I'm back and feeling a little frustrated.

[bright sparks]

I'm home from two weeks vacation in FL. A well deserved break but all the same difficult to come back to work for sure. I am however going to try to be positive and take one day at a time.

That being said a couple of things have come to light recently, and I feel like offloading them prior to the start of my work week will help me to shed my baggage and move forward productively and positively.

Three days before my vacay, the mother of a new starter due to come this Monday called to let me know her son would no longer be attending. She has good cause to, she commutes to downtown TO from Niagara region and being a new job, didn't realize how much of a struggle it would be to get back for pick up on time. She has relocated him to a centre near work for a more flexible pick up time. I'm not upset or angry with her, it makes sense, but I am frustrated with the fact that having two kids leave for school next week and then I am down so much that I will be making substantially less than minimum wage and that's BEFORE any of my expenses.

Within the last 12 months, my area has gone from having 4 providers to at least 12 that I know about. 3 of these are parents who originally enquired with me and couldn't find care so set up themselves. A couple are teachers and ECE's so that sells really well to prospective parents although every single place apart from us long timers, have less than mediocre daycare spaces, I mean daycare out of their living room....which I mean with no disrespect as if that works then fine, but I'm talking about a living room that isn't a dual purpose room but more a living room and a box of toys. Pictures very clearly show tv and sofa and love seat dominating the space, with no stimulating child decor or teaching aids. That might be what a place looks like after hours if it is a dual purpose space, but if thats what they are showing on their daycare advert as their "playroom" then thats how interpret it to be. These places are on average all charging 5-8 dollars less per day too. This isn't a picking at people's set ups as I know they can still provide good care, but I'm not even getting the enquiries anymore even though I have a website for my business, a dedicated space and follow a good daily schedule and program with the children along with offering healthy nutritious abf/organic meal plan along with my years of experience in childcare and nursing. It's as though people see a low price and don't even look any further. My rate is competitive with experienced providers its just the stay at home mums who are doing daycare temporarily until their kids go to school who are just undercutting the rest of us. And I swear, so many people's adverts first liner is "Hi my name is **** and I am a stay at home mum. FRUSTRATING.

When I get enquiries, people love what I offer program wise, my daycare space, and my meals. My rate is never brought up as an issue and if any comment is made it is exactly about the difference between "cheap" care versus quality. Any enquiries I get generally sign up and all works out unless their hours don't work which I am finding to occur more often that not as flexi care for shift workers seems to be in high demand recently. I have considered going back into the workplace but do not want to go back to working weekends and evenings, especially as I am doing self study courses to get in a position to go to UNI. I need that time to study.

I have a new daycare space being completed by the end of October and plan on revamping my website in the hopes of attracting more people. Not sure what else I can do other than stick with it. In the 7 years I have been operating this is the longest dry spell ever. I am making less than half my potential income right now and have been doing so since December and in a week it will drop again because of my school starters.

[playfelt]

There has definitely been a shift in ideals. I notice many providers setting up using livingroom/diningroom complete with regular furniture and as you say just enough toys to give the kids something to do. But they draw people in with the "natural light" instead of kids being stuck in a "dark, cold, damp" basement all day. My basement is not dark, or damp and we play there but sleep, eat. arrive/depart on main level and have the whole diningroom as an upstairs playroom for those times but still that is not enough for some that I have interviewed.

I think too I interview for infants and they realize they will only be with me for a year or so before they go on another mat leave and so the actual teaching that will need to take place is minimal as compared to the days of kids in care at least half a day till they were 6.

I still hold onto the teaching as much as I can but know that it does not require any special training to do the age level of care I provide. As a result I keep my rates in the mid range even with my training.

[mimi]

Brightsparks, I completely understand your frustration. We do not have a guaranteed income - ever and that is a huge stressor in this job. I also do virtual tours of other peoples daycares in my area and am sometimes very impressed and an equal amount of times wondering what the heck they are thinking calling their living room with a toy box a daycare playroom.
I have my playroom and nap room in the basement and have made every effort to make it "light looking" by installing light ceramic flooring, light coloured walls and installing extra pot lights with natural light simulating bulbs. My clients also know we are outside a lot and eat and wait for pick up upstairs.
I think the revamping you suggest is excellent. In interviews up play all the special features of your daycare proudly and do not mention the daycares that you know of who provide much less. You want intelligent clients and they will be the ones who will see the superiority of your daycare over the others.
Chin up, it is already hard to come back to work after a great vacation and then find out you are losing a client so now get your confidence back, stand up straight, put a smile on your face and advertise like heck. You can do this.........you know you can:thumbsup:

[treeholm]

People look for different things. I advertise as being a home, not a daycare centre. It is like going to Grandma's. Each child has his or her own room to sleep in, we eat in my eating area, and play in my living room. I attract clients who want their child in a home -like setting. I am certain,y not criticizing those of you who have more of a daycare centre. I just think that each of us appeal to a different market.

[mimi]

I agree treeholm, I think the "home like" setting is very important and that is what I have also. The kids love when my hubby comes home from work early afternoons and my daughter from school as the kids will rush to the door to greet them. What really irks me is how some people will put out a few toys and buy a highchair and then think they are "equal" to other providers whom have reconstructed basements or rooms and have invested a lot of sweat and financial equity to their daycare as well as professional development and then call themselves a daycare and expect to charge the same rate.

