Originally Posted by Denise:
@Daycare: I guess I am charging too little. :/ I just got caught up in the "we need money so I'll do it cheap" mentality and figured that if the old babysitter was making it on that amount, then I should be fine. After hearing from all of you *awesome* dc providers, I think my mind has been switched to seriously considering getting my license and charging more per child.
As far as insurance goes... OH. MY. GOSH. I had not even thought about insurance until I read your post. DUH! I mean, I have had car insurance (obviously) but I didn't add anything to it or consider liability insurance for the house when they are in my care! After I read your post, I freaked out a little and called our agent to discuss all my options/rates.
Right now, I pay about $178/month for insurance on 3 cars (one is an old truck that we are in the process of restoring and never drive) through State Farm. After speaking to my rep, she said that I should...
#1. Add more medical coverage and up my bodily injury coverage.
#2. Add a daycare liability of $1,000,000 per incident to my renter's insurance.
To add both of those (and lower my deductible from $500 to $250 because I don't want a high deductible *just in case*) my new monthly premium, including my basic car insurance, would be $208/month (ultimately, I would add $30/month). I talked to my husband about it (he hadn't thought about insurance either) and we are definitely going to add it to our coverage. Thank you SO much for pointing that out to me!
As far as getting my license... I think I just might go ahead and get it done. We are actually in the process of adopting our son through the county so we have already done a LOT as far as Community Care Licensing requirements are concerned. I looked up the requirements for a daycare license and it looks like we meet almost all of them already (we would just need to get a fire extinguisher). Are there classes that need to be completed or anything other than orientation that I will need to attend? Right now, the application fee is $66 and there is an annual fee of $66, is that in ADDITION to the application fee or does the app fee cover the first year?
On top of the daycare license, are there any other licenses that I would need to get (i.e., a business license)?
Thank you, also, for suggesting the business license route and doing it in such an encouraging way! :P
@proudmommyofthree: Do you offer any discounts for sibling? That is something I have noticed is common (in my area at least). I want to be competitive with my pricing and the way I was looking at it is: If I charge $150/week (in my normal house without dedicated DC rooms) and someone down the street charges $150/week (in a home where half of the rooms are dedicated to DC), it would seem like a better deal for the children to go to the home where there is more toys/dedicated room to play. :/
BUT! I have an area (shall we call it a living room?) that I can make space in and kind of dedicate that area to play area and put up some pictures/charts and whatnot and make it look more like a daycare. My house is pretty small (about 1500 SF) so this room looks like more of a large hallway right now but if I get rid of the entertainment center that I have there, I can make it feel more open, I think. Maybe I will just do that and get my license so I can feel better about charging comparable rates.
Thank you so much to everyone for your advice/input!! 
Great that you looked into that! I am so excited for you.
you can download the application from here
http://ccld.ca.gov/PG411.htm
make sure you have all of the paper work done before sending it in or it will be delayed. The $66.00 will cover one full year. After you do that, you will need to get fingerprints done, even if you already have them on file, each department of the county requires their own. The you only have to take infant cpr/first aid if you don't already have it./ Make sure it is INFANT CPR/First aid, not regular.
then you have an orientation and a health and safety class. Once you do all of that, you are on your way for your licensing inspection. Just make sure that you followed all of their paper work and you will be just fine.
ALSO, when they first come out to to inspect, they are there to help, not site you. If something is not in compliance, they will just ask you to fix it. However, you will delay the process.
We are all here for help and support if you need anything else!!
I wish you the best of luck.....