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Lately I've felt burned out. I know what it is and can't find a way to fix it. I have three questions to ask-What keeps you going in childcare, have you ever found how to balance childcare and family, and lastly how many of you are burned out to the point of you are ready to look for another job. Also, what length of time have you been doing childcare?
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Each day is a fresh start
Never look back on regrets
Live life to the fullest
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1) The fact that i get to wake up and spend every single day with my son and still have the potential to bring some income into the family.
2) I don't think there is really a way to balance a full-time career while you have a growing family. I think the only way to do it is to sacrifice a part of one or the other. I try to make sure that when something's got to give, it's career-oriented and not family oriented more often than not.
3) I didn't know what in the heck I was doing when I started this job at the beginning of this year, and so I "burned out" almost immediately and almost quit once the realities of it all hit me. But the idea that I would have to completely abandon my kid in order to find suitable work was enough to keep me going. This is not my life-long career, and I'm ok with that. My goal is to stay in it for a decade while I raise my son and any other kids I have. I'm really, really enjoying the client I have now, so I think the key for me to remain happy is not to go after the money, which is what I was initially doing, but to go after the good clients. The ones I like; the ones I can potentially become friends with. And for me, for the next few years, that's enough.Comment
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I spent almost an entire year being burnt out. It was not a good time for me. Adding a new family that is super nice with great kids has helped me a lot. I don't want to do this forever, but for now, it is what I have to do. I have looked at things that I can change to change my attitude and that included kicking one client out, and not adding new clients when this school year starts so that I can downsize a bit.
I will probably do this until my children are gone from home. I can't imagine still doing daycare when my kids are no longer home. Possibly even when my youngest is in high school.Comment
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I've been doing day care for 24 years. It was nothing but a joy for me all the while I was raising my daughter - playmates for her, being at home with her, great kids and parents, etc. Recently, because of difficulties with a couple of the kids I have, I've questioned whether I should keep on in this career. But then the new baby snuggles and the "difficult" ones have a better day and I can't imagine doing anything else. If I win the lottery or have a big inheritance, yes, I'd quit, but in the meantime, 5:30 p.m. tends to ease the frustrations - they go home!Comment
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I do this to stay home with my other kids. I have a lot of experience taking care of kids and I can do my job well but it is far from my first choice of career and I will be quitting as soon as I can (it will still be about 3 more years). I have been doing it full time for 5 and for the most part, have recently found more balance between my family and my job. In the beginning, my whole family suffered while I tried to please the daycare families. BAD idea as they just asked for more and more and left me with less and less to give to myself or my kids.Comment
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What keeps me going is that I haven't a clue what else I would do. I don't know what other career would be as enjoyable as working with a group of kids. I was a nanny for 10 years before I opened my daycare 2 years ago. I opened my own place so that I could enforce my own rules and be in charge of what I have out for the kids to use. Balancing family and work was difficult for a time but I've learned to relax after work and leave work at work or vent it out to my husband or friends then switch gears to have more fun. There are days and sometimes weeks that the stress just builds but for the most part I've established a good balance. It helps I don't have any of my own kids to transition between daycare and home life. I reached burn out a couple times to the point I thought of another job but I just can't fathom what else would make me happy at this point and so thinking of changing jobs just caused more stress and I had let it go. I rearranged my daycare room a ton the first couple years and have a wonderful set up right now that works really well for me and the kids which helps limit stress.Celebrate! :
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What keeps me going is realizing I am working with an age group that I love not a mixed age group. And seeing these faces light up when they see me. An encouraging word from a parent. Or those mornings when a parent calls an says hey I am at caribou what kind of coffee do you want. WOW that just makes my day so much better. The hugs that the kids give me and say they love me. (I think I get so much affection during the day from 20 kids that my poor husband is put on the back burner, LOL) Even the little stinkers can make me hate my job and then turn around and make me love my job. And they are the ones causing the burn out. However, they are also the ones putting out that fire with their hugs and nice talk to me.
There were times where I wanted to look for another job and thought UGH I worked in an office before and HATED IT. I find I talk to children all the time even when I am out and about. I really feel that I was born to do this job.
When I did daycare in my home balancing daycare and homelife was difficult I never took time off I didn't want to inconvience parents. Looking back that was my down fall to burn out and I quit. After about a year I went back to doing daycare but in a center. I now get vacation one week only per year however we do 4 tens and that one day off a week is wonderful. This helps out a lot. During the summer I do 3 tens LOVE THAT.
TAKE YOUR VACATION TIME Keep track of when you feel that burn out building and take your vacation next year around that time. Maybe you need to give yourself 3 weeks vacation a year. That would be one week off every 3 months during the school year. Or work it out so you have a week off in the summer to go somewhere with your family. Or instead of a week off in the summer just take some long weekends and be closed a friday before a weekend and the monday after.
