Those of You Who Have Worked Other Jobs

[Josiegirl]

Compared to anything else you've ever done, how would you rate being a childcare provider? I'm mostly curious as to wages earned, amount of stress, hours put in, respect you receive, degree of satisfaction, or anything else you'd like to share.
Just curious.

[Thriftylady]

Gosh that is a hard question. It seems every job I have had has been totally different, but has served some purpose in my life. I have learned something from all of them! They have all "fullfilled" me in some way. My job at the plastics factory was my first permanent real job. I had had some fast food jobs before that. I worked there five years and worked up the chain a bit. I can't say I loved the job, but I worked with some great people. I learned a ton about working with people, training people and such.

Then after I married DH I did daycare, then we did foster care. I learned the first time I did daycare how NOT to do it. I didn't have a handbook, and had a very loose contract. I quit doing it then mostly because the parents were making me nuts.

Then we moved here and I spent five years working as a moderator on a forum like this one only for couponing. I learned a lot about computer stuff. I also learned to try to write in a way that people could get my real meaning, because we all know how much is lost on a forum like this as compared to a real chat.

Now I am back in daycare and feel like I am a far better provider than I was the first time around. I have policies, a good contract and have picked good parents. All things I didn't do the first time around. I used to think I "worked" for the parents, and also thought I had to take on every family that interviewed.

[Blackcat31]

Compared to anything else you've ever done, how would you rate being a childcare provider?

By far THE best job I've had. I get paid to color....come on .

I'm mostly curious as to wages earned,

I earn far more being a child care provider than I did in any previous job.

amount of stress,

I have small moments of condensed stress but over all I have a lot less stress. For several reasons...biggest being this job allows me to assign and expect personal responsibility so I have far more control over the things that stress me out.

I also have less stress because I don't have to actually work with adults.

hours put in,

I probably work more hours than previously but I like being busy and am not the type of person that can lay around. I have zero patience when doing nothing. I have never napped in my entire adult life because I cant slow down long enough...

respect you receive,


I don't know. I guess I've never really paid much attention to how others feel about me or how they view me. I've always been taught that how I feel about myself is what really matters. As far as respect in the work place....I have never felt disrespected by a client on a daily basis. Those I have felt disrespected by didn't stay clients long so....

degree of satisfaction,

This is a highly satisfying job if you want it to be and I do.

or anything else you'd like to share.
Just curious.

I replied in red.

[Ariana]

I LOVE working for myself. My wages are not as good but it is a personal choice since I am not working as hard. It can be stressful but my other jobs were for different reasons and most of my stress comes from parents not following rules or burying their head in the sand about developmental delays.

I would say for me it has been the easiest job, mainly because I make the rules and I can terminate people! Lol. At my other jobs I had to tolerate a lot of behaviors from adults and bosses that were morons. The only way out was to quit.

I think I am getting the respect I deserve now because I demand it.

[midaycare]

I have always wanted to own a business, so this is awesome for me.

I had jobs as a teacher/school counselor/secretary/church secretary/office manager/business manager. I mived around a bit with the hubby, so I took what I could find.

I get more respect doing this than I ever did as a secretary or office manager, but much less than as an educator working in a school system.

I make okay money. I would do much better if I lived in a state where I could have more kids, or if I could take before or after school kids (my house is too far away from the street for that - very secluded).

This is my second year. In my first year, I was a hot mess. Now I don't stress about much. And since I'm my own boss, I don't have the stress of someone telling me I am not doing things well. No performance reviews. If my clients are happy, I know I'm doing well.

I work more now, but it's a different kind of "work". Very satisfying. I'm happier overall because I have a job I enjoy very much.

Long term, I don't know if it's feasible for me. DS wants to do some things that require some travelling for a sport. Both nationally and internationally. I will cross that road when it comes to it!

[NoMoreJuice!]

I've told this to many people, all my daycare families included, that this is my absolute favorite job and I can't see myself doing anything else.

