The Reputation of a Home Daycare Provider

I quit my professional business job to stay home when my son was a baby, and I am now pregnant again, and will hope to have more kids in the future. I have always wanted to stay home with my kids and take in more kids to supplement my income.
What irks me is the comments and questions from former co-workers, and people in general. I went to my old workplace today to be given sympathetic faces asking "You must be going crazy!!" and "So, are you ready to come back yet??"
Why oh WHY do people this this job is a hellilsh nightmare that NOBODY would want to do?! OH my GOD, I would much rather stay home than send MY child away, only to see him 2 and a half hours per weekday!!
Not like this job is livin the dream, but, really, is any job?? A job is a job. Arguing with 3 year olds about cheerios or fruitloops, or cleaning up a 12 month old from poop that reaches her neck. How is this any more annoying than putting up with that pesty, STUPID co-worker and stories of their jail-bound teenage son, or having to sit through conference calls with the politics of any company, or worse- RETAIL!!

I tell them like I always do: I am LOVING IT!! and then I proceed to ask them about life at the old office, and watch as their eyes roll and then I know I am still in the best job!

Oh god I wish I could thank you at least twice for this one!

Sarah

I hear ya.
I always get the following from my family and friends and in-laws
"So how much longer do you think you NEED to do this for?" or "When do you think you will do something else again?"

I have only been in it for a year and the way they make it sound is like I am doing something totally unrespectful that they can't even fathom or give credit to. The way the people ask me makes me feel like I am really slumming it now and not considered to have a real respectable job.

I may not love what I am doing wholeheartedly and there are days where I want to cry or quit or wonder what the heck I was thinking and I feel bad to see my house and sanity damaged but I am here for my kids everyday to put them to and from school, hear about their day when they come off the bus and the daycare kids always seem happy to come here so it seems worth it.

It is a hard job...sometimes boring and yet a lot of pre-work and after-work for every day but someone has to raise these kids and I think I am a pretty darn good daycare. I am proud of the work I do most days and I never would have thought that it was scraping the bottom of the career barrel (even when I used to work outside and used home daycare). I actually was in awe of my provider and how she could do it.

Thank you!!! I started 5 months ago and I get the same comments all the time! "So how long do you think you'll do this for?" and it drives me nuts! Or you get that look as if "oh, poor thing couldn't get a real job, so she had to resort to this". I gave up my "real job" to do this and I have never been happier! It is a hard job and there are days when I feel I need a break, but most days, I wake up happy to go to work...in my own home! I LOVE being my own boss and I love even more being with my own kids every day and not having to send my babies to be with strangers every day. I also enjoy the challenge of providing a home away from home for the daycare kids who are not as lucky as mine to be able to stay with their parents. I think this is one of the most important jobs anyone could do...we are taking care of these kids during their formative years and helping to make them who they will be one day...and not just anyone can do this job...it takes a special kind of person to do it and do it well. I think we should all hold our heads up high and know that we are making a huge contribution to our own families and to our society and those who look down upon us are simply ignorant;)

Thanks! As I hear it all too! I have been doing this for 9 months. I worked my dream job as a Flight Attendat/ Pursor for 10 years and miss it like crazy. But when my Airline whent bankrupt I worked for a Hotel for like a year and a half waking at 4:30am and getting home at 5:30 pm. I reached burn out bad so bad that I had to sleep in my car on the 1/2 way home mark just not to be falingl asleep at the wheel. I was a walking zombie finally I walked in one day and said enough!

The perks of this job are we are own bosses we get to be at home with our kids, yes we sometimes have bad days and kids can be cranky but there is no office politics and we decide how the day will run! I love my kids and I am sooo grateful for having the pleasure of touching there lives!

See, I get the opposite side of things!!!!

My family and friends have been saying, 'finally!'; 'You opened your own home daycare!'; 'When can I start sending my kids?'; 'I thought you were going to wait to have your own kids before opening up'; 'I always knew you'd be great doing this field'...and so on.

