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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>How to Know When You are DONE??
beachlovinmomma 01:11 PM 06-09-2010
Ive been running a small home daycare for a few months. I feel like most days I want to pull my hair out. How do you know when you are just done and time to move on? Any opinions are highly appreciated.
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sahm2three 01:15 PM 06-09-2010
I have been feeling DONE pretty much every day this week. The kids have been AWFUL! UGH! I just don't understand what is going on with them! I am exhausted!
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fctjc1979 01:35 PM 06-09-2010
If you've only been doing it for a couple of months, you are probably just experiencing the newbie frustration that happens to a lot of new providers when things don't go as we envisioned them. A lot of time, I think we fantasize about all the kids we're going to help mold and all the time we're going to get to spend with our families. But when kids are screaming, parents are being uncooperative, and it seems like it's still hard to get a moment of one-on-one time with our spouse or kids, I think we get discouraged. I would suggest sticking it out for a while longer and focus on the positives. After a couple of more months you can reevaluate.
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originalkat 01:49 PM 06-09-2010
Originally Posted by fctjc1979:
If you've only been doing it for a couple of months, you are probably just experiencing the newbie frustration that happens to a lot of new providers when things don't go as we envisioned them. A lot of time, I think we fantasize about all the kids we're going to help mold and all the time we're going to get to spend with our families. But when kids are screaming, parents are being uncooperative, and it seems like it's still hard to get a moment of one-on-one time with our spouse or kids, I think we get discouraged. I would suggest sticking it out for a while longer and focus on the positives. After a couple of more months you can reevaluate.
Well Said.
I find myself needing to focus on the positives quite often!
I have been in the early childhood field for 12 years and home daycare for almost 3 of them. It has allowed me to stay home with my kids while they were young because I did not want them going to daycare. But with my oldest going to KG in the fall and youngest 3 years old, I have been really doing a lot of thinking. I have decided to finish my BA degree in Early Childhood and become a school teacher (hopefully KG). I have two years to go and can do it all (except student teaching) online and still keep my business while finishing it up. By that time my youngest will be starting KG and we will all be on the same breaks. Plus the pay and benefits will be better. I have always wanted to do this, but have found excuses not to. Just the thought of this makes me happier and more content as a childcare provider. I still have 2 years, but it seems like it is just around the corner.

Maybe you could evaluate the "whys" behind your decision to become a home provider and go from there. For the last three years the positives (home with kids, good income, experience running a business) have outweighed the negatives (kids always in my house, long hours, no benefits, very little time off). But as this new horizon in my life broadens, so do my goals/needs/wants in life.
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MarinaVanessa 01:50 PM 06-09-2010
Yes it could be a newbit thing. I would sit down and make a a list of what you envision daycare to be like. What your idea of the daycare you want is and then review it again and decide if you have a realistic view of what daycare really is. Lots of people I know envisioned their daycare to have trouble free days where all of the kids follow the rules all of the time and parent's pay on time and follow your policies. Then they realize that not everyday is awsome, kids push your buttons, kids argue, payments com in late, and they ignore policies and test your patience. If you are prepared for the worst then you'll be okay. You may also want to make a mental list of what you don't like right now about daycare. Be specific, that way you can list reasons why these things are happening. Kids don't listen? Maybe you need to be more strict. Kids fighting? Maybe it's just one kid and he/she may need to be let go etc. Make a plan of action to fix these problems. And don't expect things to get fixed overnight.

What specific things are you hating at the moment?
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judytrickett 02:56 PM 06-09-2010
Oh Hell, Honey....I swear I am DONE at least once a month and I have been at this about seven years now.

It's normal to be "DONE" every once in a while. This job can be frustrating at time with all you have to deal with.

Once you get a bunch of kids settled in, get into a routine, and grow a daycare business backbone things will go MUCH more smoothly!

If you don't treat daycare like a BUSINESS you will fail, and miserably.