[Daisy123]

I have a bit of both... a play setting in my living room and a renovated space in my basement for my "classroom". Bright Sparks I hear you though about the frustration of needing to fill spaces. It seems that tons of new daycares have sprung up here as well (including a large licensed one down the road). I had my spaces filled at this time last year and I too seem to have a lack of people making inquiries ( and I just set up a website ). I think that maybe it's the general chill towards home daycares in Ontario right now. Too many bad providers and unfortunate incidents have made it harder for the rest of us. I scan kijiji everyday and potential clients are all advertising for care in their own homes.

[Momof4]

:wave: Hi, Grandma Here! Also, my living room is my toyroom/naproom. No, I don't have anything posted on the walls except for my lovely artwork and pictures of my own family in here. I have a huge cupboard full of toys with doors that close and a closet full of playpens and toys and drawers full of craft supplies in my dining room where the booster chairs are connected all week, but stored away on the weekend. Right now, there are no daycare items in my line of sight unless I look into the corner where I have the toddler bed stored with toys/blankets/etc. for the weekend. Since I share my home with the daycare I want my home back on weekends and in the evening as much as possible and I deserve that.

BUT! My front entrance hallway is where the parents drop off and pick up their children, so the part of my home that they see most often. It's my hall of fame and I point that out when anyone comes in for an interivew. I have a bulletin board with pictures and my newsletter posted all year round, the children's pegs for their outdoor supplies, and I've rigged up clotheslines with clothes pegs to post their artwork. The children's artwork is important to me, I display it to show them that I'm proud of them and they should be proud of themselves. I'm an awesome teacher inside and outside, that's important.

I advertise my daycare as partially organic because if we want a treat day, we're going to have a treat day! Otherwise, I serve home made, nutritious, organically grown food.

I want you to know you're not putting me down and I don't take what you said personally at all Brightsparks. Luv ya! But I have a friend who is always telling me to raise my rates and to be proud of my daycare, my abilities and to realize that I provide a lot more to my dckids than a lot of people who charge a whole lot more than I charge.

But I'm in an apartment, without a nice backyard, which is why travelling is an important part of my daycare. And I don't have a beautiful dedicated daycare room, so I make that clear in my preliminary emails when parents contact me from my website. I ask them to go back to look at the pictures on my website. I ask them to see that we have lots of room, lots of fun, crafting and meals are both done in the booster chairs at the dining room table.

Soooooo, I could go on and on because my daycare is a busy place and part of the morning outings include the exercise of walking or busing to our desitination and back home. A picnic lunch out works very well and coming home to potty/diaper changes and straight to bed for a nice longnaptime is wonderful. I'm really proud of my program, my teaching, our field trips to the library, variety of about 5 different parks, Childreach and a public school with a playgroup. Parents who choose me are impressed with the variety I provide to the children along with the fun and teaching as we travel.

Every daycare is different. Each set of parents has a different vision for their child. Advertise your strengths, that's what I do. Hope that helps.

[momofnerds]

I went thru a year dry spell and just the last couple months have been getting so many calls its crazy. But I do hear you about the ads people are posting. But like dh says you get what you pay for and most providers close shop when they realize its not all hunky dory.

I don't ever advertise online, ever. And I live in a small comunity. I have a sign on my front lawn and its the best advertising ever. I have so many people tell me how they drive by and see me with the kids. Or many tell me that they like that I've been here forever. It makes a huge difference. I know people don't like to advertise on their yard, but if they don't know about me then how would they ever call me. I even have people stop by (that was last week, but it was school agers and I don't watch school agers) and because everyone knows about me, they have friends who need care. Try this route, at first people where like "I didn't know there was a daycare" to now "wow you've been here a long time"

[bright sparks]

It's not like I am having an abundance of enquiries or interviews and then people decide to go with someone else, it's that there all of a sudden seems to either be to many providers in my town now, which I find hard to believe, or simply to many parents who shop for daycare based on daily rate primarily, cutting their list of potentials down even before meeting them.

I run a home daycare, not a centre so my daycare has a home feel to it for sure, but my daycare has a dedicated playroom. Yes, the children spend time in other areas such as my living space and eating area for crafts, meals and snacks, sleeping in family bedrooms, but their main play space is solely for them and is geared totally toward safe play and education. I have always had great comments and feedback regarding my website, which honestly has always surprised me as it is very basic and not glamorous at all. I think it's probably my tone in which I write that makes people feel comfortable. Once my revamp has finished, then I plan to refresh and update my website to include pictures of my space and have even considered including a weekly blog on the site, seeing as I am on here enough as it is lol, and maybe just showcasing a couple of pictures of activities, crafts, and meals along with a blurb. Just so when parents are looking through my website they get a little bit of a deeper look into the day to day of my daycare. Maybe that will give me an edge and draw more people in. Kind of like some of you have said about highlighting my strengths. Some people won't care for it, but I think overall it will be a refreshing change from only talking business to showing what my daycare is actually all about....the children.

[Momof4]

Brightsparks, all the pics on my website are Action Shots, hehe. I see so many websites with pics of empty rooms but I don't do that because it would be a picture of my living room. With the children playing, dancing, crafting the fun and creativity of our day to day is stressed and the parents are pre-sold before they come for the interview half the time. But I have a LOT of pictures on my website.