Why Is Daycare A Bump In The Road?

[jen]

I've been doing daycare for 10+ years and it has served us well. However, now that my kids are older I would to have more flexiblity. Also:

I don't call in sick unless I'm dying, which means at least a few times a year I do daycare when I'm really not up to it.

I don't have a dedicated daycare space and now that my kids are pretty much past the toy stage, I'd like my living room back.

I wouldn't mind having a job that came along with a 401K and pension.

Raising your rates when you do daycare is tough...which means that most of the time we eat the increases in food, energy, supply, and other expenses.

In our area paid vacations for daycare providers are pretty much unheard of; I would like to take vacation without worrying about how much money I won't be making.

I have a degree in Pscyhology and am going back for my Master's in Special Ed, specializing in Emotional Behavioral Disorders. My husband has a degree in Secondary Education and is going back for his Master's in Special Education as well, but he is specializing in Learning Disabilities. Special Ed has an above average growth rate and pays well, we'll have summers off to spend with our kids, which is more important to us than ever, especially now that the kids are all getting older. For me, it just makes more sense.

[Zoe]

I started doing daycare because the whole teaching thing just wasn't happening for me and we really needed a consistent income, not the crap you get when you sub! Amazingly, I found out from the get-go that I enjoyed daycare more than I did teaching. This shocked me because I'd wanted to be a teacher since I was 6.

I love being with my kids and seeing them grow up. I love taking care of other people's children. They are such fun ages, these "before school agers"!

Yes, I will be doing this even after my kids are in school, because I enjoy it so much. I can keep my house "clean", do the laundry, TEACH them basic skills, play!

My husband told me that eventually he would like his house back, so further down the line we will be looking into opening a center. But until then, I am LOVING what I do and not many people can say that!

[MissAnn]

My kids are 23 and 18. No, I am not quitting. I am spoiled.....I do as I like here which mainly means discovering what the kids are interested in and going with that. I love the flexibility. I love this job! The only really bad part is keeping a sub!

[SandeeAR]

Since I was a stay at home Mom with my two grown DDs, I've been an "unpaid" daycare provider for years. I was the Mom everyone called on when they needed their kid taken somewhere and they had to work, needed a place for them to stay after school, you get the point.

As my kids grew to Jr and Sr High School all the band kids hung out at our home. After games, school break days, semester test breaks, you name it. I had kids. Many times my own weren't home. I was never paid for these times. I just loved having the kids there.

Now I do daycare as a late in life career. I was fortunate enough not to need to work until after my kids were in college. ( a corporate downsizing brought about my need to work then)

I plan to do daycare for as many years as I am able to help to suppliment the social security my DH will draw in about 3 years at retirement.

[busymomof2]

I plan on closing once my little boy enters Kinder- 4 years to go. I have a teaching cred and a masters in education. My plans have always been to teach in a school. Right now teaching jobs are scarce in California due to budget cuts. I did daycare to spend time with my kids and get them ready for school and life. I like daycare but for me there are alot of things I don't like: working even when ill, working even when kids are ill, feeling trapped in my own home till after 6pm, low pay and no appreciation, wear & tear on my home/belongings, clutter, trying to figure out my taxes, etc. Guess your wondering why I stay...my 4 year old daughter telling me I'm the best mom ever each time I teach her something/do a craft/spend all day with her. I will put up with the rest for that

[countrymom]

well I'm in for the long haul, all 4 of my kids are in school (my oldest in grade 7 and my youngest in grade 1) funny how many of you will quit when your children start school, I hate to burst your bubble but they come with all sorts of other plans. My kids have activities that they need to be driven or picked up, snow days so that means no school, summer vacation, homework, projects, its never stops. I like that I'm here so if they need anything they know I'm home.
ok, the best part is.....I don't have a boss, I don't have no one to impress, I DON'T WORK WEEKENDS, I have holidays off, I set my own hours and I can get things done around my house even when the kids are here (lately they all want to load and unload my dishwasher-I'm not complaining but they sure like to fight about it) but I like the fact that I know that other peoples kids are safe with me and that they eat heathly and they get to be a kid.

[ninosqueridos]

Once my youngest goes to school for the whole day, I will go back to corporate America, hopefully get a job where I could work remotely from home a couple of days per week.

Daycare is wonderful and I get to be home with my kids, but I earn a lot more working outside the home. Right now it just doesn't pay for me to work outside the home and put 2 in daycare. Daycare is too pricey.

[jen]

well I'm in for the long haul, all 4 of my kids are in school (my oldest in grade 7 and my youngest in grade 1) funny how many of you will quit when your children start school, I hate to burst your bubble but they come with all sorts of other plans. My kids have activities that they need to be driven or picked up, snow days so that means no school, summer vacation, homework, projects, its never stops. I like that I'm here so if they need anything they know I'm home.

LOL...My bubble isn't burst, I know how busy my kids are and daycare doesn't help with that. For me, that right there is the problem. I am NOT here for my kids when they need me. I cannot take my daughter to gymnastics because it starts at 4:30 and I'm not done until 5:30. I have missed a lot of my son's basketball games because they too started at 4:30. And forget about summmer, they are stuck here with the daycare kids because I can't take them anywhere.

