How do you maintain a balance between home/daycare?

[Starshine]

I guess this question would apply particularly to those who do not have a separate daycare space, ie. basement.

I am wondering how you strike a balance between having an inviting daycare vibe to your home, and not feeling like you're living in a daycare centre in the evenings/weekends when the kids are gone.

Suggestions?

[crafty]

My daycare is right in my kitchen. I know it's sounds weird but my kitchen is super spacious and I have this area at the end of the Kitchen that we use to use as a reading place. That is now the toy room. Then right out of my kitchen it leads to another room that I know use as a craft/quiete time room. I know what you mean!! But so far I think it's been pretty manageable. I make sure that these are the ONLY area in my house that we use during daycare and make sure toys and crafts stays within those limits too.I try not to take out to many toys at the same time so it's not too messy. What I would love to do once I have more income is have nice curtains so that when I entertain, I can close off the actual toyroom and I could also have plays and shows with the kids. It would feel just like a real stage :) But for now, I clean and pick up as we change from different acitivites and I kinda like looking at all the colors from the toys :p

[apples and bananas]

That's a hard one. I have a fairly open concept main floor. There is a room right off of my main room that would have no other use for me if I didn't have a daycare, except maybe a workout room. So, that's the daycare room. Because I'm so open concept the toys spread to the tv room all the time. I find it better though, it's a bigger space.

My home is my business, and that's the choice I made. I'm lucky that I have such a supportive spouse.

The way I find balance is making sure it's cleaned up at the end of the day. And on Friday's I do nothing. Once I'm closed I get dressed and I go out, I don't touch a dish or a toy again until Saturday at noon. That's my time off and I love it!

[Dreamalittledream]

Ha ha...my immediate association with this tag line was "How do you maintain a balance..." in your bank account. Ahhh the life of a daycare provider/mom/house accountant & budget master. We sure aren't rich but the kids are smiling:)

[playfelt]

I think a lot has to do with how old our own kids are. When my kids were little their house was for them and I didn't care what adults that came over thought. We decorated "the house" inside mostly for the seasons and special days. In other words we put up seasonal stuff rather than more daycarish stuff if that makes sense. That doesn't mean we didn't have the alphabet or shape or farm displays available but they were in the basement playroom. The kitchen had food displays.

We never used the diningroom so that is our upstairs playroom. Our dining table is at the one end of the family room which works well since we can sit there and watch the evening news while we eat supper.

Once my own kids were out of the house I have gradually been able to cut back on the toys and things I do have based on the ages I now take into care so that has limited what needs to be stored - and I have my own kids rooms to put a few boxes of trade out stuff in.

Suggestions I have seen over the years are the fold open shelves. Take any two low shelves and hinge them on one side and put castors on the bottom. Then in the morning you open the shelves and the toys are inside and the nice thing is that that "L" shape makes a natural play centre. At the end of the day, close the shelf up with all the toys inside and place a nice doily or cloth on the top and that vase of flowers you put up out of reach during the day and it looks like a credenza for evenings and weekends. People could come over and never know what is inside.

If you use your livingroom for a playroom consider taking out the coffee table during the day and putting down an area rug for to make a large play, circletime area. At the end of the day roll up the rug and put behind the couch and move the table back.

Playpens for naps can be taken down and store in very little space. What I have found over the time though is that I know I am a daycare provider and so does my family. Having a playpen up in my bedroom doesn't detract from anything else I need to do in my room so the hassles of taking it up and down is just a time waster. Once nap is done for the day I don't have to worry about that playpen again it just sits there. Don't make extra work for yourself if you don't need to.

While you won't be able to eliminate all of the toys you can stack a rubbermaid bin in the corner of the room to pull out during the week but at least evenings and weekends you are not staring at the toys even though they are there in bins. As long as you don't have a totally separate playroom with it's own bathroom and kitchen and entrance you will just have to face the reality that your house is your place of employment and that you do in fact live in a daycare centre,lol. But the good news is all your friends already know that too and they still like you so don't fret the extra decor.

[Inspired by Reggio]

I have a playroom in the basement - but I also use my whole house because well I do not like being downstairs during arrival and departure and quiet time I do not like two floors between me and those sleeping upstairs...so the daycare does expand into our shared personal space!

So for the main floor I invested in attractive 'baskets with lids' that can tuck under my livingroom table and they hold the toys and materials we use during times on this floor.

I invested in a nice 'pantry' for in the diningroom that holds craft materials and other quiet time toys and invitations I put out for the kids and than put away.

I had my husband build cubbies that blend into our decor in the foyer to store the children's things and so forth.

Plus I remember that this is my HOME and do not feel obligated to decorate it like a SCHOOL ... I no longer put up those bulletin board like theme related things - I have one bulletin board for 'art' that is hung on a nail in the foyer for parents to 'see' and during the business hours it hangs there and other times it is hiding behind our couch and a piece of ART is in that space ;)

[Momof4]

I live in a spacious apartment that is 2 stories but the living room is also the playroom/sleeproom during the day. I have the furniture arranged so that at night and on the weekend I have all of the daycare things in cupboards and in one corner which is behind my comfy lounge chair that I sit in if I'm watching tv and it's out of my sight. During the day the toys are everywhere of course, then I have to put up playpens and take them back down at naptime. So we have cleanup of toys twice a day, before naptime and before the children leave.

My dining room is of course filled with booster seats all week, then they are taken down after snacktime on Friday so I can get that room back for the weekend too. My half bathroom is also on the main floor and the little potty when it's being used for a potty training child and our little stool is tucked away for the weekend too.

I used to have things everywhere all around my living room but the best thing I ever did was to rearrange my furniture so that daycare toys are out of my sight and off my mind for the evenings and weekends.

[Toregone]

I have a 5 level split and only use 2 floors for the kiddos. My 2nd floor has a living room and an office which I converted into a play room. During the day children are welcome to go anywhere on either of the 2 floors but before everyone leaves for the day we play the clean up game and everything gets brought back to the play room. The nap mats are kept in the closet in there and my coffee table in the living room is actually a storage bin so I get all the blankies etc in there. On my off house there is nothing around to suggest I run a business from my home, everything is stored in the playroom. The only thing is in my sons room I have 2 play pens for my younger children and I do not collapse them, I just rearranged the room to accomodate them.

I like my home to look like my home when I`m not working. It helps me seperate the 2 aspects of my life.