1st Post.. Family Issues w/Daycare??

[daycaremum]

I see it differently than most here. This is his home. Yes, you work from home but I see it as part of my responsibility to clean up my work day so we can enjoy our home. I wouldn't be able to leave my area at work a mess if I worked outside the home either.

Also, it sounds like you have a lot of stuff. Maybe take this as an opportunity to sell a few things and keep the favorites. Maybe move the outside toys to a certain area of the yard so that they aren't on the deck or in an area he uses daily.

I agree with the above. It is a home first and foremost, he is a member of the household and if he wants to enjoy his patio, toy free, he should be able to. I think you need to sit down and have a talk and ask him to help get dinner started or do the dishes when done if you find it too much to add putting the toys away to your list of responsibilities. That way he is contributing to his own desire to have things tidier.

[saved4always]

I know where your husband is coming from. I was the one doing in home daycare but I was also the one who got totally fed up with it taking over our home. I just got to the point where I needed to be done with little kid stuff in my home.

I started with moving everything to the basement. That became the main part of my daycare. Just one bucket of toys upstairs in the living area that fit in the corner behind a couch and table. That bucket was just for use at drop off and pick up time so we could play near the entrance; it was easy to clean up and stash as soon as the last child left. I still needed to use the kitchen for meals and the bedrooms for naps but it was an improvement. We have a deck but, once my own youngest outgrew the toys, I no longer kept any there. This did help me stay in the biz for a while longer but, eventually, I got a job in a center so I could dispense with all small child related items in my home, like the pack and plays in the bedrooms. I don't plan on bringing any back til I have some grand-babies .

Is it possible to compromise with your husband? Move all the toys off the deck and into a designated area of the yard. Keep the play and craft area to one area of the home. Allow him to have some child free space in his home? I think there just comes a time in some of our lives where we are just done with kids and their supplies surrounding us 24/7. When you work outside the home, you can leave the job reminders at the office...if you have an in-home office, you can shut the door at the end of the day....it is much more difficult for an in home daycare to disappear after hours, but, minimizing the effect could go a long way to make your husband more content with it.

[Unregistered]

I may sound like a big meanie but I make the last kids here every day help pick up outside.I bought a beautiful cedar shed last year and we spend about a half hour cleaning up every night.Actually I don't,the kids do. They put all small toys,ride on toys,balls,etc. away and that way we can enjoy our lovely patio evey night! As far as the big structures go,I decided last year all the plastic climbers,slides,playhouses,swings were really an eye sore.I went to having a natural playscape and couldn't be happier. The kids enjoy it more too!

[saved4always]

I see it differently than most here. This is his home. Yes, you work from home but I see it as part of my responsibility to clean up my work day so we can enjoy our home. I wouldn't be able to leave my area at work a mess if I worked outside the home either.

Also, it sounds like you have a lot of stuff. Maybe take this as an opportunity to sell a few things and keep the favorites. Maybe move the outside toys to a certain area of the yard so that they aren't on the deck or in an area he uses daily.

When I moved to one area of the house, I also went through all the toys and kept what the kids actually played with and got rid of the best. Pairing down and organizing really helped keep it all under control. I also started controlling how many toys came out at once. I did that at the center I worked at, too. It took much less energy to keep it all together when I did not allow all toys out at once.

[debbiedoeszip]

Maybe I'm the odd (wo)man out. I feel if he is bothered by the tools for a business which brings in family income, he needs to put them up at the end of the evening or quit his belly aching. If he drove a company truck home at the end of the day would, you get bend outta shape cuz it was in YOUR driveway? How's he going to feel when you have g'kids? idk..., that's my rant about it.

My thinking is the same as yours. Being a home daycare provider isn't a hobby, it's an income-generating career. I think that it's pretty unfair of her DH to get so bent out of shape that the "tools" of her trade are visible outside of daycare hours. Being a daycare provider means long, physically and mentally draining hours. That after her long workday, she has to spend even more time basically hiding the fact that she has a home business, seems really, really unfair. I really feel for her.