Hang in there, take note of responses on forums like this and pay a visit to my blog and read that YOU ARE NOT ALONE.
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beachlovinmomma 06:01 PM 06-09-2010
Originally Posted by MarinaVanessa:
Yes it could be a newbit thing. I would sit down and make a a list of what you envision daycare to be like. What your idea of the daycare you want is and then review it again and decide if you have a realistic view of what daycare really is. Lots of people I know envisioned their daycare to have trouble free days where all of the kids follow the rules all of the time and parent's pay on time and follow your policies. Then they realize that not everyday is awsome, kids push your buttons, kids argue, payments com in late, and they ignore policies and test your patience. If you are prepared for the worst then you'll be okay. You may also want to make a mental list of what you don't like right now about daycare. Be specific, that way you can list reasons why these things are happening. Kids don't listen? Maybe you need to be more strict. Kids fighting? Maybe it's just one kid and he/she may need to be let go etc. Make a plan of action to fix these problems. And don't expect things to get fixed overnight.

What specific things are you hating at the moment?
What is really pushing me to the edge is the 5 month old screaming to the top of her lungs, I have tried everything to console her, even let her cry it out but she ends up sweating and red and...well never stops even after an hour. I cant stand it. She wakes up the others and her mother asks me how she is doing and I tell her she cries she is fighting sleep and she just says I think its her tummy or I think its her teeth..well it might be but what am I suppose to do about it? If I werent trying to do a favor for the family I would justterminate, but, I dont have the backbone to do it. I have had her since she was 2 months and this hasnt stopped yet. Thats prob the worse thing for me.
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beachlovinmomma 06:05 PM 06-09-2010
Originally Posted by judytrickett:
Oh Hell, Honey....I swear I am DONE at least once a month and I have been at this about seven years now.

It's normal to be "DONE" every once in a while. This job can be frustrating at time with all you have to deal with.

Once you get a bunch of kids settled in, get into a routine, and grow a daycare business backbone things will go MUCH more smoothly!

If you don't treat daycare like a BUSINESS you will fail, and miserably.

Hang in there, take note of responses on forums like this and pay a visit to my blog and read that YOU ARE NOT ALONE.
I really enjoy your blog but cant find the you are not alone, is it under a certain month? You are sooo funny! I WISH I had your backbone!
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beachlovinmomma 06:08 PM 06-09-2010
Thanks everyone! I feel much better, at least I am at home with my daughter.
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My4SunshineGirlsNY 06:40 PM 06-09-2010
Oh yes, that feeling comes and goes with me...and it really does depend on the behavior of the kids in care. I had taken on way too many at one time...have taken on kids with behavior issues...and have taken on those with parents that frustrate me or just stress me out.

I daydream what it would be like to have no kids here at all after my daughter leaves on the preschool bus and how much unfinished projects I could get done. I have kids here all week and the weekend is consumed with my own 4 girls, so I never ever have any "me" time.

BUT if I wasn't doing daycare, I would need a job outside of the home, which sometimes seems like it would be less stressful, but I left a full time job to run daycare so I could be home with my kids...I missed them terrible when I was gone and didn't want my youngest in full time daycare.