I've always loved kids, and this way, I love what I'm doing. I just wish I had stayed being a nanny for a little longer - make a little bit more money.

As my DH states, "As long as you're happy, I'm happy".

Hear, hear sistas!! :)
I have received both reactions. Some people do the head-cocked-to-the-side and you can tell they are thinking "Awww. She couldn't afford to work, and she couldn't afford not to work, poor thing. Now look what she HAS to do." Because of that kind of attitude, those parents are not clients, lol!! I actually like to spend time around childen, both my own and other peoples. And it's important to me that parents value that time, too.
But I have also had friends and family telling me to do this for years, so those folks say "Oh, thank goodness! It is totally what you should be doing!!" I also like when I am out and about with x-number of children in tow and get "Are they ALL yours?? Oh, you are amazing, I know I couldn't do it!!" Kind of a pat on the back, you know? At least, that's how I like to look at it.
Cheers to home daycare providers!!!

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Originally Posted by KingstonMom

I went to my old workplace today to be given sympathetic faces asking "You must be going crazy!!" and "So, are you ready to come back yet??"
Why oh WHY do people this this job is a hellilsh nightmare that NOBODY would want to do?!

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The short answer is because these people spend no time with their own kids. So, when they DO spend time with them they do whatever it takes to get a "Yes" from their child so they can just get through the day/night nicely. And of course, giving a continual "Yes" to ANY kid will lead to that kid being a complete and utter nightmare to spend time with.

So, they perceive spending ALL day with five (or more) kids a living HELL because THEIR experience tells them that kids ARE a living hell. Make sense??

What they don't know is that in most daycare situations there is no "Yes" philosophy. Instead we give the kids what they NEED rather than what they WANT out of love and respect and necessity - such is the reality of group care.

They ask you these things because they don't understand what it can be like to spend ALL day with delightful, well-behaved and kind kids.;)

They don't have the slightest concept of your reality.

BTW.....I have been providing daycare for 8 years and my MIL STILL freaking says, "Are you still babysitting"?:cursing:

Get used to it. The comments are not likey to end any time soon!:p EVERY time I hear one of them say this I just think in my head that MY days are SOOOOOO much better than their days.

This morning I sat outside in the shade with the breeze blowing on me reading a book while the kids happily played with the hose and the water cans thoroughly having a GREAT time with NO interference needed on my part. Yes, my job is HARD!:rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by Judy Trickett

This morning I sat outside in the shade with the breeze blowing on me reading a book while the kids happily played with the hose and the water cans thoroughly having a GREAT time with NO interference needed on my part. Yes, my job is HARD!:rolleyes:

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This was my morning as well! It was great!
I agree that our days are sooo much better than theirs!! And its true, I run a strict house here, and I do not give into the whiney ones who cry over tripping on their own feet on the floor, or the ones that ask for a cookie after not eating what was served for lunch. OMG parents really baby their kids when they only have the one at home!!
These kids all listen to me and it is clear at nap time when the ones who "dont nap at home" ask to go to sleep now and 1 minute after everyone being laid down, this house is QUIET!! For a whole 2 and a half hour (or more some days). That is wayy longer than any lunch hour I had at work!
Maybe one day, these people (MILs included) will pay some respect to private, in-home daycare providers and we will be seen other than "babysitters".
In the mean time, I know we are the ones who are laughing! Most days anyways :)

Yup, as much as sometimes I think we providers use this forum to discuss the negative aspects of our CAREER, I still feel the positives far outweigh the negatives.
Right now I am hanging out on the computer, listening to the older kids play while the smallest one has a quick nap. I could (and probably should) be cleaning my kitchen, but I don't want to so I am not! LOL. No boss, no worries....This afternoon we are playing outside and having ice cream on the deck. I know for sure that none of my old jobs included having a treat and working on my tan.
And it totally cracks me up when kids who "don't" do certain things at home, learn real quick that it ain't gonna fly at Miss.L's house!! Feel free to lay on the floor and cry; we will be over here having fun when you are all done. I am interested to see how being a daycare provider will change my parenting skills for this next baby that we are expecting. It's already changed how I parent my older kids.

