Balance Home N Work

[hope]

My am drop offs are at 7:30am Monday through Friday. Pick ups between 3:40-4:30. My own DD is starting kindergarten this fall and I don't have any idea how I am going to balance her schedule with my daycare.
Up until now DD has been bussed from door to door for her preschool. I watch 5 dck so it is not possible to put them all into my car. I have called the school plus every bus company I can find in the hopes of finding private busing. No luck.
I started home daycare bc I wanted to he home with my children. There is a before and after care at the school I can put DD in but I would really rather not do that. At this point really questioning if its worth continuing daycare.
Anyone else run into this problem? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[MrsSteinel'sHouse]

Sorry, is there anyone else in your neighborhood or a friend that might be willing to take your daughter too? The school is across the street from us but we homeschooled.

[hope]

There are quite a few families on the block with kids in this same school. I am friendly with all these families. Problem is.....they are all very disorganized with picking up and dropping off their own kids. Lol! All these parents work long hours and put their kids in before and after care. They then juggle neighbors, friends and family to drive kids back n forth to school. I inquired with a few bus companies to see if I got enough kids together I could do before n after care here and solve my problem too. No company will work with less than 20 kids.

[butterfly]

Do you have public transportation available? I know in some areas this could be a very scary way to transport your children without adult supervision, but in our area, public transit is very safe and very commonly transports children to and from preschool and other activities without other adults riding with them. They even will walk them to the door of their destination to make sure they arrive safely. We have a wonderful transportation service in our city. Just a thought. Otherwise, I'd probably utilize the after school program until she's a little older to either walk or take some sort of transportation unsupervised.

[EntropyControlSpecialist]

Maybe you could hire a college student to drive her to school and pick her up from school? $30-50 a week?

[littlemissmuffet]

Are taxis an option? I know quite a few moms in my city that cab their kiddos to and from school for various reasons for a flat rate.

[Play Care]

We have bussing, but they were going to pull it last year. I was livid, but hubby didn't see the big deal...once I told him there was no way in heck *I* could get our kids to and from and he either needed to come up with a solution or pony up for before/after care he changed his tune (he's cheap so I already knew how that story would end ) all the sudden he was on the front lines of the bussing fight I guess my point is to make sure you are not the only one figuring this out. Is it possible to walk with everyone to school? Can your SO drive in the AM and you can arrange PM pick up? Can you call the school and try and get them to hook you up with carpool options?
Good luck!

[cheerfuldom]

How many kids can you fit in your car?

also what time is your daughters schooling?

what I do for now is limit the total amount of kids I take to how many I can fit in the car, which is 7 because everyone goes with me when I drop off my own preschooler and my part time kindergartener.

is it possible to change vehicles/trade in in order to get a vehicle that seats more so you can do transportation yourself?

[hope]

I do think trading in my car for a bigger one would be the best option. I can still run my home daycare at same hours, my DD wouldn't have to go to before/after care, and I wouldn't have to pay someone to drive her. I would think of the extra money on my car payment as money saved from care or transportation costs.
I have never driven any dcks anywhere before. The school is only a two minute drive down the road. I can walk kids in good weather but would drive when the temperature drops.

[Familycare71]

I do think trading in my car for a bigger one would be the best option. I can still run my home daycare at same hours, my DD wouldn't have to go to before/after care, and I wouldn't have to pay someone to drive her. I would think of the extra money on my car payment as money saved from care or transportation costs.
I have never driven any dcks anywhere before. The school is only a two minute drive down the road. I can walk kids in good weather but would drive when the temperature drops.

This is what I would do...

[craftymissbeth]

I had the same problem. I sold my car and bought a mini van. I'm lucky, though, in that I can load the dck's up and either go super early and pull right up to the front of the school or park on the side street directly across the street and let ds walk across the crosswalk to meet us. He's in 1st grade this year and his school is a fairly small one so with younger children or larger schools it might not be possible.