What Have You Done Lately to Improve Your Care?

[MarinaVanessa]

Why . . . you MONSTER! Good thing the kid's mom showed up to take him away from the horrible care provider who wouldn't chauffeur him to the nearest fast food joint. You probably serve lean meat with whole wheat. What are you trying to do, starve the child?

RIGHT?!?!
And goodness forbid I expect him to put his own velcro shoes on himself or try to potty train him. I'm such a meanie! ::

[permanentvacation]

I started putting my dog in his crate at drop off and pick up times. It's a simple change, but it creates a more professional atmosphere and cut down on the chaos of my dog being all excited to see the parents and tying to get them to play with him/pet him instead of them being able to focus on their child/children.

[Play Care]

I am going to get my CDA. Mostly because my license is up in two years and I am DONE with in home. I love preschool and am thinking of applying with Head Start or UPK. Having some certification (even if it's only a CDA) may help getting hired and not getting bare minimum. It will be a pay cut, but my liability will also be cut, the wear and tear on my home, etc.

So those are my big changes

[EntropyControlSpecialist]

it is 36x36.....It is two sided so all can see from both sides of the highway....the other one I had was 26x36 and had handprints and was very colorful, but the marketing dept at the sign co. I used (they made the first sign for me years ago) told me that to get attention, you need big bold print with no garb on it. So that is what I did.....and have tied helium balloons on it to get extra attention.

That's all great to know! What a BIG sign! I hope it gets you some great, new clients when you need them.

[EntropyControlSpecialist]

Several months back I changed my hours from 7-5:45 to 8:15-3:15, and was slightly shocked that it's worked.

We switched to a different CPA who helped us find new ways to save money, especially with keeping track of mileage.

Would you mind sharing how you're keeping better track of mileage? The money from that really adds up quickly in the tax arena!

[Controlled Chaos]

Would you mind sharing how you're keeping better track of mileage? The money from that really adds up quickly in the tax arena!

I know you weren't asking me - but I thought I'd chime in

I hated tracking mileage - hated it!
Instead of tracking each trip as I am doing it, I look at my bank account and my business Excel sheet of profit and loss (just my expenses and income listed by month) and I can see everywhere I went for daycare by where I bought stuff. Then I mapquest the distance from my house to that location and double it for the round trip. Then I enter each trip into a spread sheet. I only go half a dozen places so its not very many places to map. I still hate it. But its easy.

Also - I love this tread. I have super enjoyed reading it.

I am not accepting infants anymore. My youngest is 10m and I can't wait for her to a solid toddler (15m or so). The days I don't have the 10m and the 19m my days are soooo easy. I do a lot of prek activities. I think I want to stick to 2-5yos. I will accept walking 1 year olds in the future if I have to, but I really don't want to do babies for a while. I have 8 kids between 2 and 6yo and only 1 in diapers! It has been a magical day ::

[DaveA]

The summer tends to be my crazy time- more kids, heat, and jumbled schedules. I really have to make an effort to keep things from getting too repetitive.

Garage sale and Goodwill trips to find new toys.

Growing and releasing beneficial insects.

Taking advantage of a "slow day" to go somewhere. Usually during the summer I can't go anywhere because school agers and my own kids mean I have too many to fit in van.

Took a vacation. This job burns people out too fast if you don't make you a priority.

[MrsSteinel'sHouse]

I am working on my CDA hope to have that finished and step up (stars) stuff done by the fall. That is the big thing for me. I HATE paperwork.

I want to redo my playroom. But priority right now budget wise is roof, windows, siding, doors... maybe insulation but, I am working on a few things. I really would like new flooring in this part of the house. I also want to change the door my kids come in but I can't do that until the renovations happen.

I am trying to figure out how I do not take SA back in the fall for before/ after school. There is just no one else to take him...

I need to advertise for one more kid but have been enjoying the 4 this summer...

I really want to create a quiet area in my playroom. So a child size couch or something but I don't want to eat up too much space.

I am working to sort through all of my childcare stuff and to reorganize. I have been getting rid of things I don't pull out. If I am not using it- it is going. I have also purchased some things to fill in gaps.

I want to store my things by theme or useage. So, all of the farm stuff is in one bin- books, games, crafts etc. I have a bin of colors- books, crafts toys etc. I would like to create lesson plans to go with each bin so I can pull out a sheet and it has all of the learning standards on there.

I need to get out and work on my yard again too...

[Stephnrich]

Would you mind sharing how you're keeping better track of mileage? The money from that really adds up quickly in the tax arena!

The CPA we were using told us we had to write down the odometer logs before/after every trip. That was almost impossible. I'm too lazy, and I just never did it. The new CPA explained that we only need to keep track of the mileage round trip, and suggested we just use Google maps to figure the distance. She said to even mark down the weekly trip to the bank to deposit the childcare money. I had no idea it was as that easy.

[Unregistered]

Earlier today, after speaking with my sister and nephew about a child that has caused complete havoc in my daycare for 6 months. I have been keeping her because I need the money so badly. However, she makes every day pure he** here. She was absent for a week last week due to an illness. That week was pure Heaven! So, after speaking with my sister and nephew, I have decided that tomorrow will be her last day here.

My sister and nephew made me realize that my mental and physical health as well as the overall happiness of the children in my daycare are much more important than me needing the income from one child.

To continue providing good quality care, I plan to put the overall health and happiness of the group above my need for having the income from one child that doesn't fit well into my daycare.

I have also decided to stop trying to 'fix' or 'help' families who live differently than I do and raise their children differently than I do or believe is 'right'. Instead of trying to get parents to 'raise their children properly' according to my opinion and beliefs, I am going to simply let them know that due to our differences in parenting styles, my daycare is not a good fit for their child/family.

Yes, it will lower my chances of enrolling children as I will refuse some families, but, the families that I do enroll will truly benefit from me being able to provide a calm, loving environment that enriches the children's lives as well as is enriched by the children who are enrolled.

I just termed a dcb like this. I tried so hard! I won't be doing that again!! The days are so WONDERFUL now! Omg

[Unregistered]

The CPA we were using told us we had to write down the odometer logs before/after every trip. That was almost impossible. I'm too lazy, and I just never did it. The new CPA explained that we only need to keep track of the mileage round trip, and suggested we just use Google maps to figure the distance. She said to even mark down the weekly trip to the bank to deposit the childcare money. I had no idea it was as that easy.

I keep a "master mileage list" and I use Google maps