I graduated with an equine repro management degree but I couldn't find a job in that field unless I moved, but I met my husband during college and wanted to stay with him. So I got my CNA license. The low pay, crappy shift hours, having too many bosses, etc just got to me, and I knew I had to do something else. My friend talked me into starting a home daycare, and I thought I'd give it a shot (knowing almost nothing about kids). Seven years later, I can't imagine doing anything else, ever. I did daycare in a small town for a few years, then moved to a big city and reopened charging double the amount that I had charged in the small town. The opportunity to change what I don't like, add things I like, and evolve my business into what I choose makes me SO happy.

So to answer your questions, I am completely satisfied with my career, thrilled about how much money it brings in, sometimes annoyed with the long hours (but I do have the freedom to change that), and obviously get treated with way more respect than a CNA, because I have no bosses. In summary, this business rocks and I couldn't be happier!

[thrivingchildcarecom]

how would you rate being a childcare provider? There are some really pluses and minuses. It's a lot more to it than what I think anyone would imagine, but if you evolve and grow with your business it can be be great.

wages earned: There is so much that goes into, and out of, the income earned. It can be a good living if you respect your time enough to price your services so that the business will survive. I used to make a good living in the corporate world, but I did not have the say whenever there was a "down sizing". That was out of my control. With the child care, I decide when to take on new clients and when to raise my rates. There's a lot more control.

amount of stress: Remember the control I just spoke about? Well you really need to manage your business well so that you can sidestep the stress that comes with owning/running your own business. Taking care of other people's children, crazy parents, unreasonable regulations, etc. Can stress you out if you let them! So when you get a handle on how you will deal with these issues, you lessen the stress.

hours put in: This is a big one! I don't think anyone can imagine the hours you will put in. And not just with the kids, but cleaning, shopping, workshops, etc. This job can definitely consume your life. Again, finding a way to manage and balance the many hats you wear is the key. BTW: I start work at 7:45 and the last kid isn't picked up till after 6 pm. So if you counting that's 10 hours & 15 minutes, M-F which totals just over 51 hours a week. Like I said, that's before cleaning, shopping, etc. so 60 might actually be a better number.

respect you receive: This is also what you make it. What you allow is what you will receive. If you have a good contract, policies and enforcement, your clients will respect you more than if they think they can run all over you. Do yourself a favor and get a good book with sample contract, policies, tips & recommendations. You will thank yourself later.

degree of satisfaction: This is the good part! You will never find another profession that is so rewarding. If you can manage all the business stuff above, you will know that your job is so important and is irreplaceable and your parents will tell you so. Maybe not all of them, but a good many will.

anything else: Too much else! But you are starting in a good place. Seasoned providers are a good lot and always willing to share what they have learned.

Hope this helped!

[mommyneedsadayoff]

Compared to anything else you've ever done, how would you rate being a childcare provider?
I love being a childcare provider, but in the last ten years or so, I have started to love it a lot less. Probably started feeling that after I had my own kids and as I started to see quite a change in parenting behavior. I decided to quit daycare and I just watch one child now, plus my own, so I am more of a nanny and I also took on a part time serving job at a steakhouse for extra cash. Overall, I have been in childcare for 17 years, so besides serving, I really have not done a whole lot of other jobs, other than serving, which I also enjoy. I worked in accounting for awhile, but I hated office work, so it didn't last long. I think, if you control your business and know what you want, childcare can be a fun, stress free job for the most part.

I'm mostly curious as to wages earned:
I did not do licensing for my daycare, so I was able to take 5 kids, including my own two, so 3 paying children. This amounted to about $450-$500 per week in income. As a server, working 5 shifts, I make about the same. (average $100 a night, more on the weekends and holiday season).

