Not Sure Where To Go?

[Michelle]

Where I live, we have a program called LAUP ( Los Angeles Universal Preschool)
I have some friends that pay preschool teachers to come in to their daycares and teach for 3 hours a day.. some have morning school and some have afternoon . They get money from LAUP in addition to being paid by the parents.
You have a degree, maybe you can call around your local daycares and offer this service. It will greatly improve their programs and let you work part time.

[melilley]

I will continue to try!!! I had 6 kids today plus my hubby came home sick so essentially I had 7 kids to take care of.

Ugh husbands.... When my dh is sick, he's "dying", even if it's a little cold. Have you seen that commercial where the husband has a cold and is on the couch and the remote is literally a foot away and he asks his wife for it?

My dh is an extremely hard worker, but get a cold and you would think that he couldn't do anything....::

[Crazy8]

A few things that helped me tremendously:

1. Scale down your program as much as possible. If you do curriculum, do it one day a week instead of five. Same with art. *Even public school turfs them off to the librarian, gym coach or movie day.

2. Get 5 big bins, divide your toys evenly into them. Only put out one bin per day during free play (rotate). 1/5 the clean-up, and BONUS the kids magically start playing with them better and longer.

3. Get divided plates with lids (micro-wave/dishwasher safe). Flip your cooking routine so that the evening dinner also fills the daycare lunch plates for the next day. It is not "left-overs" (for those whose regs say no leftovers) if it was not served to your family, on the table, before being divided. This free's up SO much time mid-day for a break for you. Clean-up is also a snap.

4. Let go of any responsibility to the kids that rightfully belongs to their parents. You don't have to raise their kids, just keep them safe until the parents come back to collect them. It is a mental thing. Anything else you do is a bonus.

5. Stop keeping score. If you don't get it all done today the sun still comes up tomorrow. :hug:

Remember: Do what you can with what you have, it will be enough. lovethis

These are some great ideas!!

I was feeling like you a few years ago, never thought I'd make it through but things turned around and have been good for a while - I know I did #1 & #4 above during that time!