If this isn't working for you....think outside of what daycare is regularly. There is a huge niche of people looking for different hours, outside of the 5 day a week, 12 hours a day model. If someone needs Tuesday/Thursday only, charge a little more. If you only want to work 4 days a week and have a Friday or Monday off (for those 3-day weekends) or a Wednesday off to get you through the week, go ahead and do it. I've learned in the past 2 years that I had to change my schedule to what worked for me. I wanted to spend time with my own kids and not feel like they were actually making my life harder (VERY hard to do daycare with your own kids - something about having other kids in their home space and differentiating between mom and daycare provider).

When my 5-day a week baby moved...as much as I missed her...I realized it was a huge opportunity to change my schedule and fix my burn-out. I moved to a Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday hourly rate format. I moved to an hourly rate, lower for potty-trained, higher for diapers, and just had more kids in those 3 days. I had to wait a little longer to get the right 2 and up crowd, but it worked out. Now, I make more per hour, but work less hours. It works out to what I was making being open for 5 days a week for 10 hours - about $550 a week. I have two under 2, one 4 year old on a regular basis and a 4 year old on a drop-in basis. It made my life soooo much easier! Now, I have 4-day weekends, and I can spend a lot more time on myself and with my family.

Final note: You don't have to do what everybody else is doing. Make your own way. You are a business owner, and you are the only one putting yourself in those restrictions. If you don't like it, change it.

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