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erinalexmom 03:03 AM 09-20-2011
I have posted on here that I am a nurse. I still work some weekends for the nursing company (I worked there full time before starting my daycare) Well one of my clients passed away and this weekend they are having a memorial service for him. His mother invited me and last night she caught me on facebook. I told her thanks for inviting me to the service she said "of course you were a big part of his and our lives!" Then she said what a difference I had made to thier family and said "you were more than his nurse, you were a good friend and became part of the family" (She posted this on my wall) It made me cry.

My husband said the other day "the daycare parents want reliable and cheap. They do not care if you feed them gummy bears and sit them in front of the tv all day." Which is so sad but true. Which, the daycare parents approval really doesnt mean much to me but what that nursing parent said about me when her son passed away- wow I really feel like I made a difference ya know? All the parents loved me. Many refused any other nurse besides me. Sometimes I wonder why I am doing this daycare at all?

I did it to spend more time with my kids but I work 12 hour days 5 days a week. I cant go anywhere during daycare hours, I am supposed to help my daughter with her school work but I can't because the little ones I have cant be left in the room for 5min without total chaos. I have a couple little ones that I really like. They are super sweet and I also keep my nephew and I love having him. Also, I would feel really bad if I quit since these parents chose and trust me. My babysitter moved away so I dont want to send them somewhere else. But I have considered working weekends/evenings when my husband is home so I wouldnt have to pay a sitter and so that I wouldnt have to find a new one. Im just not sure what to do. Thanks for letting me vent.
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erinalexmom 03:04 AM 09-20-2011
By the way, I have worked at the nursing company for 2 years and I still loved it-everyday! I have never been happier at a job. I only missed my kids and thought that daycare might be a way to see them more, boy was I wrong!
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care-care 05:35 AM 09-20-2011
I feel for ya because I did this too out of not sending my daughter into care.. Its a tough job really.. No body gives the daycare lady any credit(some do) and they never wanna pay what were worth. Hugs hang in there it will all owrk out.
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erinalexmom 06:00 AM 09-20-2011
Thank you so much care-care. Its nice to know someone understands.
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care-care 12:53 PM 09-20-2011
My true love job is cosmetology.. But i LOVE my dcb I watch too. Its a hard thing i went into this knowing I could Never have 6 kids at same time.( per me Id go crazy! Kudos to all of you that can do it) I am getting run around now with schedule changes sigh I guess we want it all huh? But my lifes about to change in my schedule hopefully I can handle the change and keep on with the dcb.
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littlemissmuffet 01:11 PM 09-20-2011
Originally Posted by erinalexmom:
I have posted on here that I am a nurse. I still work some weekends for the nursing company (I worked there full time before starting my daycare) Well one of my clients passed away and this weekend they are having a memorial service for him. His mother invited me and last night she caught me on facebook. I told her thanks for inviting me to the service she said "of course you were a big part of his and our lives!" Then she said what a difference I had made to thier family and said "you were more than his nurse, you were a good friend and became part of the family" (She posted this on my wall) It made me cry.
My husband said the other day "the daycare parents want reliable and cheap. They do not care if you feed them gummy bears and sit them in front of the tv all day." Which is so sad but true. Which, the daycare parents approval really doesnt mean much to me but what that nursing parent said about me when her son passed away- wow I really feel like I made a difference ya know? All the parents loved me. Many refused any other nurse besides me. Sometimes I wonder why I am doing this daycare at all?
I did it to spend more time with my kids but I work 12 hour days 5 days a week. I cant go anywhere during daycare hours, I am supposed to help my daughter with her school work but I can't because the little ones I have cant be left in the room for 5min without total chaos. I have a couple little ones that I really like. They are super sweet and I also keep my nephew and I love having him. Also, I would feel really bad if I quit since these parents chose and trust me. My babysitter moved away so I dont want to send them somewhere else. But I have considered working weekends/evenings when my husband is home so I wouldnt have to pay a sitter and so that I wouldnt have to find a new one. Im just not sure what to do. Thanks for letting me vent.
That was very kind and thoughtful of your nursing client to reach out to you that way!

I'm so sorry you are feeling under-valued and under-appreciated by your daycare parents... I find I am much luckier than most in this business and the majority of the time am blessed with parents who are very respectful, appreciative and warm to me and my family... I get a ton of thank yous from my current parents! I also get more snubs than I'd like to admit - but somehow, my "good" parents erase the sting of the parents who expect, expect, expect yet don't want to pay, and themselves want very little to do with their own children. Mind you, maybe it's not so much a luck thing as it is that I tell my DCPs from the get-go that this is a difficult job and I will take alot from the kids, but I won't take any crap from the parents Most seem to heed that warning pretty well.

You said you work 12 hour days? That's alot! Is there any way to cut down your daycare hours and up your home time/family time hours?
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MommyMuffin 06:46 AM 09-21-2011
I was working 40 hours a week as a nurse before starting dc to be able to be home with my own children. DC has been hard on my DD. I like 3/4 of my days doing DC but really would like more time with my children. I am looking for 12 hour night shifts so I could quit dc, but so far cant find the perfect fit. Good luck with your decision.
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erinalexmom 10:01 AM 09-21-2011
Thank you both for the replies. I honestly think if I got off earlier I might be a bit happier. I have school agers that I have given notice to but I gave them till Christmas, I think I will have to go back on that and say fall break and that will be at the end of October. I also have decided to put my own son in preschool two days of the week. I think this will help too because he and I need a break from each other. I also am tired of feeling "stuck" all the time, like I can never leave the house.
So I am going to try to reduce the amount of kids I have and try to get out more. Like walking to the library and things like that. I have always been an "on the go" kind of person even when my kids were babies: If I wanted to go somewhere everyone got put in thier seat and off we went
I am going to see what I can do. I really like the idea of not having too many kids also because I would like to be able to go places, clean house,ect.
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Abigail 09:30 PM 09-21-2011
My daycare right now is inside of a nursing home. I leave the daycare room to go get something and walk by all those residents and nurses and other workers (most of our kids are employee's kids at the daycare) and the only thing I think of is "Wow, I could never do your job." Then they come pick up their child while all the other kids seem to have a tantrum or something chaotic is occuring and they say "I could never do your job." ! LOL

I hope everything works out for you. Change your hours to work shorter days effective one month from now. You should be able to close earlier if you open earlier then you get evenings with your kids.
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care-care 06:22 AM 09-22-2011
I think one person on here said once to type up a paper stating what your new hours are going to be and that will weed out a few children that the parents need the later time. I would guess you would want earlier pick ups maybe do 7-5? or 6-4?
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broncomom1973 08:13 AM 09-22-2011
Oh, I can so relate. I just posted that I am quitting to go work weekends as an LPN at an assisted living. My daycare is only open 10 hours per day, but then you figure in all of the cleaning and preparation for the next day and I dont feel like I get much time to myself or with my children and husband at all. I soooo want to be able to leave my home to take my 2 younger children to activities at our rec center, even if it is only 1 or 2 days/month......at least I could do it if I wanted. I cant go upstairs or downstairs during the day because of fire regulations, so I am "grounded" to one small area of my 3000 sq foot home. I just really hope that the weekend thing is the answer to my problems, lol. Good luck to you. It's hard to give up a job you love for another that isnt quite as fulfilling in many ways. I dont have any advice, but good luck
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