My husband is contemplating quitting his job (he's so unhappy with it) to work at my daycare. He's a great guy and the kids ADORE him. Are there any husband/wife teams out there that are happy with their decision to work together? I am very concerned that he'll get burnt out with wiping noses and doing dishes every single day. To be honest, it's not for everyone.

So in the theme of the great Jimmy Fallon...Pros and Cons and Pros and Cons?

Thanks!

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Personally my husband and I could never work together that closely. I love him to death but he's very pokey and does things too slow for my taste he's been home all week cause he's business is slow this week, I want to strangle him. When I need him to help me so I can run upstairs to get something, he's never there. When I don't need him, he's always under my feet!

So if you can do more power to ya!!! I wish I could. If he would keep his mouth shut all day and just do my cleaning I would be ok with it lmao

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My husband is my assistant. He just started in January though, so we don't have a lot of experience under our belts, but so far it is fantastic.
I love not having to pay an employee and all the taxes that come with that. He lives here, so he can't call in and play hookey . I call him my want, but he is my partner. We are a team. I value his input and want him to be totally involved in the business. Before we made the final decision, I made it clear that if he chose to do this, that I wanted him to be 100% committed and in it for the long haul.

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I personally look at this as a business decision, though obviously it affects your marriage as well.

Will you be able to increase enrollment by him joining you?

Will that increase in enrollment be immediate - how high of a demand does your area have for childcare services?

Will an increase in enrollment be enough to maintain your standard of living, even it takes months to obtain a full house with the increased enrollment?

What type of training does your husband have in terms of early childhood, CPR, etc that will be advantageous in terms of marketing your services? If he needs said training, what will it cost?

Will you be looking at increased costs such as private healthcare?

States have different requirements on size/enrollment of home daycares - have you educated yourselves on what will be required of you if he joins to increase the enrollment? E.g. a change from registered to licensed to center etc.

Increased enrollment means increased needs of insurance coverage. Do you have a price quote on how much your insurance will increase?



Just some thoughts

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My DD, now 22, went to a home DC with a h/w team and it was and still is the best daycare ever to me. Hubby works with infants/toddlers and wife with 2-4 yrs. They have a year long waiting list.

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https://www.daycare.com/forum/tags.p...unning+daycare

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My husband and I do! It's great, parents and kids alike love it.

The only con I can think of is we spend 24/7 together and our "friends" we had before doing daycare have drifted away. And sometimes we get sick of each other. And our life is all kids, all the time.....but that's why we have a pair of ridiculously fast motorcycles.

The biggest pro is we operate a center, separate from our home, so it's nice to shut the door and leave every day.

Go for it!

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My husband is my full time assistant and has been since I opened in 2007. I think the parents are taken by surprise at first, but I think they overall like it. I also always have a waiting list and I think we are doing so great because we both put our all into it. It also has the benefit of both of us being home with our own kids all day, which we love! Im able to have more kids with him being here also and dont have to worry about have a reliable employee. In seven years, we have been able to do it without getting on each others nerves (too much)! lol
We have a rule that if something bothers us, we save it for when the kids leave, so it doesnt effect our work day. So far this has worked out great for us!

I still run the business side of things. I take care of all the paperwork, advertising, running the facebook page, dealing with parents (most of the time), budgeting and policies. Sometimes it gets annoying that the load is on my shoulders, but Im one who likes to be in control so I cant really complain about it.

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I love that rule! I think I will adopt it! Or maybe just leave passive aggressive sticky notes on the fridge.

I am already licensed as a group daycare (it's the same regs as a regular licensed, but higher capacity allowance). Right now I can have 7 over 18 months, but with him helping me I could increase that to 12. I have a huge waiting list and get calls weekly, so I think it would be easy to fill those 5 spots. That would be enough to cover 3/4 of his salary at his current job, but we have no debt and can take the hit for his mental health(he detests his current sales job). He already has all his training since I've been preparing...just-in-case kind of situation.

I am worried that I'll get sick of him. Oddly, I'm not worried that he'll get sick of me. Hmm...

Does anyone else who has 10 or more kids stagger mealtimes? I am concerned that 10 or 12 is too many to have eating at one time. And do you split 1/2 and 1/2, by ages, or how do you split?

Thanks guys!!

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My dh & I have thought about this a lot! We would need another house with more room and landlord permission here in CA. I don't know that it would increase enrollment right away though and I think we'd really have to put in more money to start a successful large family daycare though. I would love to but I don't know that he would really enjoy it as much as I do. He loves kids but sometimes he's like "how do you deal with that?" And it's something I don't even notice. LOL he also likes to watch daytime TV and nap daily when he's home and that just wouldn't fly.

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Never have staggered mealtimes. It is actually nice to have them in one spot relatively quiet. I have had 12 before.

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We work together. In the beginning I had to constantly remind HIM of the rules (away from the DCKs of course). We all know when you raise a couple of kids, its different than having 10-12 kids around. I had to forever explain you cannot roughhouse with the boys & not expect them to roughhouse with each other. No noogies when a kid walked by either. We have the love & support of a home but have rules like a school. Keep your hands to yourself, no throwing toys, stand in line to wash your hands, meal/snacks on a schedule, etc.

