Is There Anyone That Has Done Daycare With Four Young Kids Of Their Own?

[cheerfuldom]

Okay folks, I have officially reached my limit. I am closing my daycare. I had originally planned on doing this last year around New Years but I had an unplanned pregnancy, which changed a lot of things. I figured I could make the sacrifice for my newborn and continue to do daycare until I figured out something in the future. There is no way I can afford daycare for four kids (under 6) and so there wasnt even another job option. and I didnt want to have to work evenings and my husband work days and be split up all the time.

but I do know that right now, i am not meeting my kids needs very well and not being the daycare provider that the other kids need. My husband receives almost zero attention, no lie. I have apologized to him but I have nothing else to give...no time, no attention, cant afford a babysitter for date nights, and I have a baby that is still waking up frequently at night. There is no huge issue to be solved as far as the daycare goes, it is just too much work for me. My daycare families are very good families. These are good kids. Sure there are bumps along the road but this is the best group you could ask for. It is just too much for me. I am seeing all my own kids have a lot of struggle with my attention being so divided and its actually gotten to a level where each child is doing a lot of negative attention seeking behavior and I do feel that this is my sign that the kids cannot handle this well anymore. as well as me being overwhelmed personally with the amount of work.

with that in mind, I am asking for two things.....

1. please, those of you who feel comfortable with this, please pray that God opens a door quickly for a way for us to have the income we need in order to care for our family. We honestly need a miracle here. We are already on Dave Ramsey plan for over a year and have cut numerous expenses and barely making ends meet as it is.

2. please help with a letter notifying my daycare parents of closure. I would like to give one month notice with the fact that if they find care sooner, there will be no penalty for leaving sooner. Honestly, now that the decision is made, I would rather everyone be gone tomorrow but I do want to do what I can to get these families time to find something else.

The letters will be passed out tomorrow, at least that is the plan. I will have one last discussion with my DH this evening but I know he can see that I am on the edge here. something has got to give. He watched just our four kids for two hours the other evening and was so exhausted and losing patience by just that amount of time. all he had to do was dinner while i ran errands but again, our four kids are on attention seeking overload, they all cry for him and claw at him and all they want is some undivided time, which is impossible in this household at the moment. I dont know what is going to happen in the future but I am just trusting God to find a way to make this work.

[blandino]

I am very sorry that you are having to go through this kind of inner turmoil. I firmly believe when you put the important things first, the rest will fall into place. And it sounds like you are, you are putting your family above everything else and that is admirable.

Is there any way you could continue to watch maybe 1/2 of the kids (maybe with the least hours) just for a little extra income ?

My first thought in reading this, was I want to go give her a hug and watch her kids for her tonight. Obviously not possible, so just imagine a great big hug.

[DaisyMamma]

It sounds like you have made the best decision for your family and you will feel much better after you close. I wish you the best of luck.

With that said, and I realize you have made your decision already, but have you considered hiring an assistant. My thought here is that half the income is better than none at all. She can tend to the daycare while you tend to the household chores and your own family.
Or perhaps you could keep one daycare child and to just help with some income. Do more of an informal babysitting for that child and have them as part of your own family, so as not to worry about curriculums and schedules and such.
..just some financial ideas in case you have already considered them.

I'm envious of you being able to close. Enjoy!

[cheerfuldom]

I am very sorry that you are having to go through this kind of inner turmoil. I firmly believe when you put the important things first, the rest will fall into place. And it sounds like you are, you are putting your family above everything else and that is admirable.

Is there any way you could continue to watch maybe 1/2 of the kids (maybe with the least hours) just for a little extra income ?

My first thought in reading this, was I want to go give her a hug and watch her kids for her tonight. Obviously not possible, so just imagine a great big hug.

thank you, that post means a lot. I dont want to keep any kids right now because I cannot fit anymore kids in my car. Part of the problem stems from the fact that I cannot leave the house from 730 to 530 and that means no appts or errands during the day. I do have an assistant for a couple hours a week but I have to pay her by working more and I just cant do that any longer. plus i really feel in my heart that my kids need me right now....not with divided time and attention. The oldest is 5 and I started doing daycare the summer before she was born.

[cheerfuldom]

It sounds like you have made the best decision for your family and you will feel much better after you close. I wish you the best of luck.

With that said, and I realize you have made your decision already, but have you considered hiring an assistant. My thought here is that half the income is better than none at all. She can tend to the daycare while you tend to the household chores and your own family.
Or perhaps you could keep one daycare child and to just help with some income. Do more of an informal babysitting for that child and have them as part of your own family, so as not to worry about curriculums and schedules and such.
..just some financial ideas in case you have already considered them.

I'm envious of you being able to close. Enjoy!

I have an assistant and have also considered keeping someone on a babysitting type basis. Trust me, I have gone over and over this thing for about 18 months. This is not a quick random decision. I cant figure out anyway to make things work, you know? I just need a long break, at least 6 months IF I was to return to daycare. Like I said, its nothing to do with the current families. This is five years of things building that I dont feel like will be solved unless I get a clean break for awhile. you all know, even with the best kids, the constant cleaning, drop offs, pickups, dealing with parents, trying to make your kids and daycare kids mesh well together, trying to find time to take care of your household, trying to find the energy to do anything else in the evenings and weekends besides work work work. I need some time with just my kids and my house and my husband. I do feel that at this point, even keeping one kid will result in resentment.

