WAHM Forums

I am sooo on the fence right now. Financially, we are in trouble. I thought if I could stick it out for a few months, we'd be ok, but I just got some completely unexpected news a couple days ago.

I'm keeping two little girls from two different families right now. I had a little boy too, but he moved and after about 2 months of no responses to my ads, I found out that one of my families is expecting in the spring. I already knew the other family is expecting in Oct., so I decided to pick up a part-time weekend job to bring in a little extra cash until next spring when I would have all 4 kids. Then, we would be ok, financially.

But, the news I got is this; The family who's expecting in Oct., gave me their 2 week notice.http://www.wahm.com/forum/smileys/smiley19.gif I've had their little girl for 4 years! I am so upset about this. And, they're my neighbors! Grandma has decided that she does't want to work anymore and will be keeping the kids.

So, that leaves me down to ONE child, and this family is expecting in the spring, meaning a maternity leave before I'd get the baby. In the meantime, I could lose my house!!! http://www.wahm.com/forum/smileys/smiley19.gifhttp://www.wahm.com/forum/smileys/smiley19.gifhttp://www.wahm.com/forum/smileys/smiley19.gif

I have ads out, but so far no responses. There is just sooo much competition right now. I thought once the kids went back to school it would be better, but there are still floods of ads offering daycare.

So, I have applications out, and we'll see which comes through first, more kids or a new job. I am ready for a change, but I'm scared, too. What will I do with my kids on teacher work days and holidays??? I doubt the job I get will pay enough to cover childcare. My 6th grader is ok alone for awhile, but I don't know about all day.http://www.wahm.com/forum/smileys/smiley5.gif And, I definitely cannot leave them alone together because they fight soooooo much. My neighbor is a STAHM, but she's wanting to go back to work. She would help if she's home, but I don't know how to deal with this if she goes back to work.

But, I guess I'll have to cross that bridge when I come to it. And, over the summer months, I'll be paying $200-$400 a week for childcare!!! YIKES!http://www.wahm.com/forum/smileys/smiley5.gif

If my neighbor stays home, I could pay her a lot less. My younger son and hers play together very well.

I am just praying that something gives...SOON.

I'm in the same boat as far as competition - we live in a small town and all the jobs are so far away - therefore many moms do daycare instead of commuting. I just started out, but, I am aiming to make my daycare unique and better than theirs and hopefully draw the parents attention my way. My neighbor does daycare as well and does not have one toy in her yard nor do I ever see any kids outside when I have mine out (2-3 hours a day) My house is loaded with outside toys! If I were a parent looking for care, I would definately choose the place that adequate things for the children to do outside. I also have one room dedicated to the daycare and it's decked out in all kinds of preschool/educational type things for the kids. Once again, if I were looking - this is something that would catch my eye. I even do something small that not all providers think of and that is that we brush teeth after breakfast and lunch. When creating my schedule for the day I took into consideration the things I did for my own children that other parents would probably appreciate. Make yourself stand out there - sometimes it only takes one persons word of mouth. One other thing I'm going to do is get a lawn sign made for my front yard - that way when I'm down in numbers I can pop that up. Good luck!

Ok, I responded to a post someone made looking for childcare. She met with me and called me yesterday saying she'd like to start Monday. Shew!!! What a relief! Kayli's last day was yesterdayhttp://www.wahm.com/forum/smileys/smiley19.gif, so at least I have the new boy starting immediately after. I've gotten so spoiled with my two little girls. They are a BREEZE to keep. I'm sure this new little guy will give me a run for my money...lol. He's a VERY ACTIVE and into EVERYTHING little boy. He'll be 2 next month. I have a feeling we'll be spending a LOT of time outside burning off energy...lol. His schedule will fluctuate but mom needs childcare available M-F. 7am - 6pm so I'm charging my full time rate regardless of hours used & she's ok with that. That will help because it works out to be about $50 a week more than I was charging for Kayli.

So, I will still keep the cleaning job for awhile (ugh) because I have to be prepared for the maternity leave in the spring that will leave me with just the boy (as long as nothing happens with him in the meantime).

And, I'm thinking I need to go ahead and get my license while I only have the two, since I will have 3 in the spring.

And..... when Grandma came to pick up Kayli yesterday, she didn't even sound so sure of whether or not she actually wants to stay home with her grandkids or go back to work.http://www.wahm.com/forum/smileys/smiley5.gif She told me not to be surprised if she calls me up asking to take the girls back. I didn't tell her no, just because in this biz, you never know when kids will gome and go, but this little boy and then taking them back would be too much for my little house. But....I will cross the bridge if I come to it. And, maybe by that time I'll have my daycare license, so I will legally be able to keep 5, anyway.

In the meantime, my current family may still decide not to go back to work after the new baby is born this spring. I need to be prepared for anything.

Man, this biz was soooo much easier in Indiana when I had a much bigger house and the laws allowed me to keep a larger group. Then, I always had one or two more kids than I financially needed, so if something happened with a family, it wasn't a financial stress. And, I had the space to accomodate them all very easily. Not to mention, that since everyone there worked in manufacturing, my day was over by 4:00pm or even earlier, compared to 6:15pm here.

I guess I will stick out the daycare biz for awhile longer since I didn't get any job calls. I really think that when I'm comfortable leaving my kids unattended though, I will pursue a grooming career. At least, that's the plan for now.http://www.wahm.com/forum/smileys/smiley36.gif

Congrats on the new kid and good luck!

Thanks! I had 3 days with him now, and so far so good. He's been easier than I expected. He is very energetic, but he listens to me. I have to remind of over and over that he cannot do certain things, but that's typical for a 2 yr old. lol He is sweet and mostly happy. His parents seem to be good people, so I think this is a good situation. He and the little girl I keep are only a few months apart in age, he'll be 2 next month and she'll be 2 in December. Neither of them are very vocal yet.

If you are thinking of a way to differentiate yourself from the other daycare operators around your neighborhood, you may want to try providing an Online Portfolio to your parents. It's a free service provided by Parent Relief to childcare providers. An online portfolio consists of the child's pictures, lesson plans, artwork and etc... Parents can then log in securely toParent Relief and view and sharetheir child's early years to family and friends. Aside from that, you may find many more useful features that you can use in Parent Relief that will make your service differentiated. http://www.parentrelief.com/providers

Best of all, they give all of that forfree so it won't hurt to try. :)Hope that helps.

Cheers!

I'll look into it. Thanks!

Another thing that you might want to consider. Businesses and companies in your area.

Let them know you have space available. This way they can let their staff know that if they need an emergency childcare day because their's lets them down, they can call you rather than have to take the day off work just because their other daycare provider has let them down.

This is especially good for businesses within a ten minute drive. You could leave the business/company with a pack detailing some references etc.