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nikia 04:22 PM 12-08-2010
For those of you that have a college degree why do you chose to do daycare? I am currently taking classes to become a RN. No judgments at all just really curious. Is it staying home with your kids? Money? If you care to share I would love to know as I will be in the same boat of quitting daycare to go be an RN or not whatever the case may be
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newtodaycare22 04:34 PM 12-08-2010
I was a teacher prior to daycare, and I just got sick of our school system. I am young with no children, but I still wanted a job teaching. So, I opened up a daycare for preschoolers and I teach 3-5 year olds
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SunflowerMama 04:42 PM 12-08-2010
I have a masters degree and I'm doing it to stay home with my kids and honestly I'm making more now than I was working full time before my girls were born.

Before we had kids we decided that it was a priority for US that I stay home with them at least until they were off to school. I love kids and worked as a preschool teacher part-time once my girls turned 2 and really loved it. So deciding to branch off and do it at home myself seemed like an obvious career move .

I definitely don't regret it and love my time at home and love all my dcks.
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kendallina 04:44 PM 12-08-2010
I went to school to work with children and worked with children in one capacity or another for most of the last ten years. I had my daughter 2 years ago and stayed at home with her until this past September and I decided to open my preschool. My background prepared me extremely well for what I'm doing and has allowed me to really market my program as a preschool.
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daysofelijah 04:48 PM 12-08-2010
I have a BS in education. Currently staying home to raise my children and working on my master's degree online while doing daycare to help with the bills.
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Crystal 04:57 PM 12-08-2010
I started my child care when my children were young, and I did not have more than a High School Education at the time. I have been in business for 14 years. I started going to college a few years ago because I wanted to be the best provider I could be. I wanted to understand what DAP is and I wanted to be able to offer a preschool program, not just child care.

I have continued my education because of those things, but alos because it has opened many doors for me. I am involved in many professional programs and have a few independent consulting and side jobs that I could not have without my education.

I am going into my Masters Degree program in January, with the goal of eventually teaching at the college level. I know I won't physically be able to work with children forever, and I want a retirement package
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SilverSabre25 04:58 PM 12-08-2010
I have a BA in Early Childhood Development and Education. My plan was to be an elementary school teacher (early elem.) but at my university (OSU if you're curious) you can't get a teaching license without doing their Master's program. Getting through college was hard enough once I had DD, but I still planned to go the Master's route. Last fall, though, even though the M.ED program is only 5 quarters so I *could* have done it in a little more than a year, we (DH and I) decided that our family and our finances could not stand another 2 years (which is what it would have been once the M.ED program started in the summer) of me not working and of me accumulating MORE debt (student loans).

We were in the process of buying a house anyway, so we deemed it a much better decision to have me open a home daycare. I love it...and I don't know if I ever want to do anything else. I've thought about trying to become a Montessori teacher after all my kids are in school full-time, but that's a long way away.
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nannyde 05:07 PM 12-08-2010
I was a nanny while I was in college. I went to Grand View

I did some nursing but child care was a better paying job and more to my liking. When I was thirty three I started my home child care. My son was born seven years later. I'm a homebody and wanted to be a work at home mom.

Child care pays WAY better than nursing .. at least here in Des Moines. The nursing education is really worth it if you are considering continuing child care. You can't go wrong with a good solid nursing education. If you can complete the schooling and the exams the degree will put you give you a wonderful niche and be VERY attractive to parents of young infants.
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nikia 05:11 PM 12-08-2010
Thank you ladies for your responses . I enjoy learning more about the woman who help me with my backbone and everything else needed for this profession
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momma2girls 05:11 PM 12-08-2010
I was a nurse for 18 yrs. before quitting my job to stay at home with my children. One thing led to another, a neighbor needing daycare, and it rolled from there. I will be going back in the work field soon, when my children are all in school.
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nikia 05:13 PM 12-08-2010
Originally Posted by nannyde:
I was a nanny while I was in college. I went to Grand View

I did some nursing but child care was a better paying job and more to my liking. When I was thirty three I started my home child care. My son was born seven years later. I'm a homebody and wanted to be a work at home mom.