I have been doing daycare either in my home or in a center for about 14 years.Comment
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I'm doing this to be able to stay home with my children. It is not my dream job. It is just a job, like any other. When my children go to school I will find work outside the home. It is what it is.
I want to raise my own children and I dont want anyone else to be doing my job of being mom. We need my income to survive so I have to work. It is hard work but worth the opportunity to not miss a day with my children.Comment
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Some times I can't beleive how lucky I am but then the kids start screaming and I can't wait for it to be over. I am feeling a bit burnt out too. I am actually trying to find a job because I will be getting my Bachelors in the fall and the first thing one mom asked when I told her I was going back to school was "are you going to raise your rates?" I wish it worked that way!
My advice would be to teach what you are interested in, and what I havent learned yet is to be firm with the parents. I am not good at that an have had one family every 2ish years that I have been upset with for taking advantage, which is hard to get over throughout the day.
My son is going to kindergarten this year and I cannot express to God how blessed I was to be able to be with my kids while they were little. I have been teaching preschool for 16 years, 7 in my home and already had plans to open when my oldest was born, so I say my kids are with me because I have a daycare, not the other way around, but all the degree stuff and my baby going to kindy came together at the same time, so hopefully I can find something in the school district, still with kids, but maybe have summers off.
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From the time I was 5yrs old, watching my mom doing home daycare (and recognizing that she was crappy at it) all I wanted was to run a home daycare. As I got older, teachers told me I wasn't being ambitious enough and that I'd never make a living 'babysitting'. I believed them. I worked as a nanny for 14yrs after college and loved it but towards the end I knew the end of that career was approaching and it was time to do something else. I took a huge risk to follow my dreams and here I am, 5yrs later, supporting myself and loving what I do. I love taking care of children in a home environment and can't imagine doing anything else. I'm not always great at it, I have bad days, good days and lots of in between days but I still love it.
If I'm starting to feel burnt out, I scale back on the extra evening/weekend socializing with friends with kids and cut back on offers to help them out with spur of the moment child care. I'm trying hard to make myself take vacation time in the summer and at Christmas and I think I avoid feeling burnt out a lot because I have no kids of my own. So, once I'm done work, I'm done. I don't have to continue to parent children the rest of the evening or on weekends like so many other providers do. I can re-energize and regroup and be ready to greet my week again.
Having a good group of kids/parents helps, too. My clients are far from perfect but in general they are all good clients and I'm happy to work with them. Difficult kids/parents just add extra stress and no one needs that.Doing what I love and loving what I do.Comment
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I had the same kind of teachers! I did a career goal worksheet once that you were suppose to fill out what you were going to do for the next 6 months, 2 years, and 5 years. I wrote baby-sitting for all three and was told I needed to me more ambitious and thoughtful toward my future. I wanted to copy the sheet and send it to the teacher 5 years later and tell her she was right. I babysat for the next 4 years and in the 5th I started a nanny job.
When I was very little I used to tell people I was going to be a grandma when I grew up. Basically I'm still working toward that goal because I'm still too young to have the kids call me grandma but eventually that is my ultimate goal. I'll have tons of "grandkids" without having kids of my own. I think teachers are just undereducated in the realm of childcare to understand that 'babysitting' can be worthwhile goal. Good for you for sticking to it!
Celebrate! ::Comment
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I have been open approximately 4 years and have not found a way to balance family and business. This business has taken over our lives. I do get burned out and plan to take a long weekend off soon. I'm in desperate need of some R&R.
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In 7th grade we had to write an essay on what we were going to be when we grew up. We were to research what schooling we'd need, where the courses were offered, what kind of viability, job market, income, stability, etc. the job offered. I did mine running a home daycare while I raised my own children and included all the information the assignment requested. The teacher refused to mark my essay and when I refused to rewrite it, she gave me a zero on it. I'd love to go back to that teacher now and do a "na-na-na-na-na, I showed you!"I had the same kind of teachers! I did a career goal worksheet once that you were suppose to fill out what you were going to do for the next 6 months, 2 years, and 5 years. I wrote baby-sitting for all three and was told I needed to me more ambitious and thoughtful toward my future. I wanted to copy the sheet and send it to the teacher 5 years later and tell her she was right. I babysat for the next 4 years and in the 5th I started a nanny job. When I was very little I used to tell people I was going to be a grandma when I grew up. Basically I'm still working toward that goal because I'm still too young to have the kids call me grandma but eventually that is my ultimate goal. I'll have tons of "grandkids" without having kids of my own. I think teachers are just undereducated in the realm of childcare to understand that 'babysitting' can be worthwhile goal. Good for you for sticking to it!
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Doing what I love and loving what I do.Comment
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