Do you see yourself doing this forever? Just while your own kids finish up school? Not past next week?

Just curious how long all of you think child care will last for you?
I went into this 32 years ago, thinking I'd find something else when my kids all went onto high school. My youngest is now entering her jr. year of college and I see no signs of stopping. Thinking about finding another job at this point in my life feels ridiculous to me. I'm 60 and have no marketable skills, plus jobs aren't exactly plentiful around here. To find a job, even if it were to work for a center, etc., requires all kinds of credentials now. 32 years experience means squat.

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Don't know. I originally planned on doing this until my youngest started school full time. He is going into 7th grade this year. Now my target date is when he finishes high school. But when the time comes, who knows.

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I will be doing this forever I really love being at home. I love my little ones. Perfect job.. except for the whole parent irresponsible thing.

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I thought about doing it forever, loved being my own boss!!! However, it was not a steady income, which we needed.

After I left daycare to get a job outside the home, I went back and forth trying to decide if I'd go back or not, but ultimately, I'll stay in my position til I graduate nursing school (2016!!!!)

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I haven't been open a year yet but I went into this as a career. I have a bachelors degree in child and family development, we purchased our house specifically with a home daycare in mind. I do not have any of my own children yet.
When my husband is making more money (he is going to school right now) I would love to switch to a half day preschool program (maybe in 5ish years)
I also really want to become a midwife at some point (maybe once my future youngest child is in elementary school).

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I'm in this for the long haul. I love it. My youngest goes to kinder next month and the thought crossed my mind about discontinuing, but then I thought, why the hell would I do that?? I love my enrolled kids and their families. And they're mostly very young, so I want to see them go off to kinder. And by then I'll have a new crop of babies/toddlers and I'll want to see those go off to kinder too! This profession has "sucked me in". Lol.

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Long Haul
Been licensed for 34 years, 33 of that as group FCC.
Worked in customer service for a large company for 9 years before that. That made me appreciate the logic of little kids - most of them are not as screwed up as most adults I worked with.
Wanted to do FCC for five years before I had the courage to quit my job and take the leap into the unknown.
Have supported my family single-handedly since I started, including buying my home.
Have a very good reputation among teachers and child care organizations, and a very good licensing record.

Now:
I am 60.
Hoping that QRIS does not chase me out before I am ready to be done.
Wishing that parents came with better skills, like they used to.
Don't see that happening though - they did not grow up with responsibilities for younger siblings or learn skills by babysitting.
Hoping that I will be able to support myself in retirement, but it's iffy. The rules all changed since I was young. (There were no IRAs to sock away the money that makes the money for you.)
Planning to work until I'm 70, maybe beyond. Possibly unlicensed after 70.
None of that applies if I have to do QRIS. Maybe I won't be allowed to do licensed care?? I do not participate because I don't want to take the time away from my kids.
I spend a lot of after-hours on curriculum, planning, parent support, etc.

Wish me luck

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I'm taking it one day at a time.

I went into this 2 years ago planning to continue until my youngest was in kindergarten, which is still 2 years away. Then I would work mother's hours at my out of the house job where I've been for 8 years, though for the last year I have been per diem in the evenings.

However, I wouldn't make as much money that way. It makes more sense to continue daycare since I still have to get my kids off to school in the morning and off the bus in the afternoon.

I currently have no plans to stop daycare any time soon. I enjoy it, especially with the group I have now.

We'll see what happens I guess. Maybe I'll end up doing this forever, or maybe just until my youngest is old enough to stay home alone after school, maybe 12? Which would be 9 years from now.

I'm not much of a long-term planner, I go with the flow. Things could change tomorrow, the future is never certain

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I've been doing this 3-1/2 years. It has always been my backup plan, but I had never needed it. When I lost my business almost 4 years ago thanks to crooked politicians, I found that 30 years of self employment didn't lead to marketable skills, at least not in a small, rural town. I have a college degree, but it is so old that it's virtually useless unless I go back to school. So I started the process to become registered, only to learn that my historic house wouldn't be approved. So, I'm listed, what you guys call legally unlisted.