Child care pays WAY better than nursing .. at least here in Des Moines. The nursing education is really worth it if you are considering continuing child care. You can't go wrong with a good solid nursing education. If you can complete the schooling and the exams the degree will put you give you a wonderful niche and be VERY attractive to parents of young infants.
Nannyde I live about 45 mins from Des Moines, Thank you for your insight!! Definitely helpful to me.
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nikia 05:15 PM 12-08-2010
Originally Posted by Iowa daycare:
I was a nurse for 18 yrs. before quitting my job to stay at home with my children. One thing led to another, a neighbor needing daycare, and it rolled from there. I will be going back in the work field soon, when my children are all in school.
Do you miss the nursing field? Have you found that being a nurse has helped with your daycare business?
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melskids 03:39 AM 12-09-2010
i have no formal education at the moment, but i am slowly starting to work towards getting a degree in ECE. not because i have to, but because i want to. i still plan on working from home, because its just what i love, even though my kids are 14 and 8. i still want to be here when the get home from school and on holidays. someday, when they are completely grown and out of the house, maybe then i will get something ouside of the home. then again, maybe not by then, i may have grandkids to care for. we'll see!!!
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nannyde 04:18 AM 12-09-2010
Originally Posted by nikia:
Nannyde I live about 45 mins from Des Moines, Thank you for your insight!! Definitely helpful to me.
You are welcome to come visit us if you are in Des Moines.
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MommyMuffin 05:01 AM 12-09-2010
Daycare can be good but is not my dream job. I worked as a nurse for 3 years and I missed my daughter so much and I wanted to raise her.

We wanted another child and I could not afford to pay daycare for a second child so I am watching 3 -4 children to make ends meet until I get really good at it (and love it) or until my husband gets a promotion so I can just be a SAHM.
When my kids grow up I want to go back into the work force but I will not be a nurse.
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QualiTcare 05:46 AM 12-09-2010
i worked in daycare centers and assisted in schools while i was going to school for my EC degree. after i graduated, i got a job at a school that was based on a grant. they lost the grant and i lost my job. teachers who didn't have tenure yet started losing their jobs when the economy took a dive, and then they started trying to get older teachers to retire. i realized then i wouldn't be getting a teaching job anytime soon (unless i was willing to move, which i wasn't). so, it seemed logical to start doing daycare until things got better since that's what i had done in the past.

i didn't like it and i quit doing it earlier this year and decided to go back to school for nursing. i took astronomy for my science classes for the teaching degree, so i had to take anatomy and microbiology to get into the nursing program that starts in May. it'll take 18 months from the time i start in May to get my BSN. it kinda sucks bc i feel like 2 years of the time i spent in school was wasted, but i figure i'll eventually get too old to run around and be a nurse - and teaching may come in handy again when that time comes. you can't go wrong with a nursing degree though - there's never a job shortage.

i don't know anyone who went to college with the intention of doing daycare though - personally.
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jen 05:54 AM 12-09-2010
Starting my master in the fall for Marriage and Family counseling; I have a degree in Community Psychology, which I got while doing daycare. I've never left my kids in full time daycare, we always worked different shifts (my former husband was a restaurant manager) so that one of us could be home with them most of the day.

When he became a GM and was expected to work days, I went to working part time in the office and part time at home. My boss didn't love it and eventually I had to make a choice. I choose my kids. In addition, I was pretty sure that our marriage was over and I really wanted to be here for my kids during that transition.

