each one in the middle of a review. I picked up all three, because a daycare number on the screen makes your heart jump. Is it reasonable to ask them to message for non-urgent things and call only for real problems? And how did you agree with them on what counts as a real problem?

4 comments

quiet_sketch_844327 Sept 2026
Ayyo the heart jump, yes. Years later I still feel it when the school calls 😊 We had a simple rule with our daycare: fever, injury, or crying that won't stop, call. Anything else, message. They followed it only after we wrote it down and handed it to the class teacher, not just told the front desk. And swap the names on the form, it's a two minute job.
orchid_lantern_764927 Sept 2026
i remember that feeling with every unknown number when he was in daycare. what surprised me was that once the calls moved to my partner, i also stopped knowing the small things. the vest, the porridge. i'd hear about them at dinner, and i missed it a bit
maple_river_757127 Sept 2026
Up on call, so this is timely. Our daycare keeps a printed card in the office with three levels: call immediately (fever, injury, any reaction to food), call within the hour (won't settle, refuses all food), message (supplies, menu questions, short cries). It took one meeting with the coordinator. The menu question is the one I'd fix first. Give them a list of what he can and can't have so they stop asking each time.
pebble_marigold_869228 Sept 2026
Worth also checking what happens when you don't pick up. Ours had me listed first, and when I missed two calls during a client workshop they didn't try my partner. They just kept calling me. The order on the form only helps if they actually move down it. We now have both numbers on one line with 'call either'.