Managing daycare AND your own children?

I been doing the in-home daycare for 7 months now. I'm finding somethings difficult. #1 my kids are now basically house-bound all the time. We don't have a van and I live in the middle of no where LOL so it's not like we could get out and take a walk to a park or library. My kids were used to getting out to a park and can't now. We are also having trouble sharing toys! I live in a smaller house with no playroom or any separate room that I could call a playroom so I keep some toys and the books in the living room and the rest of the toys are in my kids rooms. My oldest enjoys playing with her daycare kids, but is starting to feel a little privacy invaded and don't enjoy dcb putting her stuff in his mouth and breaking heads and arms off barbie lol dcg I keep is great, both my kids like her, she plays nice and is a mellow child. DCB has a bit more of attitude and I notice as soon as he is dropped of it's like 10mins and there is always conflict. I'm starting to feel like my kids aren't enjoying this anymore and neither am I. I just don't know what to do anymore?? I don't want to feel like a quitter...but I don't feel like this is for me. Anyone else been through this??

For sure! I've been open a little over a year now and while I have great days, there are days that are not so great too:). You are not alone! In a lot of ways, it is not what I imagined at all. One of the major reasons that I did this was to be home with my 3 year old, to mould his education & give him a leg up going into JK. I've accomplished that, but what a ride! He knows the exact buttons to push;). Advice for you? I would start my making your children's rooms off limit to daycare children; that should help a lot. Only you know if the desicion to keep on being a daycare provider this is the right one for you. Good luck:)

It's such a conundrum. We stay home to be with our kids, yet it's our kids that make this job so damn hard most days. From all the providers I"ve spoken to...all their children are having/had a hard time adjusting. These little people come into our home and take time away from "their" mommy. They play with their toys and are in their home. For a little person (even a big person) this can get to be a bit much at times.

My 3 kids often have a difficult time with my daycare. Yes, they enjoy their little friends coming over everyday to play with them, but it causes conflicts. Intrestingly enough, those providers whose children are older and in school seem to have an easier time with daycare. Also easier for the provider who only has dck's to attend to and not their own toddlers/babies to add to the mix.

Good advice by Dreamalittledream. Make your kiddos bedrooms off limits. Invest in a toy chest or two and migrate some toys out of the rooms into the toy chests which are "neutral". Rotate the toys every so often but do not allow dck's to go into the private bedrooms unless invited by your children.

Do you have a backyard, perhaps invest in a sandbox, some ride on toys? Even some balls and bubbles perhaps? This will help break up the feeling of being trapped inside all day.

I'm fortunate in that I have a separate daycare space separate from my home. Sooooo I agree with above poster. Keep your children's special toys in their rooms and off limits. Put a child lock on the door handle so the daycare kids can't get in. I only use my bedrooms for sleeping. All the rest of the toys are "your" toys not your children's. Scour kijiji and find some cheap toys for the daycare ( keep a journal of items and price that you paid cause you can claim this on your income tax) and let your kids know these are not their toys and put they away at the end of the day. Ikea has some nice storage units with bins which you could probably fibd used on kijiji as well to keep toys in so they are contained and have the ability to be put away and out of sight at the end of the day. I too live in the middle of no where and although I do have a van I do not travel any where with my dcks. I have several acres and several play structures and lots of outdoor toys and ride ons and we go outside everyday for 1.5 hours. Between that and lunch story time and naps there's not much time left over. You don't say how old your kids and the dcks are but maybe a craft or play doh at the table .... Strap the kids in booster seats so they are not getting off the chairs. Try some sensory bins at the table also while they are strapped in if they are hopping off the chairs to take something from another child. Try making an obstacle course or a game of follow the leader outside to get them hopping/ jumping/ skipping ect , build big towers with duplo or mega blocks. Something to get them working together on a certain task.
Just a few ideas.

Another provider asked if her 3yr old son could visit my daycare for a couple of hours when I had the space. She paid, he felt special doing an outing without his other dck's in tow and I filled a p/t spot. Win win. My point is could someone take your child that is feeling aggravated on an outing sometimes to make her feel specia from your dck's? Grandma or a visit with a neighbor?

I agree with Crayola. Get those dckids out of YOUR kids bedrooms. Set up all toys in another space that are "sharing toys". No one is allowed in my kids bedrooms except my kids. The dckids sleep in there while they are at school and that is it! You have to find a balance. Your kids need to have a space where they can go to get away from the dckids if they want to so they can have their own space and time in their own home. It's very important when trying to make this work with your kids. Lay down the law and stick to it with ALL rules you want for your daycare.

I am here today. Wondering if I am damaging my kids more than doing any good.

I have all dck that want to do the exact same things as my kids .. example my daughter loves when her baby brother wakes up from a nap. She opens the door, greets him, turns on his lights etc. The other dck are complaining that she does this every day and when do they get to have a turn. Same with space. My daughter sits at the breakfast bar over the table cause she has a hard time with people in her personal space (autism). They all fight every day about taking turns at the breakfast. Becomes a HUGE conflict, no matter how much I explain about personal space and her needs.

Ha ha , you are def not the only provider who is hitting this point! I think ALL providers at one point or another who are attempting to juggle their own children and day care children at the same time hit this point. I too have no separate area for the Day Care away from our families space. Over the years there have been issues just like yours. My kids making comments like "I hate the Day Care, why do they have to be here". :( it's hard to hear your child say this. The one thing I have always done is: (besides nap time) NO ONE but my children can go in their bedrooms, I train the day care to this rule and they follow quite well. Another thing I have always done is: Trained my own children to keep their stuff, theirs. During the weekend and on evenings they are welcome to bring personal things out into the daycare "free space" (aka the living room/dining and kitchen) but during the week days, anything they take out or leave out becomes "free range" for the day care. :) It is a juggle but def can be done. That being said, Day Care is not for everyone, just because you stay home to raise your own kids doesn't mean you will enjoy taking care of others, it's a def balance and sometimes things seem to fall apart.

It's simple. You tell the dck that your children are not at daycare, this is their home so they get to do different things. I have never treated my kids like they were in daycare. They have never HAD to be or play with them if they didn't want to and they never had to stay in the daycare area. If they wanted to go play in their room they could... if they wanted to play in the back yard, they could...if they wanted to just watch a movie and chill out, they could.