What prompted you to leave the security of a paycheck to uncertain income?

[Connect]

Hello Ladies,
I would like to introduce myself. I am a mother of three children who is in transition to leaving a secure job in the ECE field to uncertain income. I decided to leave my job to care for my three children who have always been in daycare. While they were in daycare I cared for other people's children. Now with my third child who is two, and my four year old who experiencing learning difficulties, to my twelve year old who is becoming a woman right before my eyes I have decided to devote my skills and accomplishment to them by staying home with them and opening a home childcare. However, I am hesitating because I will lose benefits and a secure paycheck. My spouse does not make much and this decision will cut our income in half. What prompted you to take the plunge? I love my kids very much and I want the best for them. I want to stay home with them while putting my strengths and skills as a teacher to good use by providing nurturing learning environment for other people's children. Any motivation advice? What prompted you to "take the plunge?" Thank you

[Dayhome Mamma]

Hi Connect, my previous job was not secure either (high end sales-commission based) so I actually saw this as a more stable option for myself....I guess its all in how you think about it... in many ways running a dayhome allows you to gain more benefits, but I know what you mean...( to solve this I just found my own insurance company to which I pay $60/mth to get the same benefits, $100 if you include my two kids. And In terms of security, you learn to sign people up for yearly contracts, and you probably (hopefully!) won't be taking new clients in all at once so if one decides to leave you have time to find another. The first year is the hardest though, but once you get past that then you should be making similar money to what you had at your ece job, without worrying about it being unstable. If you do things right, you will find yourself turning people away as there is always someone in need of good childcare. I took the plunge because I couldn't find any place that seemed good enough to leave my kids at. It was either the person was nice, but their place was totally unfit, or they had a nice looking place but they seemed too anal

[apples and bananas]

I worked in retail... LOL That was my inspiration.

I wanted to make my own hours, be home when my kids got off the bus, not worry about who was going to care for them if they were sick. ect. And... I simply make more money. I'm in a lower tax bracket so my child tax credit, gst ect is higher. I used to drive an hour to work every day, now i'm lucky if my car leaves the driveway at all between monday and thursday.

I didn't have to put in a request for vacation this year. I took off a week after Christmas without hasle (one of the busiest times of the year in my last profession) And when picking extra curriculars for my kids I don't have to worry about Saturday practices (when I used to have to work) Or what night's I'm working late.

For me, it was a lifestyle choice. It's really hard some days and I've felt like I don't know what I'm doing more then my share, but at the end of the week, my cheques come in and I have a great sense of accomplishment.

And, my commute is as far as my coffee pot in the morining. LOL That just might be my favorite part.

[Inspired by Reggio]

I worked for 17 years in centre care before making the transition to being self employed at home!

Motivators for me were:

My HEALTH .... centre care is VERY demanding on the body depending on which age group you work with - I herniated a disc and had issues with repetitive lifting and bending. Plus working for years in an industry where the 'ratios' had to be met at all times so you had to ask to be 'excused' to go the bathroom and resulted in some strain on my kidneys ... and than the final straw was when I got diagnosed with Celiac and was working for a centre were 'role modeling' eating at meals and snacks was mandatory - but they would not let me bring food from home due to their allergy protocol and well the cook kept screwing up and sending me food they SAID was gluten free but turned out not to be - and I would end up sick for 3 days taking time off work ... so while my job was 'secure' my income was not cause that year between them 'exposing' me to gluten I lost 8 weeks of income being off 'sick'.

Work life balance ... with the commute to work I was out of the house 10-11 hours a day away from my family.

Embracing my own personal philosophy for childcare ... the more I reflected about how children learn, my values about how I view children and learning and so forth - the more I realized that centre care 'rigid rules' impeded embracing that ... you are too ruled by the clock sharing outdoor space with others, sharing lunch rooms, bathrooms and so forth everything always felt 'rushed' to get to the next stage and out of other peoples way and so forth!

So my ultimate factor was I needed CONTROL ... being self employed I have total control over my work environment ... from the hours of day I choose to work, to how much I want to get paid, to the toxins I am exposed to in cleaners or NOT exposed to now that I can choose, the nutritional practices and food served, the flow of the program, the age of the children I care for and the clients I CHOOSE to serve.

So while there is some insecurity in income for sure the investment in ME and my health, well being and passion about my work is WORTH IT!

Best decision I have ever made and I cannot imagine having to go back to centre life

[lilac]

I was a SAHM b/c it didnt make sense for me to pay for daycare for 2 with the little I made at my job where my hours were inconsistant. Plus, I didnt want to leave my kids with someone else to go back to work. I started a daycare due to my husbands unstable job! He works at a feeder plant for GM here in Oshawa and when they laid off all thoes GM workers a few years ago, his job was out the door too! So, while he worked here and there, as much as he could, I opened my daycare....

