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Help!
I have been a licensed daycare provider for 1.5 years now, and there are some things I love and some things I hate. I am hoping that you guys can help me get some perspective and make a decision.
I have a bachelor's degree in mass communication and spent 5 years in the Army before becoming a stay-at-home mom with my kids. They are now 4 and 6, and my son is already starting to age out of the daycare. I can tell he is getting bored and a little tired of smaller kids during the summer months.
So, here are my options: I can switch from the 3 days a week I do now to 5 days a week from 7:30 to 4:30 to cater to teachers' kids and have school holidays/summers off with my own kids. I currently make about $600 a week with my hourly rate caring for two babies and drop-off kids just working the 3 days. If I move to a weekly daycare, then I would need to switch to a weekly rate. I only want about 4 kids, so that puts me at about $250 for an infant and $200 for over 2 (we are in the Baltimore/D.C. area). That would be $900 a week, but with more hours. Pros to doing this are that I can spend time with my kids in the mornings/afternoons, and if they are sick, they can just go upstairs and I am not missing work. Cons are that I am working more days, and there really isn't a safety net. I still have to juggle having enough kids in my daycare, and if I get sick, I don't get paid. I also won't be able to volunteer at my kids' school, etc., without getting a substitute for my daycare.
Or...I already have the pre-requisites for my nursing program, so I would just need to do a 2-year program to get either my associates/bachelor's or master's depending on the program. Cons are that I would have to put my own kids in before/after care at the school, and instead of being able to wake up nicely and spend time with mommy before and after school, I would be waking them up really early and shuttling them off for a VERY long day at the school. I have the GI Bill to pay for the school, but the $2,000 a month I get in housing allowance pays for their care ($900 a month for before/after care for 2 kids), gas and a little left over. It would be tough financially to not have my income. But, I would be making about $70,000 a year or $35,000 if I just decided to do part-time. Pros are that I would have a pretty lucrative career with a great benefits package if I decided to do full-time when they got older (i.e. teenagers who don't want their mom around.
Or...I could become a pre-k to 3rd grade teacher in the public school system. Maryland has a grant for the alternative pathway to becoming a teacher. Since I have a bachelor's degree, I can go to school 5 minutes from my house at Loyola University every other Saturday for one year for 8 hours each Saturday. I do a 2-week internship at my daycare and then two weeks at another pre-k/school of their choosing. Then, I have a residency for one year at my daycare and then a 2-year service commitment at either my daycare or another pre-k (Columbia Academy, etc.) Pros are that it is $17,000 to get my teaching certificate, and I don't have to pay for it. I will be able to continue my business, but have this in my back pocket in case I want to become a kindergarten teacher- 3rd grade teacher after my service commitment is finalized. In four years, my kids will be 8 and 10, and I will have summers off with them. I would need to be open 4 days a week from 7-5, so maybe I combine 1 and 2 possibilities so I could have summers off with them. Maryland pays about $50,000 for new teachers, plus a pretty good benefits package. Cons are that I would have to stop being an independent businesswoman and deal with a LOT of testing regulations and 18 sets of parents!
Factoring in all of this is that I started having symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome while in the Army (was actually medically retired because of it), and I am worried that I will not be able to use the restroom whenever I need to in options 2 and 3. I know this may seem like a silly reason to someone who does not have IBS or any gastrointestinal issues, but I do feel limited in my career choices.
As you can tell, I have a lot tumbling around in my head right now trying to figure out what it is that I want to do. Do you have any advice? Especially if you have been in the daycare business for a while and have kids of your own...
I have been a licensed daycare provider for 1.5 years now, and there are some things I love and some things I hate. I am hoping that you guys can help me get some perspective and make a decision.
I have a bachelor's degree in mass communication and spent 5 years in the Army before becoming a stay-at-home mom with my kids. They are now 4 and 6, and my son is already starting to age out of the daycare. I can tell he is getting bored and a little tired of smaller kids during the summer months.
So, here are my options: I can switch from the 3 days a week I do now to 5 days a week from 7:30 to 4:30 to cater to teachers' kids and have school holidays/summers off with my own kids. I currently make about $600 a week with my hourly rate caring for two babies and drop-off kids just working the 3 days. If I move to a weekly daycare, then I would need to switch to a weekly rate. I only want about 4 kids, so that puts me at about $250 for an infant and $200 for over 2 (we are in the Baltimore/D.C. area). That would be $900 a week, but with more hours. Pros to doing this are that I can spend time with my kids in the mornings/afternoons, and if they are sick, they can just go upstairs and I am not missing work. Cons are that I am working more days, and there really isn't a safety net. I still have to juggle having enough kids in my daycare, and if I get sick, I don't get paid. I also won't be able to volunteer at my kids' school, etc., without getting a substitute for my daycare.
Or...I already have the pre-requisites for my nursing program, so I would just need to do a 2-year program to get either my associates/bachelor's or master's depending on the program. Cons are that I would have to put my own kids in before/after care at the school, and instead of being able to wake up nicely and spend time with mommy before and after school, I would be waking them up really early and shuttling them off for a VERY long day at the school. I have the GI Bill to pay for the school, but the $2,000 a month I get in housing allowance pays for their care ($900 a month for before/after care for 2 kids), gas and a little left over. It would be tough financially to not have my income. But, I would be making about $70,000 a year or $35,000 if I just decided to do part-time. Pros are that I would have a pretty lucrative career with a great benefits package if I decided to do full-time when they got older (i.e. teenagers who don't want their mom around.
Or...I could become a pre-k to 3rd grade teacher in the public school system. Maryland has a grant for the alternative pathway to becoming a teacher. Since I have a bachelor's degree, I can go to school 5 minutes from my house at Loyola University every other Saturday for one year for 8 hours each Saturday. I do a 2-week internship at my daycare and then two weeks at another pre-k/school of their choosing. Then, I have a residency for one year at my daycare and then a 2-year service commitment at either my daycare or another pre-k (Columbia Academy, etc.) Pros are that it is $17,000 to get my teaching certificate, and I don't have to pay for it. I will be able to continue my business, but have this in my back pocket in case I want to become a kindergarten teacher- 3rd grade teacher after my service commitment is finalized. In four years, my kids will be 8 and 10, and I will have summers off with them. I would need to be open 4 days a week from 7-5, so maybe I combine 1 and 2 possibilities so I could have summers off with them. Maryland pays about $50,000 for new teachers, plus a pretty good benefits package. Cons are that I would have to stop being an independent businesswoman and deal with a LOT of testing regulations and 18 sets of parents!
Factoring in all of this is that I started having symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome while in the Army (was actually medically retired because of it), and I am worried that I will not be able to use the restroom whenever I need to in options 2 and 3. I know this may seem like a silly reason to someone who does not have IBS or any gastrointestinal issues, but I do feel limited in my career choices.
As you can tell, I have a lot tumbling around in my head right now trying to figure out what it is that I want to do. Do you have any advice? Especially if you have been in the daycare business for a while and have kids of your own...
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