My youngest is in 2nd grade and I'll soon be hanging up my daycare lady hat. I will miss the kids, the money, and the tax benefits, but not the 12-14 hour days, the damage to my house, or the zillions of toys!
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momofboys 06:01 AM 12-09-2010
I chose to do daycare because after working in the normal workforce I knew I did not want to send my kids to daycare. So when I had my first child I did work part-time outside of the home. But by the time I had child #2 I was ready to stay home. I needed to supplement my income so I began doing daycare in my home to help out. Once my third child is in K (not for about 3 years) I will return to my field (if I can find a job that is). I have a BA in English so I previously worked in the editorial field.
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countrymom 06:26 AM 12-09-2010
I was a nurse and after I had my second dd I was off on mat leave for a year (in ontario thats what we have) when I went back I worked steady afternoons, dh just started his job with ford motor company and he was working afternoons too, my girls were at my moms house, but I had to get them after work which was late only to do it all over again the next day. I found that nothing was getting done in the house, I barely spent any time with the kids (I worked for 2-10pm) and it was crazy, sure I made good money but so did dh, but for what. So I gave up my job a couple months after I went back from mat leave. Now I make about the same money I did at my job, I don't work weekends, I'm there for my kids (all 4 are now in school full time) and I don't have the headaches a job outside my house would bring. I like this job way better and it works so much better for our family.
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QualiTcare 06:35 AM 12-09-2010
for those of you that have been nurses, did you work more than 3/4 days a week? here, if you work in the hospital, you work 3 days one week and 4 days the next unless you want to work more.

i plan on trying to work night shift which is typically 7pm-7am so i'll still be home most of the time even on the days i have to work (plus u make more working nights) - i'd go to sleep when i got home (as the kids are going to school) and be awake by the time they come home. it's usually rotating weekends also so it's possible to be home monday thru thursday and work fri, sat, sun.
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melskids 06:42 AM 12-09-2010
Originally Posted by QualiTcare:
i don't know anyone who went to college with the intention of doing daycare though - personally.
they're getting ready to change things up big time where i am, and want us (home daycare providers) to all have formal education. its not mandatory yet, and it is going to be a few years down the road, but eventually will be a requirement. (right now we dont have to get one, but it adds more points towards our star rating.) whether or not i think it should be a requirement just to do home daycare is a whole other thread but i figure if i cant beat 'em then join 'em, so i will be going to college with the intention of doing daycare. LOL i figure it cant hurt, and then maybe someday if i'm done with home daycare, i can take my degree with me to a daycare center. but in the meantime, i prefer to be home in a family style daycare setting.
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nikia 06:57 AM 12-09-2010
Originally Posted by nannyde:
You are welcome to come visit us if you are in Des Moines.
Thank you for that offer, I don't get there much but I actually would love to meet you

Originally Posted by MommyMuffin:
Daycare can be good but is not my dream job. I worked as a nurse for 3 years and I missed my daughter so much and I wanted to raise her.

We wanted another child and I could not afford to pay daycare for a second child so I am watching 3 -4 children to make ends meet until I get really good at it (and love it) or until my husband gets a promotion so I can just be a SAHM.
When my kids grow up I want to go back into the work force but I will not be a nurse.
Any reason why not nursing? Sorry if its too personal, I just have heard great things about nursing and then of course not great things like any job
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nikia 06:58 AM 12-09-2010
Originally Posted by jen:
Starting my master in the fall for Marriage and Family counseling; I have a degree in Community Psychology, which I got while doing daycare. I've never left my kids in full time daycare, we always worked different shifts (my former husband was a restaurant manager) so that one of us could be home with them most of the day.

When he became a GM and was expected to work days, I went to working part time in the office and part time at home. My boss didn't love it and eventually I had to make a choice. I choose my kids. In addition, I was pretty sure that our marriage was over and I really wanted to be here for my kids during that transition.

My youngest is in 2nd grade and I'll soon be hanging up my daycare lady hat. I will miss the kids, the money, and the tax benefits, but not the 12-14 hour days, the damage to my house, or the zillions of toys!
Yes the damage and zillions of toys my biggest issues with the kids, the parents on the other hand I have a list a mile long
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momma2girls 07:04 AM 12-09-2010
Originally Posted by nikia:
Do you miss the nursing field? Have you found that being a nurse has helped with your daycare business?
I do miss nursing, especially the elderly!! I really have a passion with the elderly!! Yes, it has helped with many things!
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momma2girls 07:05 AM 12-09-2010
Originally Posted by MommyMuffin:
Daycare can be good but is not my dream job. I worked as a nurse for 3 years and I missed my daughter so much and I wanted to raise her.