I'll be 61 in a couple of weeks. I imagine I will be doing this until I can't handle the lifting and moving anymore. Or until the state decides to eliminate listed homes.

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Unreg., that's kind of the way I feel too. I'm 60 and am very afraid there will either not be enough families in the area who still want a family home setting or the state will regulate all us little people right out of the business. They're becoming so demanding of home providers now.

My ideal would be to only take teachers' kids and have summers off. OR work 4 day weeks. I could live with that too.

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I've been doing this for almost 7 years, and when I started, I knew I would do it for a while as I had three young kids. My youngest is starting 1st grade in the fall, and I have not been enjoying daycare lately, so I will be telling the families on Monday that my last day will be Aug. 1. I have a Bachelor's Degree in English Secondary Ed and have secured a job at a local private high school starting in late August. I'm excited for the change, for shorter daily hours, for summers off with my kids, but am nervous about telling the parents on Monday.

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I get lots of referrals from old families, so I think I can keep going if the state lets me keep going. But like you said, they may regulate us out of business, especially with QRIS.
If that becomes a requirement for licensing, I guess I won't qualify. I am not going to go get a degree to get a good star rating and I don't want a bad star rating. If I go back to school, it will be because I want to go, not because the state is forcing me.

I would like to work fewer days too, or half days. I might be able to work a deal with the preschool near me. Their former director was one of my daycare moms, so she might put in a good word for me. And then maybe I could do half days, with the kids going to the preschool the other half. That is what I think of as my retirement plan

Still depends on what the regulations do to us though.

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If I could quit tomorrow I would. I am totally burnt out on wild, unruly children and misbehaving adults. Ask me again in a few months once my group has changed. For the past 15 months it has been survival mode and I feel totally done.

I would also feel differently if I could make income just doing daycare. But, many switch to me from daycares since I offer a preschool program. I am so tired of the super structured nature of it but it is what it is. I have a BA in early childhood-6th grade ed and planned to be an elementary school teacher.

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I am on my 22nd year and have went as far as a CDA along with an Associate's degree in early childhood...have pulled 3 yrs in a center which did not work for me...i really love FCC and being my own boss..have rolled with QRIS for over 10 yrs now so i hope i can survive the long haul...i do not want to enter the school system so i pray FCC can sustain all the hits to run us out of business....I would like to think I could work 20 more years in FCC????...we shall see!!

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I plan to quit when my son is 5 or 6 (so three or four years from now) and we begin homeschooling him. Depends on if my husband's job can support us like we hope by then. Maybe I'll keep one family or do part - time.

I like it a lot, but I'm only doing it to be home with my son.

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I started watching children when I was 9 and am 58 years old so I quess I am in it for the long haul. OP, like you I hope QRIS, and the new "free preschool", doesn't force me out before I can collect SSI at age 66 and 7 months.

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I plan to do this until I die! I have played with the idea of owning a center. If I ever get the money to do that, I would rather own a center and just check in with them from time to time. That way I am still the one making the rules and guidelines that I believe should be the way children are taken care of at daycare, but I wouldn't have to work every day all day.

I'd much rather be paid to sit in my t-shirt and shorts and play with kids all day than have to put on pantyhose and a skirt to sit inside some office all day long! I like being my own boss, I like being able to decide what to teach my kids rather than having to follow some curriculum that someone who doesn't even know my kids tells me to use. I like being able to have a more personal relationship with my daycare families. I like being able to let a family go if they are not working out rather than being a preschool teacher in a center who has to accept and work with children/families that are just not working out just because the director won't kick them out so the center doesn't lose their income (the director doesn't have to tend to the child daily, so they don't care that the child drives the teacher nuts!) I like being able to create my own days and hours to work, be able to visit with my daughter when she comes home from college or my sister when she comes up from Florida without having to request vacation days off work. I can just have my family visit with me while I'm doing daycare or hire my assistant to work for me to give me time off work to visit with my family without worrying that I don't have enough vacation time left. I love being able to sit outside all day if I want! I'm not stuck in some office building or forced to strictly follow someone else's schedule. I like being able to blend my family with my job every day. I don't miss out on my own family just because I have to go to work. I can also play with my puppy (technically 1 1/2 year old dog) while I am working! Now, who wouldn't want a job like that?

