School holiday care only

[iwilldothis]

After weeks of no calls regarding CM the phone has been hot all week :) I'm brand new to CM, by the way, and have no mindees yet.
Mum coming to see me next week, works part time (mornings only) so is free to drop her child off to school and pick her up from school in term time but just needs me for summer holidays and possibly some of mid-term, easter hols etc. She mentioned paying a retainer.... but summer hols are 8 months away!! I worked out that if I charge her a part-time rate of £4 per hour and she is with me 5 hours per day, that's £20 per day. If I charged a 50%retainer, which I gather seems to be the norm, she'd be paying £50 per week retainer. Obviously then if she needed me for whatever reason the place would be free for her with a reasonable notice given....but should I feel guilty for getting £50 a week for possibly giving nothing in return, apart from her peace of mind that she'll know I'm there if she needs me??? I know you'll say that I could otherwise fill the place with a full fee-paying child.... I am keen to offer flexible CMing, but is 50%retainer for when she's not with me too much to charge? Also, what would you call "reasonable notice" for taking up a retained place (if that makes sense!?) ??
Thanks
Thanks.

I have children that are on school holiday contracts only. They pay for every school holiday (unless I am off) and I choose not to charge a retainer for term time. My reason for not charging a retainer is that I do not want the older children during term time.

You need to decide what is reasonable notice for you - 4 weeks?/24 hours?

Also ... they all pay in advance - either at the beginning of the holidays, or by an averaged out amount as a monthly standing order.

Depends if you think you'll have termtime only minds really. If you have her pay a retainer you would need to be able to offer the space before/after school to justify it IMO.

i dont charge school children who come hol time only a retainer, this is my choice

my before and after school children are all term time only so the holiday only children fit in well with the children i look after

also i take my own personal holidays in the school holidays (4wks a year) so i dont have to take my ds's out of school so would feel like i have cheated the holiday only children if they were paying a retainer