, amount of stress,
Serving is stressful if you have a restaurant that is not set up for success. Short staffed kitchen, bad management, ect, can lead to a hard time keeping guests happy. I work in a great restaurant right now though, so there is very little stress. Daycare is similar. If you have good parents who care and are willing to work WITH you, it is relatively stress free. I would say that keeping up with the cleaning, grocery shopping, and having people in my house all the time was the most stressful for me. I like being able to go to my serving job now, work, make money, and leave it all behind.
hours put in,
I worked 50 hours per week as a daycare provider (M-F), about 40 hours a week as a nanny (M-F), and I work about 30 hours per week as a server (M-W, Sat/Sun). The worst thing with serving is working holidays, but you also make the best money ($300 on Christmas Eve this year).

respect you receive,

Lots of respect as a nanny because I was hired because of my experience and great references. They were my employers, but deferred to me, because I knew what I was doing. I was never disrespected as a daycare provider, but I did feel like many parents thought of me more as a babysitter, versus someone who knew kids and all their little quirks. They would ask for advice, but not really take it because they felt their way is better, which is fine, but even my own family didn't give me much credit for having over a decade of experience caring for newborns, special needs, multiples, ect. I got tired of "proving" myself, so I stopped caring and stopped giving advice other than "I am sure everything will work out".

and degree of satisfaction,
I am satisified with all the work I did and the lives I got to be a part of. It is a special thing to be brought into a child's life and to be trusted with protecting and caring for them. That is a hard baton to pass for a parent (I know, because I couldn't do it with my own), s I appreciate all the parents I worked with and I really care for each and every kid I have taken care of. But I am done now and it feels good. I am not saying I will never go back to childcare, in some form or another, but I am happy to be trying something new and just enjoying my time with my daughter. I like serving and talking with adults too, so for now, I am happy with my past childcare experience and looking forward to the future.
or anything else you'd like to share.
Just curious.

Hope this helps!

[childcaremom]

I haven't had a huge amount of outside work experience. Definitely not anything I would have called a career. I just recently have thought of calling daycare my career... only because I have been doing it for so long. Most of my other jobs also involve being self employed so it's what I will relate my answers to.

Wages: I could make more IF I went back to school, IF I had started working outside the home earlier in my life and moved up the ranks, etc. I am the breadwinner when I am full but the challenge lately has been to find dcks. The ebb and flow of this job means that I have to plan and have a savings.

My other businesses didn't have as much income as daycare.

Stress: is relative. I could get stressed over lots of things but choose not to. Most of the time. If I feel a stress ball when a family pulls in my driveway, then it's time for them to go. My big stressors lately have been food (I hate cooking and I am getting into a rut) and cleaning (I feel like a maid but this is more to do with my own family than this job). I think I would have stress working outside the house, as well, it would just be different. I did enjoy my other businesses and found them less stressful.... but I didn't make as much. Financially I need to be making the income I am so it is a trade off at this point. I do have an exit plan and am working towards it.

I had different stress with my other businesses. It was all manageable, just different.

Respect: I am happy. My parents are happy. The dcks are happy. They don't need to tell me that they respect me. They follow my policies, they communicate with me, and they keep bringing their children back.

Outside the home, I think it would be different. With my other businesses, I guess I looked at it the same way. Do my clients keep coming back? Do they refer me?

I didn't always respect my choice to do childcare. It took a huge self talk and mindshift to look at this as a business, one where I make darn good money, and provide an awesome service. It worked.

Satisfaction: I like waking up each day and doing what I do. Is it what I thought I would be doing with my life? No. But I am happy, I enjoy spending time with little people, I enjoy teaching and I love being home. I daydream about getting a job outside the home, sometimes often ha ha, but I know the perks that I have right now would be hard to give up.

I have another business that I am building up right now. It is something that I can do on the side in the meantime, and provides me a creative outlet (which I realize I need!). It gives me immense satisfaction, so I guess I feel balanced right now.

