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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>I'm Closing Down!!!
MamaBear 04:25 PM 03-11-2012
I just wanted to let you all know that I have made the decision to close down my daycare. I have been struggling with this decision for the last year. I started doing daycare in 2006 when my youngest was a baby. It was great while my little ones were little, but now they are getting older and feel like its really time for a change. My spark for doing daycare burned out about a year ago. I've been trying to "re-ignite" the spark for awhile now, but no luck. And its really not fair to my kiddos that I don't have that spark anymore...so time to clock out!

I've been praying the last couple months trying to figure out what route I should take. During the last couple months, I had my 2 yr old DCG leave me for preschool, and now my infant DCB is moving to England with his last day next week. This leaves me with only 2 daycare kids. Out of these 2, one is leaving me March 26th to stay home with his mom on maternity leave until July and my last DCB is a teacher's child and they were going to stay home starting March 26 for a couple weeks. So basically starting in April I'd only have ONE daycare child. So not worth it.

I've been getting calls for daycare, but all infants. I had taken that one infant last week and that was a nightmare. So I think God has answered my prayers for me by having my daycare kids drop off like flies! lol

So I'm going to be giving my daycare parents my notice tomorrow!! I'm so nervous. It really will only pertain to the 2 daycare parents I have left. The one shouldn't really care much since they were pulling the boy out till July anyway... The other one will have 2 weeks of Spring Break to find someone new.

In regards to my next venture... I'm planning on taking a break while my husband completes his deployment. He'll be back from Afghanistan in June. Meanwhile I'm going to be planning out my new career. I've got some ideas and I'm super excited to get started on them.

Thank you all for your advice and kind words over the past year or two. When I would have a bad day, I always knew I could come on here and vent and get some virtual hugs and support. I might come on here again in the future after I close down the daycare to say hi and see whats up on here from time to time.

I wish you all well with your daycares! It is not an easy job and I commend you all on the great jobs you do caring for all these little ones & dealing with all the dramas that come with it.

By the way ~ I was going to give them my last day being Friday, April 6th. Thats 4 weeks notice. This is enough time, right?
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Breezy 04:33 PM 03-11-2012
Good for you! I am so happy for you! I wish I had that option- to at least take a small break from DC!

All in good time I hope when everything falls together as it did for you!

And yes, I think 4 weeks is plenty of notice.
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cheerfuldom 04:54 PM 03-11-2012
I think 4 weeks is plenty. Good luck to you in the future. I am in the process of closing my daycare too and I know that is a really hard decision to make. Right now I have 2 full timers and a part timers so I am slowing letting kids go as finances allow. Please come back at least once and let us know what you decided to do in your new career path!!
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Blackcat31 05:07 PM 03-11-2012
It sounds like you are excited about this new direction in your life...I hope it turns out to be more than you expected and I wish you the best!
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MamaBear 05:18 PM 03-11-2012
Thanks you guys I'm happy about it. Just feel nervous about giving them the letter tomorrow. Should I hand it to them at drop off? Or wait till pick up? Or email it tonight and give them the letter tomorrow? Ugh... I hate this part.
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Blackcat31 05:20 PM 03-11-2012
Originally Posted by MamaBear:
Thanks you guys I'm happy about it. Just feel nervous about giving them the letter tomorrow. Should I hand it to them at drop off? Or wait till pick up? Or email it tonight and give them the letter tomorrow? Ugh... I hate this part.
Personally, I would give them a letter tomorrow that is more of a formal notice and I would also verbally tell each family that although it was a tough decision, you need to do what is right for your family.

I would also include in your notice the number to your area CCR&R as well as any providers you might know that you can recommend.

As a parent, I would appreciate the personal notice (verbal) as well as the legal notice (written).
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MizzCheryl 05:22 PM 03-11-2012
Good luck Mama Bear. I know your DCP will miss you but I hope they understand. I am sure it has been a difficult decision.
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momma2girls 05:42 PM 03-11-2012
Good luck to you and your new adventure!! Stop in now and then to say hi to us!!
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saved4always 07:18 PM 03-11-2012
Yes, 4 weeks is plenty. That is just what I gave my families a few weeks ago since I am also no longer providing care in my home after this week.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do next!
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saved4always 07:24 PM 03-11-2012
Originally Posted by MamaBear:
Thanks you guys I'm happy about it. Just feel nervous about giving them the letter tomorrow. Should I hand it to them at drop off? Or wait till pick up? Or email it tonight and give them the letter tomorrow? Ugh... I hate this part.
I gave mine the letter the Monday morning that I was giving notice so that I could also tell them verbally at the same time. I did the morning because I wanted to give it to them when they are more spaced out on arrival than pick up and it is more calm. My dogs tend to be noisy at pick up for some reason so I have a hard time having a decent conversation then. Something I won't miss. I also preferred to deal with the mothers and they all pick up. The dads are very nice, but the moms were the ones who paid me and gave more info about the children throughout our relationship. I was nervous, too, but they all understood and were happy for me. You will be so relieved once you have it over with (so maybe at drop off would be good ).
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Heidi 07:24 PM 03-11-2012
Good luck to you, Mama Bear! Fare-the-well!
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MamaBear 08:46 PM 03-11-2012
Okay ~ So I'm going to hand them the letter & verbally tell them as well at drop off tomorrow morning. The only problem with one of the families is that the mom is already on maternity leave and the dad drops off and picks up. He's super flaky and drops off really fast. So I'm not sure how that would go. I'd be worried he'll lose the letter. I guess if I tell him what it is, then he will for sure read it.