We wanted another child and I could not afford to pay daycare for a second child so I am watching 3 -4 children to make ends meet until I get really good at it (and love it) or until my husband gets a promotion so I can just be a SAHM.
When my kids grow up I want to go back into the work force but I will not be a nurse.
I am in the same boat here!!
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momma2girls 07:07 AM 12-09-2010
Originally Posted by QualiTcare:
for those of you that have been nurses, did you work more than 3/4 days a week? here, if you work in the hospital, you work 3 days one week and 4 days the next unless you want to work more.

i plan on trying to work night shift which is typically 7pm-7am so i'll still be home most of the time even on the days i have to work (plus u make more working nights) - i'd go to sleep when i got home (as the kids are going to school) and be awake by the time they come home. it's usually rotating weekends also so it's possible to be home monday thru thursday and work fri, sat, sun.
I actually have worked every shift over 18 yrs. I worked so much OT and madatory OT and staying later, coming in early-UGGHH!! I worked every weekend for that long also!! I really have been loving my weekends off!!!
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momma2girls 07:08 AM 12-09-2010
Originally Posted by nikia:
Yes the damage and zillions of toys my biggest issues with the kids, the parents on the other hand I have a list a mile long
We could write long books, couldn't we???
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Blackcat31 07:11 AM 12-09-2010
I have a CDA and am currently working towards my Bachelors in ECE. I started out in college doing two years toward being a para legal and ended up in early childhood (loooong story) and have been doing family childcare for about 17 years. I plan on still having childcare after I am done with college, I just plan on running my business more like a pre-school and less like a family childcare. I am thinking of becoming licensed as a center and only taking pre-school age kids. I worked at Head Start for a few years before starting my own business and loved the way they do things (minus a few things) but that is my "plan" for the future so far. I enjoy the freedom of having my own business and degree or no degree I really can't see myself working for anyone but myself again. Although I love the kids and can get irritated by the parents, the part I REALLY love and would love to do is the administrative part of the business. I am one of those oddballs that LOVE filling out forms and doing the paperwork. I think it would be interesting to be a director of a childcare but who knows where life will take me....like I said I started college planning on entering the field of law and now I wipe noses! HaHa!
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MommyMuffin 07:21 AM 12-09-2010
Originally Posted by nikia:
Thank you for that offer, I don't get there much but I actually would love to meet you



Any reason why not nursing? Sorry if its too personal, I just have heard great things about nursing and then of course not great things like any job
Unless you work in a clinic it is mostly off shift work with little say over your schedule....hard work and little appreciation. Patients hardly ever say thank you. It felt like a factory...many many patients per nurse and hardly time to do basic cares.
Cleaning up an adult who cannot move and has C-diff (= smelly, runniest diarrhea ever) several times per day; I would take a poopy diaper on a baby any day!! That was on the ward.

In the clinic I was bored to tears..same things over and over. And in the clinic you work closer with others so you know how catty women can get and I wanted nothing to do with it (bad mouthing, lying to bosses...ya know) Also hierarchy in hospitals is silly...nothing to do with work; just who you "know."

I was done working my butt off for parients who were never satisfied and management who just pushed more and more work with out the staff.

