Reading this, two things shocked me: first of all, if you are in Ontario, we are not allowed to have playdates with other caregivers unless it is in a public space or there are less then 5 daycare children in total between you. Second, they actually told you that parents prefer caregivers with pets??? This is the opposite of my experience...even those families who have pets at home are often happy that I do not have any...it is one less thing to worry about in terms of safety (they don't want to worry about thier child being bitten or scratched etc). I had pets when my youngest went to daycare and I wanted a pet-free daycare as I couldn't be sure about other people's pets or how careful the provider would be about keeping the pets away from the kids.


Quote Originally Posted by DORITOSGIRL View Post
I actually signed up with WEE WATCH, thinking it would be easier to work with agenct. but the hoops I was expected to jump through and the endless sea of paperwork was a huge turn off.
As was they way they expected to me run my day.. Umm what if we do not want do do crafts at 3pm maybe we want to go to the park instead. I know the supervisor who interviewed me was shocked when I said I had NO intention of doing arts and crafts everyday.. I actually hate that part of daycare, and save arts and crafts for the truly crappy weather ( like today).

I sooner have the kids out playing and using their imaginations. Not to mention getting exercise and fresh air.

I also did not like I was expected to attend meetings, training seminars and conferences ALL the time. I had no problem with that but it was relentious, WW also wanted me to arrange playdates with the other two providers in my area.. Sure that works on paper but when neither is with in walking distance it is not exactly convient,considering I do not drive and even if I did I would not drive other peoples children around.

I also did not like the fact that someone from WW would be here almost weekly, while I get the need to closely supervise its hard to care for children when you have someone coming and going and screwing up whatever routine is in place.

What finally made me say no was the ridiculous pay.. For everything they expected, the pay worked out to $22 for a full day after taxes.. Really not worth it. As a provider I did not get the impression it was any easier to find children to care for. I still had to go through all the interview processes with parents and reference checks.

I found my first two kids privately ( craigslist) before ww found me a family to provide care for. I was told by WW that parents prefer a provider with pets.. Personally I think that was a line of BS. I can not have pets as I have severe chronic asthma and pets are my worst trigger.

The one good thing about WW is you can go on to become a supervisor and there is a ton of childcare courses you can take through them at a discounted rate.I think the parents who take the courses are given priority.