It is very common to have differences with parents. In fact, differences with parents may occur when there is a lack of understanding, misunderstandings, lack of knowledge, culture differences or simply a difference in belief systems.
I remember when my daughter was in preschool and I was a full-time Registered Medical Assistant. I asked my childcare provider to wake-up my daughter at 2pm, because I thought nap-time was too long.
My provider explained to me that children needed to take a nap everyday. I thought she wanted the kids to sleep 2-to 3 hours because she needed a break.
It was a lack of knowledge on my part about how childcare was structured and my provider was willing to help me to understand why young children really needed. After all, she was the expert and I was very understanding of why kids needed to take a nap after she educated me on the importance of nap time.
In the event that you have a situation with a parent and you want to take an approach that will not offend the parent, try these 5 negotiation steps:
Step1… Reflect on what happened (“I see how upset you are about the situation”)
Step2…Explain (“Here’s what I think”)
Step3…Reason (I will give you a reason for what I think)
Step4…Understanding (Try to see the conflict from both point of views)
Step5…Negotiate (Begin to look for a solution when both parties are clear about the issues and our differing perspectives (What can we do about this situation?)
I hope that you have been compelled to handle differences with parents in a manner that ends in a mutually working relationship. Feel free to share a recent situation with a parent that involved negotiating differences.
The Child Care Business Owner Institute 
Leave a Reply