When Did You Start Doing Daycare?

[Mister Sir Husband]

I am 43, and will be 44 when I open in a couple months... and in case my screen name didn't give it away, I'm a guy. I have 3 of my own children ages 11, 5 and 4. My main concern is that people will feel that I won't be able to handle the job, or I'm just too old. In my personal opinion however, ones age is just a number on a calendar. I'm currently putting a lot of time and money into what is going to be my daycare space so hopefully everything works out well for me

[Laurel]

Lol one time last year (age 20) I went to an elementary school to pick up a girl that I regularly babysat (she was 9 years old and a 1/2 inch taller than me) and as we were headed towards the car one of the teachers comes up behind us and says "Girls, you need to wait for your parents over there". I just turned around and said "Um... I'm her babysitter...."

BTW, the school is K-8 so apparently I look no older than 14 years old. The funny thing is when I was 14, everyone thought I was a junior or a senior. I must have Benjamin Button syndrome.

Haha!

I watch my grandson. My daughter is 35 and she was out at a restaurant with just me and my husband and they carded her when she ordered wine with lunch.

Laurel

[LoraJenkins]

I was 21 when I first started....I am 42 now. Even at 21 I had no issues getting families. I think that it was because I already had 3 of my own children by that age. And I have gotten all of my clients via word of mouth. I just realized.....I've been providing care for half of my life.

[Patches]

I was 24 when I first got licensed (25 now) but I don't think the parents have a clue how old I am. I have been in child care for a long time and my bosses often forgot how young I was and always tried to add on close to 10 years to my age(One of them thought I was 30, when I was 21) Not because I look older (hopefully: but because I seem more confident, experienced, responsible than a lot of people my age were
Hope that makes sense

[Meeko]

I am 43, and will be 44 when I open in a couple months... and in case my screen name didn't give it away, I'm a guy. I have 3 of my own children ages 11, 5 and 4. My main concern is that people will feel that I won't be able to handle the job, or I'm just too old. In my personal opinion however, ones age is just a number on a calendar. I'm currently putting a lot of time and money into what is going to be my daycare space so hopefully everything works out well for me

That's great! We need more men in this business! My husband and son run our group daycare with me.

You will always find the odd people who will automatically assume you are a pedophile on a quest. We have seen it several times over the past 28 years of business. It's THEIR problem. Sad...but it is what it is.

Our clients LOVE the fact that there are men here. Many of our daycare kids don't have good male role models in their lives and their mother's are very grateful to have "my guys" in their kids lives.

I hope your daycare is very successful! Good vibes coming your way!

[jenn]

I started when I was 31.

[daycarediva]

That's great! We need more men in this business! My husband and son run our group daycare with me.

You will always find the odd people who will automatically assume you are a pedophile on a quest. We have seen it several times over the past 28 years of business. It's THEIR problem. Sad...but it is what it is.

Our clients LOVE the fact that there are men here. Many of our daycare kids don't have good male role models in their lives and their mother's are very grateful to have "my guys" in their kids lives.

I hope your daycare is very successful! Good vibes coming your way!

My dh is my backup/assistant when he isn't working his own business and all of my clients LOVE him, the kids too! I have one super shy dcg who hates men, and it took her a solid YEAR to get used to him, but now she climbs on him like a monkey and is sad when he goes to work. Strong, positive male role models are very needed in ECE!

[blandino]

That's great! We need more men in this business! My husband and son run our group daycare with me.

You will always find the odd people who will automatically assume you are a pedophile on a quest. We have seen it several times over the past 28 years of business. It's THEIR problem. Sad...but it is what it is.

Our clients LOVE the fact that there are men here. Many of our daycare kids don't have good male role models in their lives and their mother's are very grateful to have "my guys" in their kids lives.

I hope your daycare is very successful! Good vibes coming your way!

My younger brother (21) is a substitute for us. He also comes by and just hangs out at the daycare when he is home from college. The kids and parents love having him around. He gets to be like the fun uncle, so all the kids flock to him - because he is all fun and no rules ::

[Hunni Bee]

I'll be 26 next month, but I started working in my old daycare when I was 19.

I really hope to start my home daycare by 2015. I was working toward it but I decided to wait til after I have my daughter and she's out of the infant stage.

[LaLa1923]

I am 43, and will be 44 when I open in a couple months... and in case my screen name didn't give it away, I'm a guy. I have 3 of my own children ages 11, 5 and 4. My main concern is that people will feel that I won't be able to handle the job, or I'm just too old. In my personal opinion however, ones age is just a number on a calendar. I'm currently putting a lot of time and money into what is going to be my daycare space so hopefully everything works out well for me

A long time ago when my kids were in daycare I would've loved to have a male provider. I was a single mom and they could've used a male firgure to look up to. I hope you do well! !

[LaLa1923]

I'm 26, I've been open for 5 months.

[MissSarah]

I was 26 when I started doing home daycare as my source of income. I started when my son was a few months old so I could stay home and have been doing it off and on (mostly on) for the last 14 yrs.

[Mister Sir Husband]

A long time ago when my kids were in daycare I would've loved to have a male provider. I was a single mom and they could've used a male firgure to look up to. I hope you do well! !

This is exactly what my wife was suggesting. With the number of single moms out there my being a guy might do well for me for this reason.

[Mister Sir Husband]

You will always find the odd people who will automatically assume you are a pedophile on a quest. We have seen it several times over the past 28 years of business. It's THEIR problem. Sad...but it is what it is.

Yep... This was one of the first things I brought up to my family and friends when I was thinking about opening a daycare. "What if one of the kids goes home and tells their parents that I touched them in their special place"? The best answer I have gotten so far is to make sure I have real good insurance for my business. To this end I am planning on buying a completely different policy for my business and keeping it seperate from my homeowners policy. I want something that specializes in daycare insurance and has experience in defending against such accusations.

[Brooksie]

I'm 24 and started at 23. I have never had a problem with people doubting me because of my age. In fact, most people think I'm older than I really am because of my professionalism and they really value that I'm young, in shape and have the energy to chase after all the youngsters all day. They know that their kids needs are going to be met and they love how active we are. I would say my age has been more of an asset than a liability.