[Crayola kiddies]

For me it was an easy choice cause I only made minimum wage and after having my 4th child I couldn't afford to put two kids in daycare so I stayed home and after having my 5th I realized I wasn't going back to work any time soon so I started my daycare. I make more money now then I ever have .... I don't have to pay for gas, or lunches, clothing, I'm here for my kids before and after school , during summer and other school breaks, my commute is 14 steps down to my basement and my boss rocks!

[Mamma_Mia]

I always wanted to be a SAHM but income was a issue, being a new parent and 'newlyweds' with a high mortgage, 2 cars etc. etc.
Well after 4 months of me returnning to work from Mat.Leave I was laid off. Our first reaction was to panic and search for a new job ASAP and I did....I went on 5 interviews in a 4 months span and non were a good fit. I turned down one and the others didn't call back. I met with I don't know how many recurters and nothing....By this point DH and were used to the lower income and saw that we COULD do it. I was a coupon queen! The savings of us not having to pay childcare, gas, lunch meetings etc. we were in the end somewhat of a better state.

I started advertising for Home Daycare and had 3 spots lined up!! About 4 weeks before starting it all DH's company did a mass lay off and we were F**K*D! So we decided to sell our house before we 'lost' it and got out while we could. a week later DH got another job but lower paying by a bit. Bought a new house and got my first dck beofre actually moving in! Then 2 more within 2 months and another one starting next month since the first one isn't around anymore.

Although I love the dcp we found for my DD and I to this day still hae playdates with her I was one of those parents that it was making me SICK with guilt for not being with my baby and HATED everything aound me. I was not happy and I don't think I ever would be.

Would I go back to the 'corporate' world....NEVER - as hard as it is financially somedays its so worth it!

Good Luck!!

[Dreamalittledream]

I worked in retail... LOL That was my inspiration.

I wanted to make my own hours, be home when my kids got off the bus, not worry about who was going to care for them if they were sick. ect. And... I simply make more money. I'm in a lower tax bracket so my child tax credit, gst ect is higher. I used to drive an hour to work every day, now i'm lucky if my car leaves the driveway at all between monday and thursday.

I didn't have to put in a request for vacation this year. I took off a week after Christmas without hasle (one of the busiest times of the year in my last profession) And when picking extra curriculars for my kids I don't have to worry about Saturday practices (when I used to have to work) Or what night's I'm working late.

For me, it was a lifestyle choice. It's really hard some days and I've felt like I don't know what I'm doing more then my share, but at the end of the week, my cheques come in and I have a great sense of accomplishment.

And, my commute is as far as my coffee pot in the morining. LOL That just might be my favorite part.

Ditto! And as frustrating my days do get the odd day and the difficult adjustment for my 2 year old that I so did not anticipate...the good FAR outweighs the bad. My husband and all my daycare parents are teachers...wonderful to have summers, vacations etc. off together now. My last straw at my retail job was being forced to work Christmas Eve (to 10:30pm) and morning (at 6am)...which I did but spent many a moment crying in an office thinking of missing that time with my 4 boys. On opening a home daycare: I think back to this rosy picture I had back then of being able to get so much housework done and amazing meals made during nap times....bahahaha... I'm so tired at night and nap time that I soon vowed that I would try my best to take a break on off times. It's weird at my old job it was very fast paced and I was so physically drained...now I find I am more totally mentally drained come day end...anyone else find that? My previous employer called me recently to check on and to say that my old job is always open for me; I thanked her politely, meanwhile thinking...after 20+ years as a retail manager...NEVER again. I have been lucky that although I have been full (5 children + my own 2 year old), we can survive on my husband's income alone.

[Bookworm]

My job didn't pay that well and after the birth of my second child, I decided to stay home as I would be working to pay for childcare for my two kids, which to me didn't make sense.
I am a certified teacher, but jobs in my area are very hard to come by, almost to the point where I don't think I'll ever get to teach in a school (makes me cry to think of the money I owe for my degree and I'll probably never use it). So, I figured opening a home daycare would be the next best thing. I can use my knowledge of kids and learning in the daycare setting while being there for my own kids.

[Play and Learn]

Well, I'm the odd one out I think. I've worked in daycare centers on and off throughout the years between going to college and university. I've been a nanny to 3 different families as well. The daycare centers made me very stressed. And I started as a nanny to 3 school-aged boys, and I then decided to go back to school for Office Administration.

So as I was looking for an Office Admin job in our small town, our family friend was in need of childcare, so I started to care for their 1 yr old daughter. I was still looking for a job, but nothing was coming up. Hubby and I had discussed that once we were done having kids that I would open up a home daycare, but not before!

Well, now 2 years in, and we're full here (only took 1.5 years to be full), and I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world! I absolutely LOVE staying at home caring and teaching other people's children with MY RULES!!!! No kids of our own yet, but only time will tell.

So I didn't come from a secure job. AND I choose this!