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I am looking forward to doing something else. I am on 7 years of care with my youngest child being 2 and have no desire to do this as a career. I have also finished an Associates degree online in preparation to working outside the home. The tricky part will be finding a job that accommodates my large family and provides the same if not more income then I make currently (especially if I have to pay for daycare for my kids). I know for sure I will be doing this full school year of daycare and most likely one more. We had hoped my husband would be promoted but he hasnt been meaning my income is absolutely necessary. I cant afford a big cut in pay to go back to work outside the home yet because I have a one year old and a three year old that would require daycare if I am not here.

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I'm only doing this until I can find a job that pays well enough. I came into this a year ago thinking this was the career if have until I retire, but I just can't stand inviting new families into my home anymore. I've only had one family that has been 100% awesome and all the rest have been straight out horrible. Either my expectations are way too high or there just aren't many wonderful families in my area looking for daycare. Either way, I'm done.

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I started out in this field sort of unwillingly. I didn't really want to do this but "had" to since I had my own child that was not thriving in any other care situation.

I did plan along the way though and although I came into this profession with nothing other than my babysitting experience and a few years of organized/structured classroom experience as a Head Start teacher, I paid attention to the movement of the profession in general.

I remember the first time I heard about QRIS (years before it became well known in this field and was still a pilot program in only one state) and I thought to myself that child care is like any other career choice. You HAVE to grow with it if you want to stay with it.

I started taking classes and on-line trainings to bolster the "provider education" portion of my portfolio. I earned my CDA, joined professional organizations and became knowledgeable about the non-hands on part of this job.

Eventually I went back to college to earn a degree in ECE. Not necessarily because I loved the field, but because I knew it would eventually be mandatory to remain competitive and steadfast if I was going to do this for the long haul.

Now with all the changes we are seeing and provider education requirements being a major focus, I am relieved that I already did that part. It makes me feel less stressed, more organized and not so lost as we see this entire profession get scrutinized and picked apart.

So, although I didn't jump into this wholeheartedly or with big dreams of impacting children and changing lives, I did look far enough ahead to plan for change.

For that, I am grateful. It makes me sad to read about all the good providers that are looking for a way out because of the changes happening.

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Somewhat in response to BlackCat31:

I did choose childcare. I truly love what I do and want to continue. Have seen the movement toward formal education and professionalism, and always ran my daycare as a professional, much more so than others around me. I worked in business previously, so I had that mode in place before I began this.
Have always taken far beyond the required classes, and done much reading besides.
However, because I became the sole support of my family, could not afford to pay for accreditation or college courses. Checked in to programs that paid part of the cost, but nothing fit. Still took CEUs where they were offered, just in case I could see a way.

The way I see it, I am in the no-mans-land time zone of daycare. If I were a bit closer to retirement, I would have no need to complete a stars program. If I were a bit younger, I would have seen it as a priority in order to remain in this field. I would have shorted my dcks on equipment and supplies and gotten my degree instead.

It isn't that I didn't look ahead. It is my particular life happenings (not complaining) and that my 20/20 future-seeing glasses didn't come with a time-stamp

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I am in this forever! I'm 29 and have been licensed for five years now. I'm thrilled with being my own boss and setting the rules for my business, and I make way more money than all of my friends with graduate degrees. I am heading back to school this fall with Rasmussen college online to complete my Early Childhood Education BA. I have a five year plan to open a center with preschool. I've always been really ambitious and have constantly searched for ways to offer a better program, add more kids, climb the ladder, etc. Gotta have a plan!