Nice one, mom-in-alberta! Ice cream on the deck sounds divine. Perhaps we'll do the same, right after I play Xbox with my son, watch my daughters perform a play for me, and after I sit on my bum at my computer desk for a few hours while the babies are napping! WOOHOO!

People can scoff all they want. :laugh:! I love my job. Besides, when most of them find out how much I make, they are jealous.

I actually get the opposite comments as well. Maybe because I prepared for 3 years to open my licensed dayhome. I was in management in the business world, had my planned pregnancy and began building my business during mat leave. My friends and family seen me go through schooling, build my centre etc etc so I'm very supported. My old coworkers just envy my position. I think it's all about how you carry yourself, feel pride about what you do, let parents know your choose this life...you dont have to be part of it. I have a blurb in my contract about not being your child's "babysitter". Babysitters are teenagers that eat all your food, watch movies and sneak boyfriends over when your children go to bed! I am a professional child care provider :)

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Originally Posted by FS2011

I have a blurb in my contract about not being your child's "babysitter". Babysitters are teenagers that eat all your food, watch movies and sneak boyfriends over when your children go to bed! I am a professional child care provider :)

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Hahaha, sooo true. I loathe when i'm refered to as a babysitter. I wish that was my day, eating food other people paid for and watch movies! Ha! If we watch a movies here it's rated G and I have most likely seenit 20 times before-not because it's that good. :p

While part of my dicission to open a daycare was because I didn't see the point in going back to 2 retail jobs that would've just covered my sons dc costs, I mainly decided it because I had my child and will have more because I actually like spending time with him and want to be the person who raises him. Not just see him 2hrs every day.

when I quit my job as a Dental Assistant, I was working a dentist who I belive was the devil himself, I tried to go quietly and respectfully, however, he did not have any respect for me, in the end after a heated confrontation, he called me a Princess and told me what a waste that I was going to go home to my kids and 'babysit'. This from a man who wouldnt be able to keep the hours he keeps if it werent for his own 'babysitter'! I walked out... and now I never have to work toe to toe for anyone like that again!

I too get this... from all kinds of people co workers, the fam. lol you name it....I did this BECAUSE I WANTED TO BE MY OWN BOSS, and I was tired of being SOME PEE-ON for x corp. I am happy with my choice:)

I do enjoy being there for my own kids and making an income by being a provider but nonetheless I ran into a few of my old corporate co-workers a few weeks ago.
They asked me what I was doing now and I basically brushed off the question and said I am just home with my kids.
I felt they would judge and gossip about me and think I had become a total loser for being a daycare provider now.
I felt quite conflicted because it is a hard job and I work my butt off doing daycare but yet I couldn't tell this group of people what I do. I have a pretty good group of kids who mostly brighten my days when I am down etc
I am sure it is my own issue that I identify myself with my position to some point but I just knew this particular group would be spreading the gossip and putting me down behind my back.
are you ever embarrassed to tell people what you do?:o

Sometimes, but in the end I am making just as much if not more than them lol

I know people look down on us and think goodness it's a survival job but lets be honest what job isn't.

I have a hard time going out to dinner with friends as not one asks me how my job is going, like it's not work! LOL

Just pat yourself on the back and know you’re; your own boss and you have only yourself to answer too! Enjoy that 3rd cup of coffee in the morning while the kids dance and play!

Great Job!

Just make the job sound better. When people ask just tell them that you work in education now with the under 5's. It's the truth but using the word education sets it aside from babysitter and for all intents and purposes that is what we do if we offer the full preschool/circletime/daycare centre experience in the home environment.

The worst is when the PARENTS treat me like a third class citizen. That's the real kicker. It's like hellloooooo i'm RAISING your kids for you. You MIGHT want to treat me with more respect.