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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>Why Did You Start Your Own Daycare?
cheerfuldom 10:52 AM 04-05-2011
Just curious to hear your experiences since I am new around here. It seems that most parents would assume you do it because it is a wonderful, magical job and of course, that means you get to be around their little angel for 10 hours a day. Thats enough motivation for any provider, right? But seriously, while I have found a good set up right now, I would never do this if I had another choice. I love all my kids here but it is very, very challenging and demanding at times. I was previously working towards a secondary education degree but changed that once I actually had several years experience working with kids! I have changed my major and should be done with school by the time my youngest is in preschool. I enjoy having these years around my own kids but would love to have an alternative option to doing home daycare. Right now, there is no job I could get that would more than cover the costs of three in daycare (I have 3 under 4 years old).
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ninosqueridos 11:02 AM 04-05-2011
taking a break from corporate America so I can stay home with my own kids for a few years....all while still contributing to our household income doing something I enjoy and am proud of
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thecrazyisout 11:17 AM 04-05-2011
Originally Posted by ninosqueridos:
taking a break from corporate America so I can stay home with my own kids for a few years....all while still contributing to our household income doing something I enjoy and am proud of
DITTO....I was a working mom and just decided it was worth it to stay home, but we still need income! I love working with the kids too, my mom had a daycare while I was growing up, so it comes a bit too naturally....meaning, I feel in the right spot at the moment for it. Sometimes I get jealous of those women who are moving up in their field, but I realize that this is the best time to be with your kids and you can NEVER replace those memories. I am fortunate that I am full and all of the kids are friends and family of mine, meaning, I get to share with them those memories as well. I am considering adding to my group, but not in the near future.
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blueclouds29 11:18 AM 04-05-2011
Well, i was going on about 4 years in the daycare i worked at as a preschool teacher. While working there i was paying $500 a month for my daughter to go there. It was becoming a struggle to make ends meet. So i thought if i watched kids at home that would be $500 less out of our pocket. Told my boss i was leaving cause we couldn't afford it anymore and they said 'ok'. Don't get me started on that! I couldn't believe all the hard work i put into that room and potty training that i was not important to them as the money! (see there i go, makes me so mad) I worked there and i still had to pay. AND that wasn't even what i started paying!! I asked for a more discount!!!!!
So here i am only watching 2 babies and my dd cause i still can't seem to get anymore kids ;( So i'm not even bringing in what i was making!! Geeze what was i thinking...I was thinking less $500 a month...
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MsMe 11:31 AM 04-05-2011
I started my home daycare 7 years ago when I was an accounant. I hated woking in an office. At the time my mother watched my best friend little girl while being a stay at home mom to my brothers. In the Fall when my youngest brother went to school we decided to start a daycare. I purchased a home and dedicated 95% of it to daycare space. The only area of the home that is 'mine' is my room in the basement. All other areas are decorated and dedicated to the daycare. I do not have any children of my own but someday plan to start a family. When that day comes I will sell the home as a daycare or the stuff and the home seperatly. My boyfriend and I have started talking about the future and I plan to be a SAHM to only my own children in the future. I LOVE what I do, it is very stressful work sometimes, but I KNOW that I am not the type to work in an office all day.

I love children and my whole life have known being a Mother is my dream. Daycare allows me to do what I love untill that day comes.
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MarinaVanessa 11:31 AM 04-05-2011
I wanted to start my own daycare because I enjoy being around children and wanted to be my own boss. I had been thinking about doing daycare for a long time and the breaking point that finally pushed me into finally doing it was my daughter. She was having trouble because her life was inconsistent. She lived with me and my fiancé during the week, went to daycare while I worked, went to my mothers to spend the night once a week and went to her dads every other weekend. I just felt that she needed a more stable and consistent life and me doing daycare gave me the opportunity to keep her with me and do that. Now that she's in school and I have a new baby I get the opportunity to do the same for my 4 month old son.

I really like doing daycare. I am fortunate to be full right now and what better way to make a living than by doing something you enjoy. I know I wouldn't make this kind of money working at a center and teaching at a school just doesn't appeal to me especially since I have an infant. Daycare just seems like the perfect choice for me.
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kidkair 11:31 AM 04-05-2011
I started my own daycare because I absolutely love taking care of kids. I was a nanny previously but wanted the kids to come to me where I could control the environment more and the rules of the house and behavior. When I first started looking into doing my own daycare I was also looking at it from the view of maybe never having my own children but surrounding myself with 'day children'. Now years later I am even more into that mind set as my husband and I cannot have children. Our only option would be adoption and right now we just feel incredibly blessed with our daytime children and don't feel the need to have any of our own children.
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youretooloud 12:14 PM 04-05-2011
When I was young, I read the book "A circle of Children". It's about a classroom of special needs kids and the teacher who was able to reach them. So, that became my entire goal in life.