[Josiegirl]

Guess I could answer my own question

Been doing this 32+ years. I think I felt trapped for the first 20 or so years of it because my dh and I had decided I would do this while our kids were home. Plus not many providers had contracts and policies back then. So we were simply babysitters paid a lowly income to provide care however the parents wanted it. Lots of being taken advantage of. Also, not much support back then either, from resource referral groups or networks, nothing. I think I've always made more through child care if you count the costs I didn't have to pay others plus the deductions we can take.
But for the past 12 years, everything for our job seems to have blossomed, in good ways and bad. Support is there, grant monies are there, rewards for doing STARs helps so much, trainings are more diverse. The parents I've had over the past 8-10 years have, for the most part, been great!! Flexible, kind, respectful, just good people overall.
To me, it beat working in a setting where your closest co-worker would talk about you behind your back, you had bosses breathing down your neck. Lots of jobs from my past required working weekends, holidays.

Wages, I probably earn more but everything I get from this job isn't based on income.

Respect, yes I think I get far more doing this than merely being another number on the floor.

Stress? OMG yes. But I learn ways to take care of situations as they arise(thank you daycare.com!!!)and it's not all day long stress like working with someone you just do not get along with or for an irritable boss.

Level of satisfaction, that seems to rise and fall with how each day or week has gone. If we've had a rough week I always think well, tomorrow's another day, another chance. Some days I wonder if I'm really making that much of an impact on all these lil lives going through here. But then on Monday morning when dcm says to me "J wanted to come play with you all weekend" or seeing a couple dcks that aged out and they still run up in stores and give me great big hugs....well I figure I must've done something right.

Sure, there are some days when I wish I could use one of the extra rooms for an exercise room or get rid of all the cupboard locks and booster seats. But I cannot imagine not seeing all their smiles and watch them dancing holding hands with each other or sitting on the floor reading stories and hugging my dogs.

My daycare has become my lifestyle, as some people warn against. But being here with just 2 dogs, it doesn't really matter to me.

[Nisaryn]

How would you rate being a childcare provider?

I love being able to work one on one with the kids, especially since I am doing infant only care all my current kids are under 1yr of age. I love being able to watch them grow, watch them interact with each other and myself, and I love all the little moments I get to share with their parents. Over all I am very happy.

I'm mostly curious as to wages earned:

I make FAR LESS doing childcare. I have an M.A. in Education and was an ESL (English Second Language) teacher and earned 35K right out of school. I was at 42K when I had to move. My husband joined the military and so moving made it so that I couldn't keep teaching...the cost of constantly having to pay to transfer my teaching license is crazy plus some states have different requirements. I make less, but I make do and am happy so I still consider it a pretty good pay off...though I do miss teaching ESL.

Amount of stress:
Compared to teaching? Not much at all. There are good days and bad days like any other job. But since I'm at a far more personal level with the kids and parents than I ever was teaching I feel like I have more of an impact in their lives.

Hours put in:
When I was teaching I worked from 7am to 3pm, I got weekends off and I got three months of summer of as well as two weeks for spring, fall, all major holidays....as a Provider I still get major holidays and 1 week for Thanksgiving and 2 for Christmas...I don't always get the weekend, my hours are from 6am to 6pm. I put far more hours into daycare than I ever did as a teacher....but I LOVE it.

Respect you receive:
From my DCPs, far more than I ever did as a teacher.

Degree of satisfaction: Very satisfied

[Controlled Chaos]

Compared to anything else you've ever done, how would you rate being a childcare provider?

It is perfect for where I am in life right now. I have enjoyed almost all my jobs though - dance teacher, french teacher, Baker (Great Harvest)...there's probably more I dont remember

I'm mostly curious as to wages earned,

I earn more now than I ever had before, it took me 4 years to get my business to that point. I have one more of my own kids still taking a spot, so I have potential to make even more in 2 years.

amount of stress,

Since I am my own boss, I have more control over my stressors. Overall less stress, but less of an ability to let of stream with a coworker in the hall.

hours put in,

I work less hours weekely than I did as a teacher, but without summers off. I don't feel overworked. I try to balance things in favor of my family.

respect you receive,


I felt respected in all my jobs...maybe I'm delusional

degree of satisfaction,

Very satisfied, but I think all jobs are important and found satisfaction in all of them.


Just curious.