Of course this in my personal experience in one particular hospital and clinic setting. Perhaps had I went to another hospital things would have been different but no place could touch what they paid me.
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boysx5 09:00 AM 12-09-2010
I have an associate degree in early childhood but working in a center or school pays nothing plus having five kids daycare was not worth me working. I have been doing daycare for 14 years and while most days I do like it there are moments when I wish I worked outside the home. I wouldn't make the money I make doing that
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broncomom1973 10:52 AM 12-09-2010
My first job out of nursing school was night shift charge nurse in a nursing home. It was easy because there were only 30 residents. My next couple of jobs were also night shift nursing home jobs and then I took a job on the 3-11 shift in an assisted living facility that wasnt so much working as a nurse as it was doing housekeeping, lol. Sure we passed meds, did any treatments and did a few assessments, but mostly it was changing bed linens, vacuuming, doing dishes, doing laundry, dusting, and assisting with adl's when needed. After leaving there I worked for an oral surgeon in his clinic for 6-1/2 years. Clinic hours were nice although this particular clinic had looooong hours at times. We were to be there by 7:40 and worked until 7 p.m. often times. I enjoyed this job because it was nursing and dental. We sedated our patients to extract wisdom teeth, full mouth extractions, place implants, do oral biopsies, expose and bonding of teeth.... just about anything you can think of. So, there was nursing in the aspect that we assisted with surgery including suctioning, handing the surgeon surgical instruments, we recovered patients- monitored vitals, administered meds when necessary ex.-phenergan for nausea after sedation. We did alot of patient teaching. I did not have children when I started there so the long hours didnt bother me. Then, after having my 1st daughter I felt like I was missing out on so much. I hated leaving her to go back to work after my maternity leave . Luckily, dh and I found an awesome college student to watch her in our home until she was 2 and then she started daycare. That helped me to at least get to see her on the few occasions when I got a lunch break. I just hated being away from her. I also wasnt able to pump at work when I needed to. It was just hard. I stayed there 2 more years after having my daughter, but the "politics" and long hours started to wear on me and I decided to go part-time at a family practice clinic in the lab. The work wasnt very exciting. Basically I pulled lab reports and drew blood. It was monotonous and while working there I had my 2nd and 3rd children in a 14 month span. My daycare provider increased her rates 50% while I was on maternity leave after my 3rd child was born and at that point it made no sense to keep working if all of my income went to childcare for 3 kids. So, I started my own daycare. I do not want to do this forever, but for now it is a way to be home with my kids which is the most important thing to me. I do not plan on going back into nursing when I stop doing this though. I am burned out. I think nurses are under-appreciated and under paid for an extremely stressful career. I may try to take some courses to do medical coding over the span of the next 4 years and see where that takes me, but in the meantime I will keep doing childcare and playing my bi-weekly lottery numbers in the hope that I can someday be a sahm who is financially comfortable, lol.
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Missani 11:15 AM 12-09-2010
I am not an RN but I worked in a wonderful infertility clinic doing patient education and various other things. I also got to work with patients first hand, and I loved my job. However, I worked in a center in high school and college and eventually became a center director, and I loved that too. I have 2 little boys (3 and 1 at the time), and daycare was expensive. I loved the center that they went to, but it was costing about $20,000 per year for them to go 3 days a week!!! My best friend told me she was pregnant and asked if there was anyway I'd consider quitting my job to take care of her baby. Since I was making great money and loved my job, I think she thought it was a long shot, but I'm glad she took the chance and asked. I accepted and took out a loan to finish my basement and build my "dream daycare", and the rest is history! So here I am, I left my professional career, I am home with my children, and I have a houseful of wonderful daycare kids. I never thought I would do this, but I am loving every minute. I just started in August, though, so ask me next year if I still love it...
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KEG123 11:23 AM 12-09-2010
Originally Posted by nikia:
Nannyde I live about 45 mins from Des Moines, Thank you for your insight!! Definitely helpful to me.
I live about 2-3 hours away, in the Quad cities! We're all in the same neighborhood it seems!
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gkids09 12:18 PM 12-09-2010
I have 2 associate's degrees and will have my bachelor's degree in Feb 2011, all in education. Personally, I chose daycare because I didn't want to have to follow all the rules and laws the school systems have to. Not like how to treat the kids...obviously I'm not going to go against that no matter what, BUT the time span teachers have to teach the kids EVERYTHING just sucks to be honest. I love being able to take my time with the kids and teach them at their own pace. (I also like younger children better...their attitudes aren't as bad yet. )
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AmandasFCC 12:59 PM 12-09-2010
I have a BA in psychology. I chose to open my daycare because I wanted to stay home with my dd, and the jobs I had didn't allow my a consistent schedule, so I would have to pay for a full time daycare slot - I knew this - and I definitely couldn't afford it. I had far too much debt, I simply couldn't afford an extra $700 per month which I wouldn't be using. That and the idea of leaving her made me physically ill.
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Unregistered 02:15 PM 12-09-2010
I have a BA in Sociology/Social Work. I had also minored in Education. I chose to do day care because I needed to be able to contribute financially to the family but I also wanted to be home with my own 2 kids. Day care offered me the perfect opportunity to do both. My kids are now 19 and 16 but I'm planning to stick with day care for the time being. I love working from home and sometimes, I think it's just as important to be home for teenagers as it is for younger kids!
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