Yeah I will be very relieved after its over. I just hope they don't make me feel sad about it. Hopefully they will be supportive. I'll let you know tomorrow!
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MrsB 06:15 AM 03-12-2012
Originally Posted by MamaBear:
Okay ~ So I'm going to hand them the letter & verbally tell them as well at drop off tomorrow morning. The only problem with one of the families is that the mom is already on maternity leave and the dad drops off and picks up. He's super flaky and drops off really fast. So I'm not sure how that would go. I'd be worried he'll lose the letter. I guess if I tell him what it is, then he will for sure read it.

Yeah I will be very relieved after its over. I just hope they don't make me feel sad about it. Hopefully they will be supportive. I'll let you know tomorrow!
Maybe you could call mom today at lunch and let her know that you are closing at that you will be giving written notice to dad at pick up.

I am almost positive mom will let dad know before pickup.

When dad picks up, you can say that you spoke with his wife earlier and here is the written notice of you closing down daycare. Call if you have any questions.
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CheekyChick 06:57 AM 03-12-2012
I wish you the very, very, very best in the pursuit of your new dreams. It will be GREAT.

God bless!!!

PS: I think 4 week's notice is very generous.
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My3cents 09:57 AM 03-12-2012
You will be missed. I always tune into your post because we both have bears as our avatars and maybe in our daycare name too

Good luck with your new adventure and may it make you happy and be a success!

As Pooh says, Ta ta for now~
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Countrygal 03:23 PM 03-12-2012
Wishing you all the best!
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MamaBear 08:07 PM 03-12-2012
Just wanted to tell you how today went. I handed a letter to each parent this morning. There was only 3 to give them to. They all seemed shocked... 2 out of 3 were very supportive. The one moving off to England of course was supportive and happy for me. The other mom was super sweet and said she was bummed but totally understood & told me if I change my mind, she'd love to come back someday with their new baby due any day. The 3rd mom was quiet at first but when she came to pick up her son, she was a total jerk!
She was the one mom that I thought would be the nicest about it.

At pick up she wasn't even speaking to me! Just "come on - lets go" to her son. I mentioned the closing down and she starting rambling on about how stressed out she is now because she had switched him 3 times to different daycares and now she has to find another. Thats not MY fault that she did that. She took him from his 1st daycare because she said it was too large... the 2nd daycare she pulled him from because it was too small! And I'm the 3rd. Not my problem really!

I just said "well good luck" ~ I'm not letting her guilt trip bother me at all. I think she is mostly bummed because since she is a school teacher, I didn't charge them to pay me during school breaks. There are NO other daycares in my area that offer that. So she knows she had a good thing. She is super cheap so I'm sure that is her main complaint.

Anyway ~ I feel WAY better after getting that done. I do feel a little sad though. I've been doing daycare for so long now that I'm getting out of my comfort zone. I just hope everything falls together like I hope.
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MamaBear 08:10 PM 03-12-2012
Oh and thank you all SO much for your kind words! I really appreciate it

Michael - Thank you for having my daycare ad posted on this website. Wondering if you can remove it whenever you have time ~ if you haven't already. Thank you
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learn-n-grow 07:09 AM 03-20-2012
I just wanted to tell you that I am going through the same thing right now. My youngest is 3 but I will be putting him in preschool in the fall and I will try to get a job. I have a bachelor's but being out of work for so long, I wonder how that's gonna work. I have had the worst luck with this business lately. I think my main problem was doing business with people I know. They did not take my business seriously, never honored policies. I have one full time child left enrolled and his mom is a student. She is done with school at the end of April so I will be closing at that time. Good luck to you because I know this is a hard decision to make.
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MamaBear 09:54 AM 03-20-2012
Thanks Learn-n-grow. I wish you the best too. It was a hard decision to make, but I think we just "know" when its time. I always get so irritated with people I know who complain about their job all the time but never do anything to change it or better themselves. I could see myself turning into that person and it freaked me out. So I knew it was time to call it quits. It was scary giving them notice, but right afterward I was SO relieved and happy. Now I'm just super happy to have this be the last week. One of my daycare boys mom had a baby last night, so he will probably not come back this week at all... another one is having his last day today and my one last dcb will have his last day Thursday. Then I'm going to do the "happy dance" all over my house
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Crazy8 10:57 AM 03-20-2012
enjoy your new found freedom!!!!!

I am hoping to get a few kids by Fall or I may be reluctantly closing down too... can't afford to run a daycare with only 2 kids.
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Tags:closing daycare, notice of closure
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