He had a food audit & was a hot mess trying to get the meal out. I told her he was in training, lol. He also had to see total chaos when he was in charge to finally get it. We are now on track, have a system & work GREAT together.

Let us know what you do!!!

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I don't think you need landlord permission in California to run a large family childcare home... just for the additional 2. So 12, but need permission to do 14.
My husband works from home (not for they daycare) but sometimes volunteers to help oversee getting the nappers down at nap time, which usually means taking a short nap on the couch during his lunch break... He sets a good example , and they stay quiet because he's right there. It actually works pretty good, and I can more freely take care of other things, including keeping the non-nappers quiet.

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My son and my husband are my co-workers. We LOVE it! Been doing it for years now.

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I have just had a regular license up to this point (8 under 5, 4 SA with an assistant) We're in the process of expanding to a group home, which will allow us to have up to 12 under 6 together with 4 additional school age with a second assistant) Im also in the process of eliminating SA so we will soon be staying under the 12 to avoid hiring someone, except during school vacations. I has to remind him of the rules a lot in the beginning, but now he does good remembering them. We take turns making meals. He changes the boys and I change the girls. Other than that we pretty much do everything together.

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I have 10-12 kids daily.

I do ONE lunch time. All kids eat together.

I have never had an issue with it.

My DH also works with me but only from 10-2. He comes in and cooks lunch, helps get all the kids sitting down and eating, helps with clean up and getting everyone down for rest time and then we eat our lunch together.

Then he heads back to his regular work.

None of my parent shave ever had an issue with it and some of my single mom families have actually signed on BECAUSE my DH is here and they want their child to have daily interaction with a male role model as much as a female one.

My DH is also present for field trips and special activities too.

As far as getting sick of each other....that would depend on how good of friends you are in the first place....kwim?

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My husband is my assistant. But he also works a part-time job that he's about to retire from. He expressed a long time ago that he wanted to do the business with him. The kids are crazy about him, and the parents know and love him as well.

Sometimes he acts like the children, but that's because he is very good with them. When he get out of hand, I do reel him right back in.

But my husband loves children as much as I do. Our own children are older. My daughter is 18 years old and will be graduating in May, and he is asking about fostering children

But so far, he's a good help and really does not complain about doing anything.

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I think it’s awesome all of the wife/husband teams doing childcare.

If I ever open up a facility. I’d like him to have an administrative roll. He’s great when it comes to paperwork. He is great with playing and reading with children.

All the other stuff he says, “I do NOT know how you do it. I am impressed"

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mine often helps me after his job. He also does meals and meal planning with me. I do one lunch but have done a split lunch- I prefer one lunch.

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Same here! The kids love my dh, but sometimes it's more hectic when he is here, plus he doesn't like the crying from kids that aren't his..lol Like pp said, taking care of kids isn't for everyone! I'm glad my dh has his man cave in the basement...lol

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He's is on the back porch. He turned it into his office. If I can't find him that's where he is usually. And the dck's love him but he only loves it in small doses lol he gets his jokes in and runs away!!

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Same here.

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My wife and I are 50/50 partners in our center. We operate on a professional level. To keep peace in the family we have distinct roles and responsibilities. She is the provider as she has the teaching credentials. I am her assistant teacher. On the daycare side she designs the edu programs and has primary responsibility over the kids. I have responsibility over the facilities, equipment, food, etc... what she says goes regarding her areas and I have final word in my areas. On the business overall, we work together. From a marketing point, we stress the strengthes of this type of management. Family owned and operated, low turn over of staffing, etc... no one else to blame but us... that kind of stuff.

On the family side, it is important to have some ground rules so each person feels secure in their role. If you can be successful as a family in the business, then your potential clients should be able to pickup on it and see the benefits as well. Our daughter is also available as a part time art teacher.

Our goals
Be better than everyone else
Keep the kids safe and happy
Always look to do it better
keep the monies earned in the family

Big Lou
Http://colorfulsunburst.com

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Thanks everyone for the input.

And thank BigLou for a husband's perspective! I like how you have the responsibilities separated and each have your own area of expertise.

I'm feeling much more confident about this working out. It helps that he had the day off today and my house is so much cleaner and the kids are happier!

Bring on the summer!

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It would be tough in my house. DH wouldn't be over the kids and learning for sure. And I would have to give him "jobs". Because he doesn't "work" at home well. He works his tail off AT WORK, but at home he has a very special bond with his recliner.

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DIDNT NOTICE THIS WAS OLD SORRY! My husband and I opened our home daycare March 2015. I am able to have all 6 of my kids under the age of 2 if I please because he is here 24/7.

We don't get tired of each other because before this job, we worked together as well. That is how we met. I love working together, but I am also a newlywed. He can annoy me at times, but we profit a lot by doing this.

Kids also love him and listen to him so well.

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