Rough Day

I signed out because I'm going to put some embarrassing financial details on this post as I vent and try to keep my poo together.

Today the food program director informed me that my income doesn't qualify for tier 1. I can't believe it considering my own child is signed up for free and reduced at school and we are on wic because obviously we are eligible based off of 2018 taxes. Which is also the year the food program is basing our income eligibility. I cried when I got the news. That is around a $500 per month paycut for my family. We made $6000 less overall in the 2018 year than in the qualifying 2017 year. I'm fighting it and waiting to hear back.

So this just has me down in the blues because I am expecting a baby in a couple of months and had it all planned out to start a daycare kid in time to put that check into savings for a 4-6 week recovery leave. Well... One of the other parents bailed on me and took their kid to a notoriously not good provider. That's beside the point I guess but that took my entire savings plan away and lost me over $2k. I've NEVER had difficulty filling positions but I am now. Probably because of my known need for leave in the near future. Pretty much all of the contact I've been getting is for infants in Aug/Sept and I don't want to commit to any of those because I really need to fill before then. What do you do in that situation? Do you commit and back out if something comes earlier? Do you just not commit and let them have it if it's still open later?

Seriously after expenses in the 2018 year I made just over 17,000. I watch 7 kids total, 2 being my own usually 8 kids but I'm down one. I watch these kids for over 9hrs per day plus I put in hours on weekends and evenings doing prep/paperwork/etc. And we all know the stuff we put up with from parents to behavior issues etc making this job the most underpaid, stressful, overworked job I've ever had. I still love it and it has it's own priceless values (being home for my own kids being the best part) but I feel so defeated. If I lose the food program. It'll be like working 60+ hour weeks with very few benefits (I don't even make enough to squirrel away a retirement) in a very tough job for only around $12,000 a year.

One of my 2 year olds is going through a phase too so I'm constantly putting him in timeout lately. Apparently he's on sleep strike and is feeling really rebellious. Boom. He's like the cherry on a crap day today.

[boy_mom]

No real advice, just

[Ariana]

That is crazy that you made so little last year! Can you increase your prices? I don’t know how the food program works so no help there.

I am so sorry this is happening

[Josiegirl]

Wow, that sounds ridiculous about the food program and hope you can get that worked out to your benefit!! But if you only qualify for tier 1, don't you get to write off more when it comes tax time? Another thought is, if you quit the program altogether, you could write it all off?
I would imagine it might be tougher to enroll new dcfs right now for the very reason that you'll be taking time off. Maybe what you could focus on, is getting through this temporary setback by cutting down expenses to bare minimum, and figure out how to bring your dc back, bigger and better, after your new little one arrives. And who knows, when your departing dcf spends some time at their new not-so-good dc, they might very well be back, realizing how good they had it with you.
Be proactive about new advertising, maybe creating a niche for your dc, when you reopen, tweak your contract/policies, etc., so you're not feeling quite so powerless and out of control.
And above all, GOOD LUCK during a time when you should be planning the arrival of life's most precious gifts!! (Try not to stress, take a deep breath, and, while I'm not very religious, I do find the 'let go and let God' sometimes helps me a bit)

[Gemma]

Things may be different in your area cause my personal income has no bearings in whether or not I qualify for tier 1, or 2, it has to do with the school district

Sorry you are going through this, hope things get better for you

[LittleExplorers]

If your daycare families are low income, can you qualify them? That's how it works here, though I have never done it.

Can you look at lowering what you put into the daycare in extras? It seems like a small income for that many kids.

I am also on low tier. I cook from scratch and come out ahead. Budgetbytes.com is a great resource for inexpensive meals. Meatless meals are less expensive too.

Sorry you are stressed.

[284878]

Your story sounds like mine. So here goes. I have been on WIC and lost my tier one for my kids too. I argued it with the FP rep because the income requirements for both are the same but unfortunately fp won't count your baby until you give birth (or at least mine won't) You can reapply at any time for tier one. I would recommend you reapply today but use your current income.

I had a good crew of kids, when I announce that I was expecting, I lost them, one by one. I replaced with two infants and a sa. I was up front with them that I was expecting and the still signed up. After maternity leave, I could only take one infant back, so I did struggle a bit filling my other spots but once I hit a high call volume season I filled right up. In the meantime I enjoyed bonding with my baby. Because even though my income was not where I wanted it to be, I knew that it was more important to me to be with my son and enjoy every minute of the day with him.

You can advertise for short term or drop in care. During my low enrollment, I got a few of these, one was a sahm that needed care for her lo while she went on a school events with the older child. Another sahm needed care for a week. A new mom that went back too work to quit, they stayed a few months. But came to me because I advertise short term. I know it was not much but it helped.