Just Feeling Stressed....

[cheerfuldom]

I have to make some changes to my daycare and it involves interviewing for summer/temp spots as well as a permanent spot in the fall. I hate interviewing because the last few interviews were definitely awkward. The first one was two snobby parents that I gave a chance to against my better judgment and no surprise, they left after two weeks trial and paid for a nanny. Their daughter was a spoiled princess dressed to the nines every day. The other parents were a little odd but nice, it is just that they clutched their toddler like I was the devil. They have been here now for several months and their child, no surprise, is a bit high maintenance and freaks out if he is touched by the other kids. I am trying to work through it and had it all ironed out for a couple weeks and all of a sudden, he is back to crying a good part of the day so back to square one. by the time i get this worked out, he will go to part time for the summer.

so now i am interviewing, dealing with some demanding kids and may have to let go of a long time family. their child will be by far the oldest (4.5) and the only one not napping in the fall.....no one for her to play with and I have to keep her quietly entertained every day during nap (aka my break time!) she is a nice kid but it just isnt the right fit anymore but i need to keep her during the summer because i am losing some teachers kids. just dreading having to term come fall. i really dont want to try and keep a 4 year old busy and quiet every day.

and my husband is stressing because of how unreliable daycare income can be. I do my best to keep up my end of the income but you all know, its unpredictable.

sometimes this job just really is too much but we never get a break from it. i am a mom of four, i am never off duty. i really need a vacation and have a rare three days off in May. havent had a vacation for three years! all my time off was used when my two youngest were born.

[Maria2013]

Sorry all I can give you, is a virtual hug :hug:

[Oss_cc]

I have to make some changes to my daycare and it involves interviewing for summer/temp spots as well as a permanent spot in the fall. I hate interviewing because the last few interviews were definitely awkward. The first one was two snobby parents that I gave a chance to against my better judgment and no surprise, they left after two weeks trial and paid for a nanny. Their daughter was a spoiled princess dressed to the nines every day. The other parents were a little odd but nice, it is just that they clutched their toddler like I was the devil. They have been here now for several months and their child, no surprise, is a bit high maintenance and freaks out if he is touched by the other kids. I am trying to work through it and had it all ironed out for a couple weeks and all of a sudden, he is back to crying a good part of the day so back to square one. by the time i get this worked out, he will go to part time for the summer.

so now i am interviewing, dealing with some demanding kids and may have to let go of a long time family. their child will be by far the oldest (4.5) and the only one not napping in the fall.....no one for her to play with and I have to keep her quietly entertained every day during nap (aka my break time!) she is a nice kid but it just isnt the right fit anymore but i need to keep her during the summer because i am losing some teachers kids. just dreading having to term come fall. i really dont want to try and keep a 4 year old busy and quiet every day.

and my husband is stressing because of how unreliable daycare income can be. I do my best to keep up my end of the income but you all know, its unpredictable.

sometimes this job just really is too much but we never get a break from it. i am a mom of four, i am never off duty. i really need a vacation and have a rare three days off in May. havent had a vacation for three years! all my time off was used when my two youngest were born.

:hug: :hug: :hug:
That is stressful. I'm sure it will work out for you, but I totally feel your stress and pain. I'm sure we all do! This is a tough job without a lot of acknowledgement from others on how tough it is.

[Shell]

:hug: I feel the same way as you often. It is so stressful never knowing if you will have enough kids , and never getting time off. But , we do it so we can be with our own kids , which makes it worth it even in the toughest days.

[Naptime yet?]

Hang in there, Cheer, I think most of us go through what you're feeling at some time or another. Heck, I've only been doing this for 2 years and I feel your pain!

Take care of yourself! :hug:

[melilley]

:hug:
I can definitely relate to always being on duty, as I have 2 kids of my own and 7 dc kids. The cleaning, cooking, laundry, etc... never ends and I feel like I am constantly going. And I have 1 f/t baby and 1 p/t baby and now rarely get a break!
But, I do have to say that every once in a while, dh and I find a babysitter or a family member and go do something without the kids. Sometimes my in laws take the kids for the whole weekend! That really helps. It may not be a vacation, but just being able to get out can do wonders (for the moment anyways...).

As for finding dc parents and kids who are a right fit, I've been pretty lucky with the accept for 1 dcm so I don't have any advice on that end. I wish you luck on finding good families soon!

[cheerfuldom]

:hug:
I can definitely relate to always being on duty, as I have 2 kids of my own and 7 dc kids. The cleaning, cooking, laundry, etc... never ends and I feel like I am constantly going. And I have 1 f/t baby and 1 p/t baby and now rarely get a break!
But, I do have to say that every once in a while, dh and I find a babysitter or a family member and go do something without the kids. Sometimes my in laws take the kids for the whole weekend! That really helps. It may not be a vacation, but just being able to get out can do wonders (for the moment anyways...).

As for finding dc parents and kids who are a right fit, I've been pretty lucky with the accept for 1 dcm so I don't have any advice on that end. I wish you luck on finding good families soon!

