I started out with having too many parents wanting daycare simply because there was no one in my area. The phone wouldn't stop ringing. My daycare was full until December of last year. I had two parents lose their jobs and another child who went to a different provider because their schedules no longer matched mine. I spent most of December advertising for spots which was hard because of Christmas. I filled the two spots that were vacant in December and proceeded forward. In April of this year, I lost another 2 kids, filled the spots, and now I have to fill them again.

I started out looking for childcare for my daughter and found out that there were a lot of people that couldn't afford the daycare centers or were waiting on endless lists. I was fortunate to have some kids for 3 years and others only a few months. I've only terminated one child and that was simply because the mother showed up an hour early to drop off her kid and than phoned me at pick up time to ask if I could watch her another 2 hrs. The next day the kid showed up here with lice and it also was apparent that the child had never been reprimanded in her life. I don't like to terminate unless I absolutely have to simply because there is nothing worse than passing off the child to someone else. Don't blame the child, blame the parent.

Everytime I think about doing something else or wonder if I'm making a difference at all, I will get a visit from a former client or I will notice a behavior that I changed in the child that is currently in my care. The worst moment for parents is when they have to tell the child that they are no longer coming to my home anymore. I've had more than one call after they are out of my care where the parents phone me about it. I always explain to the child that they can always come back as a "special" visitor to see me when Mom and Dad have time.

I'd like to make more money but I wouldn't want to do this if all the children were numbers instead of people. I guess that does make me a little "crazy".