While I was in college, I got a job as a secondary teacher in a school for children with severe learning or behavior problems. Mostly kids with low functioning autism. I loved it... for a while. But, it wasn't magical like in the books. LOL

I had one kid named Milo Mckee. Milo was nine. He was autistic, but also brilliant. He was obsessed with a star shaped bubble wand. We kept a metal bucket out in the yard full of bubbles, and long bubble wands. But, he wanted to be the only person with that star shaped wand. I think I knew what he wanted... he wanted to make star shaped bubbles. But, they kept coming out round.

To get him to do anything... we would take the bubble wand from him, and say "Say (insert word or phrase we wanted to get from him)" if he said it, we'd let him have the wand for one or two tries... then we'd take it again. Or, we'd want him to pick a picture from the table. "Find the typewriter.. find the typewriter". If he picked up the picture of the typewriter we'd give him back the wand.

I hated what we were doing. I was only in college, had NO experience, but it felt soooo wrong. To this day, I can't explain WHY it felt wrong. But, it did. I don't know what I would do differently either.

Anyway... after two years in that place, I switched to a daycare center with "normal" kids.... "Oh kill me now". It was horrible. I started pilfering kids from the daycare center saying "If I started a daycare would you bring your kid to me?" I hand picked my kids too. LOL

I rented a house, asked everybody my mom knew if they had any left over toys, and they all started hitting garage sales for me.

AND, every summer, for a few years, I got Milo back while his school was closed... and, I never, ever took his bubble wand away.
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Blackcat31 12:21 PM 04-05-2011
Because my own DS was kicked out of 3 daycares by the time he was 13 months old. LOL!!! It was not because I wanted to or thought I was good at it, although as the oldest of 6 and having a house full of foster kids while growing up; it apparently was sonmething I did have knack for.....

Originally I wanted to study law and was only working at Head Start because it was a good paying job while I was in school. then my DS came along and changed EVERYTHING!!! So I thought, "I can do this" and I did.


Oh and FTR, my DS was not a bad kid. He just required alot more one on one care than most daycares could provide and I would never expect a group care provider to do individualized care. My DS wasn't even that good for me but since I couldn't really term him, I did the best I could with what I had and since it was me that was really what he wanted for the first 5 years of his life....we managed and both survived.
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PitterPatter 12:22 PM 04-05-2011
I started because I didn't trust anyone else with my young child and wanted to be home for him anyway. I became a stay at home Mom when he was born. When I divorced my husband I needed to get back to work but I knew a daycare provider personally that was abusive and neglectful to children and she was STILL a provider years later after being reported. I thought if she can get away with it anyone can and so I didn't trust anyone with my child. I had taken care of children in our families before and enjoyed it. I love kids in general, watching them grow and learn is amazing. So I thought I would try it and 5 years later here I am.
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RachieT 12:40 PM 04-05-2011
I am starting one because
1. My son has been kicked out two daycares now because of attachment issues. He has been in daycare from 6 weeks until now (15 month) and has never adjusted. At home he is a little clingy to me but at daycare he is horrible, they cant walk away from him without him loosing his mind to the point that he hyperventilates.
2. I love kids
3. I want to be home with my children
4. Cost issues, it takes more then half my paycheck to cover my current daycare for my two children.
5. I am ready for a change as far as work is concerned. I have been in HR for several years now and cant take staring at a computer any longer
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sahm2three 12:49 PM 04-05-2011
Ugh....today I wonder why I did it. I am closing in on my 1 year mark of being licensed. It has been rough. I have a bunch of HARD boys. But that isn't what you asked.....why did I start? My youngest was starting preschool (started and then we pulled him because he wasn't emotionally ready to be away from me), and I wanted to do something with flexibility (HA! lol, what was I thinking?!) that I could do from home so that I could be here for my kids before and after school. That part has been great. And I am making decent money. So, that is why I started. Daily I have moments where I wonder if I have brain damage! ROFL!
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AfterSchoolMom 01:20 PM 04-05-2011
I was a SAHM until 3 years ago. I've always wanted nothing more than to stay at home and be a Mommy to my kids. However, I hated "asking" DH for money and having him question everything that I purchased, and I hated not contributing financially. My personality is so NOT "the little woman", lol!!