[DaveA]

wages earned Honestly if I didn't have another source of income I probably wouldn't be doing this. The day my other job makes more financial sense will be my last day in childcare. That being said, I do better working for myself than at a center.
amount of stress Let's see: In daycare I haven't been stabbed (bouncer), fell through a barn roof (roofing), rolled a tractor or attacked by a bull (farming), broke up 3 women fighting because they have the same baby daddy (welfare to work counselor), or ended up pointing a gun at someone (elder abuse investigator). So any stress from this job I'll take.
hours put in Yep long hours but no late nights or long weekends so no issues there.
respect you receive Really don't care what others outside of my wife think. The only time I had problems with that was when FIL gave her crap about it. Couple times of that resulted in him and I having a "Come to Jesus" meeting. He shut up after that.
degree of satisfaction All in all very satisfied.
Answers in blue

[spud912]

My answers pertain to my specific situation. I have been doing child care out of my home for 5 years now. We are capped at 4 daycare children and average rates are from $125 to $150 per week for in-home daycares (I'm mid-to-upper in that respect).

My prior profession was in the regulatory field as a government employee.

Wages earned: My wages are significantly less compared to my prior profession, but that has a lot to do with the fact that we are limited on the number of children we are allowed AND how much I can charge without scaring away potential families due to sticker shock. I know many of you do not have this issue, but I also tend to re-invest too much of my earnings back into the business. The plus side is that most of what I do spend is tax deductible, so I usually show that I barely make anything, therefore I don't have to pay much in taxes.
Amount of stress: This is a difficult question. My prior job was very stress-free, but there were some things that were stressful. This job definitely has significantly more stress at times, but then having the opportunity to wake up and walk downstairs to be at my job is very nice. I would say the most stressful time is when I have a vacancy (or several .... they seem to come in waves). The lack of true financial stability really stresses me, which is something that was non-existent at my government job. I could be out of work for whatever reason and 99% of the time my pay was always consistent. In fact, the only break in pay in my prior job was when I took extended time off for maternity leave (which was only 1 week without pay . . . in 6 years at that job and that was my only time without pay).
Hours put in: This job has much longer and more hours per week (about 60-65 per week). But these hours are all hours with my family....in the comforts of my home. If I worked outside of the home, I would have about 45-50 hours away from my family and away from the house.
Respect you receive: Since I was in the regulatory field, I had a whole lot of respect (brown nosing ). I demand a lot of respect in this job, but don't always get it.
Degree of satisfaction: I love this job for the fact that I get to spend so much needed time with my kiddos when they are young. My dh works mostly from home so that extra time with him is really great! I do worry a lot about our finances and how we would get by if something were to happen to me health-wise. Also, I have always had a hard time transitioning from the ever-accruing vacation and sick paid time off to not very much at all. The lack of flexibility in my schedule is a huge burden for us as well.

If it weren't for the lack of pay, benefits, and inflexibility, I would do this job forever because I do love it. However, once the kids are all in school, I will probably have to get a job outside of the home so I can be there for them when they need me (as their needs will be more outside of the home when they are older). Plus, I need to be able to have a larger income so I can help them better financially when they are older (like college education).

[Unregistered]

Compared to anything else you've ever done, how would you rate being a childcare provider? I'm mostly curious as to wages earned,

At times I've made more as a ch. care teacher, sometimes less than other jobs

amount of stress,

I've had great jobs out in the community. Stress level is about the same for both. I feel I don't have tons of stress in ch. care as I have two dedicated ch. care rooms in my home. I can shut the door at the end of the day. I'd be way stressed out if I didn't have this

hours put in,
I put in way more hours.

I don't like NOT having the luxury of taking days off easily. Loved that at one of my other jobs. It's not easy to take days off from teaching either. It is possible though!

respect you receive,

I had way more respect at other jobs....kindergarten teacher, parent coach, preschool teacher.

degree of satisfaction,

Satisfaction is a bit less, but not a lot less.

or anything else you'd like to share.

Just curious.

This is a great group of questions!