I would recommend stopping at two bio. kids LOL it is horrendous finding a babysitter that can handle four children. and I may be biased but really, my kids are nice kids but having and paying for a reliable sitter for four kids is a major pain. None of my family members can handle all four at once so overnights are out. My in laws can do two at a time, per their own rule not mine! i'd love to leave for the weekend but as far as I know, its still illegal to leave kids under 6 years old home alone just joking!

[CraftyMom]

I would recommend stopping at two bio. kids LOL it is horrendous finding a babysitter that can handle four children. and I may be biased but really, my kids are nice kids but having and paying for a reliable sitter for four kids is a major pain. None of my family members can handle all four at once so overnights are out. My in laws can do two at a time, per their own rule not mine! i'd love to leave for the weekend but as far as I know, its still illegal to leave kids under 6 years old home alone just joking!

I agree, I have 3 of my own and it's hard to even ask family to watch 3 kids!

And I hate the unpredictability of daycare! I had 2 siblings leave unexpectedly a month ago and I haven't yet filled the spots (mostly bc I'm being picky but still)

[cheerfuldom]

I agree, I have 3 of my own and it's hard to even ask family to watch 3 kids!

And I hate the unpredictability of daycare! I had 2 siblings leave unexpectedly a month ago and I haven't yet filled the spots (mostly bc I'm being picky but still)

i agree. thats the hard part about daycare. you never can rely on the income, you never know what will happen the next day.

[melilley]

I would recommend stopping at two bio. kids LOL it is horrendous finding a babysitter that can handle four children. and I may be biased but really, my kids are nice kids but having and paying for a reliable sitter for four kids is a major pain. None of my family members can handle all four at once so overnights are out. My in laws can do two at a time, per their own rule not mine! i'd love to leave for the weekend but as far as I know, its still illegal to leave kids under 6 years old home alone just joking!

I guess it would be easier to find people to watch two kids, I know for sure if I had more than 2, family would not watch all of them at once, my family anyways. My mom won't watch my 1.5 yo, she doesn't want to change diapers...

[cheerfuldom]

I guess it would be easier to find people to watch two kids, I know for sure if I had more than 2, family would not watch all of them at once, my family anyways. My mom won't watch my 1.5 yo, she doesn't want to change diapers...

my in-laws are currently enabling their college age grand daughters and say they cannot handle our four at once. I am serious in saying these girls cause so much drama. Grandma stills drives them everywhere, cooks and cleans for them, reminds them to take a shower and where they are supposed to be when. its ridiculous and makes me mad that my kids miss out.

the other relatives are either way too busy, too far away or not capable of handling four young ones at most.

[Oss_cc]

my in-laws are currently enabling their college age grand daughters and say they cannot handle our four at once. I am serious in saying these girls cause so much drama. Grandma stills drives them everywhere, cooks and cleans for them, reminds them to take a shower and where they are supposed to be when. its ridiculous and makes me mad that my kids miss out.

the other relatives are either way too busy, too far away or not capable of handling four young ones at most.

That's strange... and frustrating.

I only have two of my own, but found that the babysitting availability went down tenfold from when it was just my DD to having both kids. Now no one is available often

[sahm1225]

Do you have friends close by that you can do a date night swap? We did it with our sister in law for a while. Basically once a month, we'd take their 3 kids (4,7,9) for overnight. Then the next day they would take ours overnight (1,4,6). I miss doing that!!

A tip for interviewing is to end it with an expected contact date. That way it forces you to decide if they're a good fit and forces them to decide too. I've also done interviews back to back. It gave them the impression that we were very hard to get into & for me it got them
Done right away!

Good luck!

[cheerfuldom]

Do you have friends close by that you can do a date night swap? We did it with our sister in law for a while. Basically once a month, we'd take their 3 kids (4,7,9) for overnight. Then the next day they would take ours overnight (1,4,6). I miss doing that!!

A tip for interviewing is to end it with an expected contact date. That way it forces you to decide if they're a good fit and forces them to decide too. I've also done interviews back to back. It gave them the impression that we were very hard to get into & for me it got them
Done right away!

Good luck!

No on the date night swap. We dont know anyone that has as many kids as we do (4 under age 7) so most people would not want to swap and watch our four for their one. And I dont want one random kid here four times in order to make our one swap fair. Plus I find that A LOT of people assume that the swap will be me taking their child and then they never return the favor, they definitely dont want to go first on sitting, and they think that since this is a daycare, of course I wont mind having their kids over. I have several people that will babysit my kids IF they and their kids can come over here......and trash my house so I have to clean up after date night and they go on their merry way and of course their kids come over again when I have to take a turn sitting. I promise you, I have had so many people try and take advantage of the fact that I have a daycare. it is hard to be friends with moms! LOL these are nice, good, cool people that just cant understand I dont want their kids here all the time, or really that much at all. Its easier to stay home than try to arrange a sitter. We have two college age girls we like and trust and pay well for. If they arent available, we dont go anywhere.