Why Did You Start In The Daycare Business And What Do You Love?

[lpperry]

I am new here and am enjoying "getting to know" everyone on the board. I have an in-home daycare. I have a just-turned-2 year old and a 7 month old.

Why did you start in the daycare business and what do you love about it?

I am a speech-language pathologist and I used to work in a school district prior to the birth of my first child. I loved my job, but I really wanted to stay home with my son. Financially, I either had to work part-time or start a daycare. I choose to start a daycare and have been so happy with my decision. I love nearly everything about what I do.

I love not having to leave my house to go to work. I love being able to let my kids sleep without having to wake them up to rush them to daycare so I can be to work on time. I love that I am with them all day and get to be the one doing all of the teaching and seeing all of the milestones.

I love to see my children interacting with the daycare children--the 2 year old really loves all of his friends. I love that running the daycare forces me into a routine during the week. My kids do so great on a routine. I think they have much more fun and are so more stimulated than they would be if I was a stay-at-home mom with no daycare kids.

I love planning language activities and educational activities, especially as my group is getting older. It's fun to have a few kids to do these things with, rather than just my own.

I love that since the daycare is my job from 8-5:15, I don't feel like I have to be getting all of the household chores done. I don't have to clean and do laundry--my focus can just be on the kids. If I was just home with my own kids, I know more of my time would be spent doing chores.

I don't feel guilty when the kids frequently spend the night at grandma and grandpa's on the weekend. I am with them all day, every day, so it's nice to have the break. Grandma and Grandpa love spending the time with the kids.

I love that I have great substitutes that I use anytime that I have a doctor's appointment, the kids have an appointment, if I am sick, or if we go out of town.

I love that we go on lots of outings--the park, the pool, the library, the zoo. I love that it is summer and we can do waterplay every day!

Of course, there are things that are not so great, but this post is just for the positives!

[Michael]

Welcome to the forum! I'm sure most here are have many reasons to love daycare. Maybe it's the weekend and they love their free time just as much.

[Mom_of_two]

Hi! I am relatively new to the forums and relate to your list. I also left a professional career to open my home daycare after we had our second child.

I love working form home and being with my girls all day. I love watching them and their little friends learn and interact. Every day I look at them, and feel so lucky to see all of their moments in the day. (I worked outside the home until my oldest was two, so she was in Daycare for awhile, we had a great center experience and I really learned about the kind of care I wanted to provide.)

I love the planning, handbook making, projects, creative art, etc etc... I really enjoy all aspects of the business.

And yes, ability to plan my days off with family (I always give tons of notice) is great and my husband is able to sub for any appointments I have (kids Dr. etc.)

There are VERY stressful days, time outs, fits, hitting, lots going on at once, etc etc.....but can't imagine doing anything else right now! There are lots of venting posts on here, but it is important to vent! Difficult to understand if not in the business, like many jobs.

I am also extremely lucky to have worked with wonderful families from the beginning- I like the ability to be selective and choose families that fit, I am very small (three other kids) and love the families I have! They are wonderful, and the kids are, too. Very grateful!

[Lianne]

I started doing home daycare for different reasons than most people. I'm single and I have no children of my own but I've always worked with children. After college I worked as a nanny for fourteen years. I was coming to a point in my life that I needed a change of careers and living arrangements and decided to take the leap (and risk) and fulfill a dream I'd had since childhood but never imagined I'd be able to experience - running a home daycare. My mother ran a home daycare when I was a child. She (admittedly) did a pretty crappy job of it. She was forced to continue doing it well past being burnt out due to financial obligations. I remember watching her deal with the children, both daycare and her own, and wished I could do it differently.

Here I am, five years after I opened my doors and while there are days that are horrible and children and parents who sometimes try my patience, I still love what I do. I love working in my own home. I love the perks of getting house/yard work done. I love that I get to spend my days doing what I want, when I want to do it. Even more importantly, I love bonding with the children. I love watching them grow and develop. I love watching them play and learn and interact. I love watching them figure things out and turn to me with pride on their faces. I love children's laughter, the genuine affection they offer, their honesty, their easy forgiveness, their gratitude for time spent with them.

I consider myself fortunate to be able support myself doing something that I genuinely enjoy. Many people are not that lucky.

[Sunshine44]

I'm fairly new to childcare, only started a few years ago. I love that I get to spend every day with my children. It's a plus that I bring home more than I would at my previous job (sending my children to daycare), I get to plan the activites we do and have fun with the kids. I don't have to dress up and leave to work and my kid can feel comfortable in her own home and still have social interaction if she chooses to.