[kitkat]

I think you would be fine keeping the letter short, sweet, and to the point. Something like, effective X date, I will no longer be providing child care. I have enjoyed the watching your child grow and learn.

I don't know what your contract says about ending care...if they need to give you a two week or more notice. So I'd just put something in about please let me know your last day. I'm sure someone else will come up with something that has better wording

Are you willing to provide back up care for any families? If so, mention that also.

On a side note...when DH was laid off, he started donating plasma. If he goes twice a week, he makes about $200/month. It's enough to cover our car payment. There are some medical things that will prevent someone from being a donor, but if you have a facility in the area, it might be something to think about. It takes him about an hour each time. He hates needles, but he was a big boy about it and now it doesn't bother him. The place we have in town also provides child care on certain days.

[boysx5]

When my five sons were all under the age of 8 I just did after school care. I still had most of the day to myself plus I still had some income coming in. It was the best choice I could have ever made. Good luck

[Evansmom]

Letter could be something like:

Dear DCF,

Thank you for the opportunity to work with you and your child. It's truly been a pleasure to watch them grow.

This is written notice that my last day of work will be (fill in blank). I am closing the daycare (you could put in a very short explanation here if you wanted).

If your last day is going to be before my closing date please let me know. There will be no penalties or fees for leaving early.

Sincerely,

Name

Or something like that. Keep it short and sweet.

And give yourself a hug from me too! Good for you for identifying what is best for you and your family and then doing it! Even it's difficult, yours and your family's health is very important.

[SquirrellyMama]

I have felt what you are feeling. When my 2 older kids were 4 months and 2 yrs old I opened my dc. After almost 2 years I had my 3rd baby. We were also on Dave Ramsey and needed my income to make all the bills. After 2 years with 3 of my own and 4 dck I couldn't do it anymore for the reasons you stated. It was too much. I felt like I was about to have a complete meltdown.

When my dh finally realized how bad it was he ended up taking on a 2nd job in the mornings before his regular job. So, he worked from 4a-7a and then went to work at his day job. I already had a very part time job in the evenings and I kept that one. We also started donating plasma. Eventually we got to a place where my dh could quit the early morning job.

Now that my kids are older I opened up my dc again and it has been great. I home school my kids so they are also here but are very helpful with the my dc kids. I'll never take on more than 2 kids at a time unless my 3 are out of the house.

Good luck! K

[butterfly]

I am praying for you!! Are you my clone? I have 5 young children who are now finally entering school. I still have 3 at home during the day. I have a couple special need children and it is so overwhelming some days! I can relate to your struggle and I think a break is in order.

I am also a fellow Dave Ramsey follower and that first year of getting on his baby steps was the most difficult for us. We embraced the principle of "Dave says sell" We had rummage sales and sold things at consignment shops... maybe this would be a start to the financial help that you need to get you through your transition of closing your daycare.

For me the answer has been doing a school year only daycare. I only take teacher's children or others that can work with my schedule. I am off all summers and holidays - any days that the school is closed I am closed. This type of care is actually well received in our area and I live right across the street from a school so it is convenient for some of the teachers in my area. It allows me to earn a living and still be home for my kids. I keep my enrollment numbers very low for my sanity - and it makes it more fun/easy to have more time for my own kids... Maybe this would be an option when/if you start up again.

I would suggest bartering with other parents. We do this with other parents for babysitting. You watch ours, I'll watch yours. We take turns having date nights and it doesn't cost us anything for child care. We also take advantage of our church activities. Our church does activites with the children on Wednesday nights. Some wednesdays we drop off the children and use this hour for just me and my husband. We can't accomplish much in this hour, but we get a chance to chat without children...

I don't really have any suggestions for a letter. I've never been great at that, but I'd just be honest with the parents that you need to take this time to put your family first and meet their needs.

Any rate, you are in my prayers.

[cheerfuldom]

When my five sons were all under the age of 8 I just did after school care. I still had most of the day to myself plus I still had some income coming in. It was the best choice I could have ever made. Good luck

funny you should mention that but I actually did consider going to after school care. I put out a lot of feelers and ads for it with very minimal feedback. There are a lot of after school programs in our area, many of them are free or cheaper than what I would charge. Its a hard to find families willing to pay for after school care and willing to pickup at a decent hour. Some people were wanting care till very late (is that 2nd shift? ) anyway, it didnt end up being a reasonable option at the time although i might consider it now.

[Blackcat31]

Dear DCF

I have made the difficult decision to close down my child care business. The last day I will be available for care is Jan XX, 2013.

Should you find care arrangements before this date, there will no be penalty for making the switch earlier than my intended close date.

Please note, this was not an easy decision to make but one that is necessary for my family at this time.

I have enjoyed being a part of your child's daily routine and wish you all the best in whatever life brings your way!

Sincerely,

Provider

Cheer~ I am wishing YOU the best and am hoping you and your family get that miracle you are praying for!!!!

Sending good vibes and happy wishes your way!