I have had kids that cried all day long when they first started and it was MISERABLE! I wanted to quit right then and there...it ruined my whold daily schedule...thankfully those kids adjusted but if I had a child that didn't stop beyond 2 weeks, I would have to tell the parents, hey look, it's not going to work.
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judytrickett 06:41 PM 06-09-2010
Originally Posted by beachlovinmomma:
I really enjoy your blog but cant find the you are not alone, is it under a certain month? You are sooo funny! I WISH I had your backbone!
No, no, I just meant the general sentiment conveyed with be that you are in like company. You are soooo not alone.
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beachlovinmomma 07:00 PM 06-09-2010
Originally Posted by fctjc1979:
If you've only been doing it for a couple of months, you are probably just experiencing the newbie frustration that happens to a lot of new providers when things don't go as we envisioned them. A lot of time, I think we fantasize about all the kids we're going to help mold and all the time we're going to get to spend with our families. But when kids are screaming, parents are being uncooperative, and it seems like it's still hard to get a moment of one-on-one time with our spouse or kids, I think we get discouraged. I would suggest sticking it out for a while longer and focus on the positives. After a couple of more months you can reevaluate.
Originally Posted by judytrickett:
No, no, I just meant the general sentiment conveyed with be that you are in like company. You are soooo not alone.
haha haha Im so dingy sometimes......
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Janet 08:15 PM 06-09-2010
I think that we all have those moments where we feel like we just can't do another day. Of course we can. It's all about creating a routine that will keep your day calmer. Once I did that, I was much happier and much more effective. If all else fails, pick out the one who harshes the mellow and give him the option to get himself together. Most importantly, don;t keep a kid that is making you hate your job. You have to look outside the box. good luck.
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MarinaVanessa 09:23 PM 06-09-2010
Originally Posted by beachlovinmomma:
What is really pushing me to the edge is the 5 month old screaming to the top of her lungs, I have tried everything to console her, even let her cry it out but she ends up sweating and red and...well never stops even after an hour.
Ha ha, I feel your pain. I have a 6mo that's a screaming cryer. At the moment I think that it's a combination of things for mine though. He's new (this is his 2nd week, he's just budding teeth, his grandma used to watch him and I think she got him used to being held etc. I let him cry it out too and he just wails and wails bloody murder. I can't do anything for longer than 15 minutes without holding him before he gets upset and goes on another tirade. I just block it out and finish what I'm doing and then go over and sit with him. I don't pick him up. I have to reprogram him and it seems to be working little by little. For the teething I put icecubes in a baggy and have his moms signed release waiver to give him tylenol or teething tablets for the pain so I juice him up with drugs when the ice doesn't work and he gets a little better. This little dude cries like I was skinning him alive for EVERYTHING, hunger, dirty diaper, hot, cold, tired etc. Just something that'll pass. If not I'll have to let them go.
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QualiTcare 09:26 PM 06-09-2010
ONE of the reasons i wanted to be a teacher is because i had so many teachers that made it OBVIOUS they did NOT want to be there. i could never figure out for the life of me why someone would want to work with kids when it was so apparent they hated doing it.

i vowed that i would be one of those few teachers we all have had that make school fun - that you don't have to be afraid of - and if i ever started hating my job, i would QUIT!

life is too short to spend it doing something you don't LOVE! not something you can tolerate, or something that pays pretty decent, but something you can't imagine NOT doing. can you picture yourself doing something else?

i can honestly say, i CAN! i do like kids and enjoy teaching especially, and the fact i spent 4 years getting certified doesn't make it easy to admit it's time to do something else. i am CONTENT - but i can picture myself doing something else - it's time to move on.
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boysx5 07:11 AM 06-10-2010
I had had that feeling at times but it will pass somedays are just better than others as with all jobs thats way I look at it
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MommyMuffin 07:37 AM 06-10-2010
Originally Posted by originalkat:
Well Said.
I find myself needing to focus on the positives quite often!
I have been in the early childhood field for 12 years and home daycare for almost 3 of them. It has allowed me to stay home with my kids while they were young because I did not want them going to daycare. But with my oldest going to KG in the fall and youngest 3 years old, I have been really doing a lot of thinking. I have decided to finish my BA degree in Early Childhood and become a school teacher (hopefully KG). I have two years to go and can do it all (except student teaching) online and still keep my business while finishing it up. By that time my youngest will be starting KG and we will all be on the same breaks. Plus the pay and benefits will be better. I have always wanted to do this, but have found excuses not to. Just the thought of this makes me happier and more content as a childcare provider. I still have 2 years, but it seems like it is just around the corner.

Maybe you could evaluate the "whys" behind your decision to become a home provider and go from there. For the last three years the positives (home with kids, good income, experience running a business) have outweighed the negatives (kids always in my house, long hours, no benefits, very little time off). But as this new horizon in my life broadens, so do my goals/needs/wants in life.
I have been looking for an online course for my B.A in education, what school do you attend?
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