Stressed, Overwelmed, Exhausted and What Else is There?

[JeepGirl6]

I have been operating my In-home child care for a little over 3 years now. I worked in a daycare center for 2 years, had a nanny position for 2.5 years before starting my own In-Home Child Care while going to school for my Associates Degree in Early Childhood Education. I don't ever remember being stressed out this much...I am to the point where the toy noises, the children making their animal noises, taking toys from each other, the crying out of absolutely nowhere and for no reason, the children running around not listening is driving me CRAZY, sometimes I just want to cry... I have some days where when parents pick up their children, they don't correct them like I do according to my handbook...So when their child gets out of control and doesn't correct them then my other daycare children follow in their footsteps and totally ignore me. The jumping is the worst!!! I have one little child that will jump in the air and land on his bottom, it burns out the downstairs dining room lights, they flicker and then eventually go out...My fiance tells me every time he does it the lights flicker...I wish people have more respect in my home.

I feel that that minute I get to "try" to sit down and take a break, a child wakes up screaming waking everyone else up...

I need a break like a month break ....not going to happen...I have parents schedules changing due to maternity leave, school instructors teaching and parents not taking summer classes leaving me with losing 5 families from May-the end of August but they all will come back the first week of September...I just got told by one daycare parents yesterday her boss let her go, they were bringing me in $600 a month so now they are not coming until she can find another job..........As on right now, I am going from having 3-6 children a day to my summer schedule being 1 child Mondays, 1 child Tuesdays, 2 children Wednesdays, 3 Children Thursdays and no child on Fridays....I really thinking I need to this summer to regroup and relax a little...I wish the Monday and Tuesday children could work with their schedule because I will only have ONE child both those days when I could have a break finally!!! I am also in the middle of my wedding planning, 6 months from tomorrow is our wedding day and now with all these children leaving for the summer I am not going to be able to have any extra money to save for the wedding...Ahhh I am just so overwhelmed and stressed out right now I am not sure what to do....I can't afford to live on the kids I will have for the summer...I have been applying to other child care jobs like crazy trying to pick up more children but mostly everyone wants daycare in their own home not someone elses....Im so exhausted just thinking about all this...I lost my health insurance in Feb when I turned 26(was on my parents) I have a huge knot in my lower back(its been there for about a year) which has been throbbing since I have been working out(down 16lbs in 3 months ) My fiance just got his health insurance through his place of employment today, thinking about going down to the court house to get married and only tell immediate family and still have our wedding ceremony/reception in 6 months, just so I can get on his to have insurance...It will be around $200 for individual health insurance or $80 a month on my fiances and its much better insurance...I would just love to be able to go outside on a beautiful sunny day where I just go out on our patio deck, sit in the chair and read a good book with no interruptions.

[cheerfuldom]

I think you need to just take the summer as easily as possible and enjoy the semi-break. It sounds like you worry about things too much (maybe an over analyzer like me?) and just need to cool down and enjoy your break. Figure out what are the major issues that you CAN change and then leave the rest and let it go. You cannot stop a kid from jumping unless you are very, very consistent about stopping the behavior each and every time. How old is this kid? I have the jumpers/runners/screamers sit in a chair by me until they can decide to follow the rules but this is assuming that your jumper is old enough for this. I dont try to get all the kids to nap together....they all have their own space and if they cry during nap, they cry. Eventually the others can sleep through anything (if they even hear it) and the cryer gets used to no attention for crying, no getting up early or anything like that. Is that an option for you (especially with the small number of kids)? As for the health insurance, getting a courthouse marriage doesnt sound like a bad idea.....I wouldnt tell or invite anyone though because with the people I know, everyone would be mad they didnt get to see the "real" wedding.

[Ariana]

For me getting my mind off things and making lists of things to get done helps me a LOT!! I worry a lot less when things are on paper instead of jumbled up in my mind for me to worry about. When I have a plan and can check things off the lists one by one. Control the things you can and let go of the things you can't control. Take care of your mental health in any way you can and in whatever way you think is best. Talk with your partner about things you can do to lessen your burden of worry.