Personally, I think that the older they get and the more activities that they have, the harder daycare is. They want to go places and do things, not stay here with a bunch of little kids...at least mine do.

We have chosen career paths that will allow us to be more fully involved in our kids lives by working outside of the home (now that they are schoolagers) than we could be if I continued to do daycare. Hubby is already working in education and home, at the latest, by 3:15. I can't wait to follow suit!

[Unregistered]

Long haul

Initially, I decided to start a home daycare because my daughter wanted me around more. I had been working at a center and I was definitely ready to get out of the center environment. If my daughter hadn't asked me to quit the center, I might still have been there even though I was miserable there. It was hard to be the lead teacher in a classroom but not be allowed to have any input on what to teach and how to do it.

I've been operating my daycare from home for over 6 years now and I can't imagine doing anything else. I like the freedom that I have to design a program that I can feel good about and be proud of. It's truly mine and I like that. I'm good at what I do and I have happy daycare kids and satisfied parents.

The only reason that I could see for quitting is if it becomes medically neccessary to quit. I have a chronic illness that's incurable and I have to consider my health first. I'm trying really hard to not have to quit. I have an amazing assistant who is a blessing and I've learned to delegate to my husband and daughter. I'm hoping that doing that will help me to be able to keep doing what I love.

I've never seen being a daycare provider as a stepping stone at all. I had a friend who was embarrassed to tell people that she was a childcare provider when they asked what she did for a living. I take my job seriously. Even if parents don't see the importance of what we do, I see it and the kids in my care see it. I think that if providers treat it like a stepping stone, then that's all it will be. If being a provider is seen as an important job and is treated as such, then it will be much more than a stepping stone.

[daycare]

1. I am in it until all 3 of my kids graduate high school. I opened 3 years before I got pregnant to make sure this plan was stable enough to rely on. My kids are now in junior high.

I chose this after my first son died in daycare while I was "Providing for his future" and I realized I gave away what little time I had with him to someone else. I will also always be haunted with not knowing exactly what he died of..... SIDS = We don't know.

2. Because I chose this job to be with children, and I love them. The reality is that the majority of this job is adult care and government politics and I am more than annoyed by that.

omg I am so sorry to hear about your child..... brought tears to my eyes........

[DBug]

I would MUCH rather not work (wouldn't we all ), and daycare is like any other job to me: a way to pay the bills. I don't do it because I love it, I do it to get paid. But then, I've never been on a career path even though I have two degrees. I've always just wanted to contribute to my family in whatever ways necessary. I don't plan on doing this forever, because I really do want my house back eventually. We have a small place and the living room is completely daycare. That means we have no usable living room. We have a couple of couches in our unfinished basement, but I have nowhere to entertain or sit down and relax at the end of the day.

That said, as with anything I find myself a part of, I put everything I've got into it. There's no point to doing ANY job unless you do it well. Still, I'd like to be able to go to school assemblies when my kids get awards, take them places in the summer, and work something less than a 60-hour week. So my plan is to do this for one or two more years -- hopefully until my "golden famililes" have moved on to school and can go elsewhere for B&A.

I love the kids, but I love my own family more, and I want to always make sure I'm doing the best thing for them.

[AnythingsPossible]

I would quite in a minute if we could financially handle it. I have enjoyed aspects of daycare, but over the past few years, my joy for it has dwindled. I am currently looking into a different business avenue, and if it doesn't pan out, I will be making some major changes to the way I do daycare.

I have ran my business over the last few years putting everyone's needs ahead of my own.

If i continue in daycare, it's going to be by my terms and the way I want to do it with the kids I want to watch. Not the kids I feel obligated to watch for different reasons. If I had always ran my business this way, I may not be in the position I am now.

If I do continue daycare, I will only do it until my youngest graduates, then will move on to something else. But that is 7 more years!!!

[AmandasFCC]

I'm on the fence on this. I created my program with the intention of being in it for the long haul, and I truly do love my job HOWEVER I also would like health insurance through my workplace and a pension and all that stuff. I'm simply not organized or determined enough to put any significant amount of money away. Things keep coming up (partially due to still being in the process of building my business) ....

I also feel like I need more intellectual stimulation. I have a university degree and I feel like I'm being looked at like an uneducated bum. Clearly I'm not, and none of us are.

I don't like the disrespect that comes with this job. The insinuation that we are "just the babysitter" gets me down. I'm very fortunate to have a great group of parents who DON'T see me that way, but in every day conversations it comes up and I'm sick of having to defend my fees all the time against people who assume home daycares just throw kids in front of the TV all day.

[Jenjo]

I have been doing daycare for 10+ years. When I started it was only to be temporary, I had never even considered this as a career. I am quitting because I want to try something different. Also my children are getting older, so I don't need to be home during the day as much. I have been home a lot for the last 12 years::. I have loved it and don't want to be gone 9-5 either, but it is time for me to try something different. Who knows maybe I will come back to this.