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I'm in this for the long haul!
I love it! I figure I'm lucky to have found my niche, and will stay with it as long as possible.
Made a ton of mistakes along the way, but have acquired so much knowledge because of it, it'd be a shame to throw it all away.

The unknown fear of the future and the direction of fcc, like others have posted, does worry me too. I'm doing my best to stay up to date with trainings, CDA, taking college classes, but still not comfortably there yet.

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I didn't mean to imply anyone wasn't planning ahead, so I hope my response didn't read that way.

The bolded part above was exactly where I was at. My DH was just starting his own business and I was the sole supporter of my family. I used that to my advantage and applied for every grant and type of financial aide available and I gave up my evenings and my weekends to do homework.

Now with the QRIS thing looming so closely over our state, providers could definitely use the grants they offer to pay for the schooling part and still be a bit ahead of the game since it's still new-ish in most states.

I am just as far from retirement as I am from high school graduation so definitely not a spring chicken but no where near being done and closing up shop.

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I would close up tomorrow if I could afford to be a SAHM but I can't so I continue. When I started I thought I'd do it till my youngest was in school full days but that was 2 years ago and realistically I can not see giving up this income and I can't see going out and getting a job either. In a few years there will be colleges to pay for, etc. so I think I'm a lifer, LOL!

Like someone else mentioned, I would love to have teachers only or work a 4 day week. I'd be much happier doing this if I could do that but getting kids here is VERY tough, lots of SAHM's and the rest prefer centers to home dc's so I struggle enough getting kids, I can't be as picky as I'd like.

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I have been a licensed provider for 12 years and have said for the last six or seven, just one more year. The last three years I have said I will quite when I pay our credit card debt off, then we just keep racking it up. Perhaps it is a self fulfilling prophecy so that I don't quit? As for now, I know I am in it for a minimum of two years but then I think that after that it will only be three years till my youngest graduates high school so may as well just keep going! I hope to phase out some of my families over the next couple of years and exclusively work for teachers. I currently have three teacher families with two on my waiting list, so it is doable.
Every time I get discouraged and really want to quit, my Mom reminds that there is no perfect job where you are happy and thrilled every day to go to work. There are always bad days and bad situations. I have been my own boss for so long, and before that I didn't work I was a stay at home mom, so I am very worried I won't be able to handle being bossed! So for now I say, two more years, thought it will likely be longer!!

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Ditto. We can't afford for me to quit, and honestly it's SO much easier now my own children are in school!

For now I don't have any plans to quit, but if our QRS becomes mandatory I'll be seriously rethinking things.

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Eight years. My youngest will be graduating high school in eight years.
I will sell my center and it's real estate.
I will sell my home.
I will sell my cars.
I will sell all my furniture and other shizit.

I will keep my motorcycles. They can be towed behind my luxury RV. The view from my "living room" will be different every week. I will see ball games in every park in the major league. Every state. Every major national park.

8 years.

Tick tock, tick tock.

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Motorcycles? What type of motorcycles?

I thought I was the only one here

I have a Suzuki V-Strom 650

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I will most likely continue doing this for awhile. It's far more lucrative than working outside the home. Not many places pay as much as I make, especially after paying for even after school childcare! Add sick days when the kids have to be home or winter/spring/summer break! I will be doing this at least 10 more years I'm hoping??

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Suzuki, nice! I'm a Kawasaki gal.
Ninja 250 and a Ninja ZX6R......fastest production bike on the market.

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Woot!!

I'm too slow for a fast bike ...

have a Yamaha TW and a Suzuki drz also

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OMG I think you're my long lost twin!! You described me exactly!

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Woohoo!!! Internet twin!!!!!!
It's hard to find people who went into this the same way I did!

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