Providers with older (school aged+) kids

To those of you who have older children: do you find it easier or more difficult now that your children are not the same age as the daycare children?

I am curious. I have older children, but I also have a 2 yr old still. I find myself VERY frustrated with her sometimes. Both during the daycare day, and in the evening. Part of me wonders if I am giving too much of myself to the other toddlers, and there is none left for her. That might not even make sense, sorry.

*sigh* I am hoping that this gets easier as she gets older. When I started daycare, her older sister was 3. My littlest was born into the daycare. I don't remember feeling this edgy with a preschooler and daycare kids.

:(

My youngest just went off to full jk in sept and I was never so relieved .... He's very bright and I think he was bored and needed more mental stimulation and so when he was still here all day he would get into a lot of trouble .... He hit, pushed, took toys, threw toys, refused to clean up, had temper tantrums, disrupted lunch time with inappropriate behaviour. Just to name a few ....... Now at school my days are stress free and he is the teachers dream student .... My daycare is separate (basement) so I allowed him to be upstairs playing in his room if he wanted .... But he was 3 and I could trust him and if he was good I allowed him to watch one tv show before nap.

I did daycare when my oldest was young and he was part of the daycare. I stopped after a few years when he started school.

Now I am doing daycare again and all of my kids are in school. I find it so much easier. For the most part, they enjoy the kids, will come down to say hi, hang out and see what is going on, then will either go out to play with their friends or hang out in their rooms. They have their moments, of course, but I generally enjoy myself more now.

it does get easier somewhat. I do find that the older they get the more stuff they get involved in. So sometimes I have to tell them no because I can't drive or pick up. But they do help alot too and love to entertain the little kids. My kids were kinda born into daycare (oh, I have 4 kids) so they are so use to always having kids around.

My 5 yr old is abit high maintenance !! She loves the daycare kids but gets annoyed when things don't go how she thinks it should . I seem to be balancing my dck and my own dd !!' My husband works nights so he is able to take her outside to play or upstairs to her playroom !!

Thanks all. I am hoping that as she gets a little older, the jealousy (I have to think that is what it is) will fade. She is a different little girl on weekends.
I also have a separate space, and as she gets old enough, I hope to be able to let her have some down/away time upstairs. She is just too little for that now, unfortunately.

Her problem is more likely to be boredom than anything else. Be very careful that you aren't giving too much of yourself during the week. If you are always available to play with her, make a puzzle, play a game, sing a song, give a hug, etc. she won't understand why you have to dust and scrub and do laundry on the weekend instead of entertaining her. I had that complaint in my first years as a provider from a single parent. It was after that that I instituted the free play is just that meaning I am free to do what I want (need to do) and not there to cater to their every whim. They play with what is available that day and come to me for help only after they have tried.

If you have a separate space it also means everything that is familiar to her is off limits so to speak - she can't be down in the basement alone while you are upstairs dusting bedrooms or whatever. Evenings aren't an issue because there is so little time once kids go home, supper, then bed with only minimal playtime.

What about taking her down on Fridays after daycare and helping her pack up a laundry basket of things toys to bring upstairs for the weekend and then on Sunday take them back down. That way at least she has something familiar to play with. Kids get attached to particular dolls, blankets, balls, etc. For all intents and purposes it is like she is a guest in someone else's house. Gotta look at it from her perspective.

While my special needs child doesn't really play with the daycare kids they entertain her just from being there and doing stuff for her to watch. On weekends she wanders around and of course she finds things to do like open a drawer, or take all the magazines off a shelf, or toss all the nap blankets on the floor.