[laundrymom]

August will mark my 24th year. 21 of them in a home setting. It has been my dream since I was 13 years old. I love that I love it. Not many people love their jobs.

[Unregistered]

Sad that there aren't a lot of responses to this one...

I wish I could say that I loved it but I just don't. It makes me feel like a terrible person. I have nice kids and families but I HATE being stuck home all day. I just have no patience left. ( I think the kids can tell that even though I try to "grin and bear it." I've realized like any job, it is not for everyone, and this is definitely not for me.

I was hoping there would be more responses so I could try to turn around my attitude!

[DCMom]

I started because I wanted to be a sahm. I left my position as an Assistant Controller and started taking in a couple of the neighborhood kids to make that possible. Just till the kids go to school I said, then I will go back to work...

That was 22 years ago. My youngest is graduating from high school this year and I have no plans to stop doing what I am doing. I love having my own business, I love being with the kids and watching learn and grow, I love crafts and games, I like being home and having dinner ready and the laundry done. I love being able to just sit in the backyard and watch them play, I love planning my own days, especially in the summer. I've just found my niche.

Like any job, it has it's ups and downs. I choose to focus on the positive aspects and just deal with the negative. There really isn't anything else I would rather be doing.

[AmandasFCC]

I started daycare because prior to having my dd, I worked 2 jobs with really weird hours that simply didn't warrant daycare. I knew I'd have to pay for a full time space somewhere because of the randomness of my schedule and I couldn't afford that. Then when dd was born and I actually started looking into daycare the idea of leaving her for several hours a day literally made me sick.

What do I love about daycare?

I love seeing my dd happy and playing with her friends, and I love seeing how polite and respectful she is of other children.

I love being home with her.

I love that I don't feel guilty on the rare occassion that we do get a sitter for her because she's thrilled for the change of scenery.

I love that I can get basic chores done and that family time is actually family time, not rush around cleaning up time.

I love that I get a 1.5-2 hour break in the middle of the day and am able to study during that time.

I love that I can choose my own hours, more-or-less choose the children in my care and plan things according to what makes things easier for me (based on the children, etc.).

I love not dealing with office drama and crazy bosses.

And specifically about the daycare: I love the kids and watching them grow.

I love watching their faces when they learn something new.

I love seeing the world through their innocent eyes.

I'm sure there's more but that's what immediately comes to mind.

[AfterSchoolMom]

Number one for me is being here for my own kids! I also LOVE being able to work from home. I love that I have the best of both worlds, as I care for SA's and therefore have a large chunk of my day free and summers off. I love being my own boss and making my own decisions in how my business is run without having to answer to anyone. I love my families that pay on time and treat me with respect. I love it when the kids are having fun here.

[sharlan]

I quit my job to do daycare for 2 reasons - #1 I worked 1 1/2 hrs away from home, fantastic job and even better money. When I was at work, I worried about my kids and when at home, I worried about what I forgot to do that day at work. #2 My girls had at least 7 different providers in 2 1/2 years. Someday, I'll have to share some of the horror stories that my kids were subjected to.

I decided to provide daycare so that the kids I took care of wouldn't have to go through the hell my kids went through. I've made sure that I took good care of my daycare kids, treated them with love and respect, and provided a good home away from home for them.

My best part are the kids. There've been very few kids that I didn't care for. I can't quite say that for some of the parents though. I've been lucky, most of my families have been really good. I've had very few rotten parents.

Right now, I only have my 4 grandkids (3, 4, 5, and 15). The 4 and 15 yo live here. The 3 and 5 yos live close by. I am hoping to pick up 3 more kids this summer.

[Meeko]

I started 25 years ago when my husband was in the Air Force. I needed to keep busy while he was gone, contribute to the bank account and be there for my children when their father was away.

Day care fit all those needs and it was the best decision I ever made.

In what other job do you get told "I love you" all day long.
In what other job do you get to finger paint!

I get to set my own hours. I am my own boss. Business is good...even with the recession and some families leaving us due to job loss etc.....the need for child care is always there. No fear of being jobless is wonderful. Could times get tight...of course.......but I love having a fairly secure job.

There are too many things to mention really. I LOVE MY JOB! It has it's frustrations like ANY job does. When that happens, I just get on here and find out I am not alone! That takes half the problem away!

If only we could take care of the kids and never deal with their parents...LOL ::::::