I decided to take on SA's because that was the age of my kids, and because it would leave my days free to clean, run errands, and volunteer at the school. I feel like it's the best of both worlds.

I had a brief stint this year with little full timers and I must say BRAVO to those of you who do it all year. I have my ups and downs with my SA's, but they're definitely my preferred age group!
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MyAngels 01:26 PM 04-05-2011
I worked at a daycare center when I was young, before my children were born, so I knew I would enjoy child care. I was fortunate to be able to stay home with my kids for a few years, then I was offered a job that paid very well, so I went to work. Every day, when I dropped the kids off at the daycare, I thought how great it must be to be her. It wasn't long before I realized that that was what I wanted to do, and I did.

My very first kids were friends of my son, who was in 1st grade by then. I remember on the very first day I was officially open all of the kids came running in from the school bus, bursting with news of their day, chattering away, and I thought to myself, "I am so lucky to be here, I get to be the one to hear all about their day before they lose their excitement about it." They are all grown up now, but I still love this job.
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Lianne 02:37 PM 04-05-2011
I'm single and have no children of my own. I worked as a nanny for 14 years. As I looked at the future I realized that my (at the time) current nanny charge would be going off to school in less than a year and I'd have to find a new job again, a process I always dreaded. Plus the nanny market in my area was drying up due to the impending recession. The apartment I was living in was sold and I was also going to need to relocate. Looking at needing to change both things, I decided to try to fulfill my lifelong dream of running my own home daycare. So, I started to prepare financially and just before my nanny charge started school I moved to a smaller city and opened my daycare doors. I love what I do. I love caring for children in a home environment. I absolutely cannot picture myself doing anything else.
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squareone 03:57 PM 04-05-2011
I had always hoped to be a stay at home mom when I had children. After we began our family though, that wasn't a financial possibility. When I was working outside the home I was only getting about 2 awake hours with my kids. It was making me very depressed and miserable so I had to make some changes. Since I have many years of informal childcare experience and still needed to bring in an income, I thought a home daycare would be perfect for me. I became licensed, opened my daycare, and haven't looked back.
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SilverSabre25 03:57 PM 04-05-2011
I had planned to be an elementary school teacher...then I had my daughter while I was still in college full-time. My Dh and I struggled financially and when it was finally coming up to time for me to enroll in the Master's program (the only way to get a teacher's license at my university is to get an M.ED), we looked at our DD, at our finances, and at our life, and made the very difficult decision that one more year of me being in school full-time (more than 40 hours a week) was impossible. My mom was not willing to watch my DD for free full-time anymore like she had been and there was no way we could put her in childcare.

So, we bought a house and started a daycare--I knew it was the only job I could do with my qualifications (mother, Bachelor's in Early Childhood Development and Education) that would bring in anywhere NEAR enough money to help us survive.

And it's been the best decision ever...it's a hard job, and some days I can't exactly say that I love it, but it is more rewarding than anything else I could do.
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squareone 04:10 PM 04-05-2011
Originally Posted by AfterSchoolMom:
I decided to take on SA's because that was the age of my kids, and because it would leave my days free to clean, run errands, and volunteer at the school. I feel like it's the best of both worlds.

I had a brief stint this year with little full timers and I must say BRAVO to those of you who do it all year. I have my ups and downs with my SA's, but they're definitely my preferred age group!
I plan to transition to school-agers next year when ds starts school. I only want to do before and after care so that I have my days free to do the same things that you mentioned. I thought about taking on one preschooler so that dd would have a companion during the day but then I realized that once I made the switch I would have time for playgroups!
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Zoe 04:11 PM 04-05-2011
I was an elementary teacher (or was trying to be anyway) and I couldn't get a full-time job. After my second child was born, we were getting into serious debt with me not working more than sub hours and we made too much money to apply for state daycare assistance.

After the 4 year mark of trying to be a teacher, I went back to school for special ed. Still....nothin'.....

I've done unofficial daycare before with my friend's children when she was in a bind and I LOVED it. So after year 5 of no job, I decided to stop trying and apply my experience and education to daycare.

I'm still new to the daycare scene, but I absolutely love it. I do wonder how I'll feel when my own kids are older and no longer play with the daycare toys, and how that will affect my family. But for now, I'm good!
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