YOUR down time

[shopgirl]

Me again! I feel like asking alot of questions today!

Since I am not opened yet, I was curious about your day schedule. Are you always super busy between entertaining, cooking and cleaning or do you sometimes ever get a chance to sit and have a coffee and let out a breath? lol Obviously some of you have some down time as you answer questions here during the day but was curious to just how much.

secondly, to go along with it, how much prep time do you spend a week? after your hours, howmuch time do you spend cleaning? prepping the next day etc? I am hoping to clean before the end of each day so no cleaning will need to be done but obviously prepping for crafts etc will need to be done later on my own time.

[dodge__driver11]

my down tap is nap/ quiet time or times when my pt help is engaged in activity with the kids.

[Mamma_Mia]

I have my cup of coffee Before/as they arrive in the morning leading into morning free play. When they go for nap is when I have my 'break' and my lunch. Depending on the day I'll have another cup of coffee/tea during afternoon snack.

[shopgirl]

i just had a *duh* moment, i've been out of naps for over year in my house and I forgot about the little kids and napping! lol so yeah, i guess there is time to regroup and eat at nap time!

[Dreamalittledream]

Oh you're going to REALLY cherish that naptime. I try to do as much prep time (during free play) & playroom cleaning (the kids love to help) while I am open; so that after hours is as much family time as I can.

[Momof4]

I feed the children breakfast then let them freeplay for a short time while I eat my breakfast and have my cup of tea then we go outside. The same thing happens at lunch a lot where I'm a complete cook/waitress before, during and after lunch, so I sit and eat my my lunch after I get them all tucked into their beds.

Naptime gives me quiet and relaxation time to recharge my batteries. Quiet/nap time is non-negotiable at my daycare. We do cleanup together then I start my sweeping and wiping up while I'm waiting for the last child to be picked up, then I have to do 2 sinks full of dishes by hand every night, vacuum, laundry every other night because I go through a ton of cloths.

I've gotten into a good routine for my food prep, for example even going so far as to get the brocolli and carrots into the pans with water while the children eat breakfast ready to turn on the burners as soon as we get back inside from our morning outings and the pan is ready for the meat to start cooking so lunch doesn't take as long to prepare.

As you get your daycare running smoothly you learn all these little tricks. I do prepare the crafts the night before but I've seriously cut down on formal crafting and the children are just as happy to have me set out scissors for practice, markers and my homemade playdo with all the playdo sets.

[Starshine]

I don't have a lot of downtime when the kids are here. Right now, not all of mine are nappers, so I always have at least one, plus my own child awake. However, I try to get them to do quiet activities when the other kids are napping, like puzzles, reading books, playdough, etc. That allows me some time to get off my feet and have a breather for a bit. I also don't "entertain" the kids--they are great at playing together, I just supervise for the most part.

I clean/tidy as I go throughout the day, so there isn't much left to do after the kids go home aside from a bit of straightening up. Prep time is very minimal. Every Sunday, I do a quick meal plan, choose where we're going for field trips, and pick out a few crafts.

[Sandbox Sally]

I used to think that I was going to play with the children at all times while they were awake, but a year and a bit into running the daycare, I realize that they really don't often WANT me to play with them. My morning consists of watching them play while I surf the net, drink my coffee, etc. If they need/want me, I will get down and play, but they never do...hehe. We then do circle/story and learning time depending on the day, and then we go outside, lunch, then nap! During nap, I normally sit on my rear and fold laundry.

I have never had any probs prepping snack and lunch with the kids here. They just play. I can see and hear them while I am in my kitchen, and as others have said, I already know what I am serving, and it takes 5 mins tops to have it on the table.

So. To answer your question, I get a lot of down time!

[Littledragon]

I try to do the dishes and clean the kitchen while they're eating so that come nap time, I only have to pick up the living room toys (which is a small playroom we use only while preparing meals) and then the time is ALLLLLL mine...well...assumi ng they all sleep properly lol

[Spixie33]

I feel like I don't get much down time at all. and that often leads to me feeling overwhelmed.

I guess it depends what ages you have. Last year I had 3 x 2.5 year olds and they were pretty self sufficient and did free up time. This year they are 3 x 3 and I have 2 x 1 year olds. The 1 year olds have added a lot more work now.

I try to eat my lunch during nap, tidy up the kitchen, prep the afternoon snack so I get about 1 hour to do daycare work and 1 hour where I have peace and quiet and downtime.

After the daycare leaves - I usually have to vacuum and mop and tidy up and often cook for the next day.

Weekends are about giving the house a good cleaning, grocery shopping, running the errands I couldn't during the week, laundry, cooking ahead for the Monday/Tuesday or daycare and doing my book work, etc.

I work 10 hour days officially but unofficially it is probably over 11 hours a day. Weekends are also taken up doing stuff I couldn't during the week and prepping for the next daycare week. Sometimes I feel like I work 7 days a week with the daycare.

I still tell myself it is worth it because I am making a decent income and get to be around more for my own school-age children.

I think everyone is different and it depends on what kind of daycare you run - what sort of meals you are making, what ages you have, the personalities of the children in care, and how organized and functional your daycare setup is. I am sure people who have a separate daycare space in the basement have less work at the end of the day other than those who use our main floor and upstairs and basically get mess all over.

Good luck with your new daycare