Surgery and making arrangements for my clients

[jazmic]

Hi ladies,

I would love to get your advice. My doctor has recommended that I have surgery. He actually recommended it a while a go but I was chicken so I put it off. Anyway, I don't think I can put it off for much longer.

I'll be closed for 2 weeks over Christmas since my family and I are travelling. I'd like to schedule the surgery to be done sometime in the new year.

I have 2 kids of my own in addition to 3 dcks. My husband and I are thinking about getting someone to come and help since I'll be out of commission for at least 2 weeks and possible longer depending on how my recovery is going. I was thinking about offering for my clients to keep bringing their kids here since I will have someone here who would be watching my own kids anyways. I love my group and I would hate to lose them. I think (I hope) the parents would be ok with that arrangement.

My question is, for the person who I would hire to take over while I recover, what would be a fair rate for a 6:30am to a 4:45pm day? Should I pay a daycare rate for all 5 kids? In my area, the average is $40/day per kid. I could also just give them the money I would be getting from my clients for that period of time. Anyway, what do you guys think?

[Crayola kiddies]

Sorry to hear you have to have surgery ..... Will you beable to recuperate while the daycare is still in operation in your home? Since you are still providing all the food and toys and heat and hydro and you are still liable and such you should still make a portion of the fees to cover your costs .. Maybe pay around 11-12 $ an hour.

[mimi]

Her day is over 10 hrs including "opening" and "closing" and she is also looking after your children. I would pay her about $14.00 p/hr if she takes care of everything for you so you are not disturbed. Best wishs for a successful surgery.

[Momof4]

Sorry about the surgery jazmic and hope you recovery very quickly. My goodness, you work long days! I only work from 8am to 4:45 and that's a long enough day for me. I'm not sure how much you should pay a helper depending on if the person is family or doing this work 'under the table' for some extra cash or whatever the situation may be, but if you talk to them honestly about what you can afford I'm sure you can come to a good solution for all concerned.

[jazmic]

My days are certainly very long! lol. But my group is fairly easy so we usually have good days together. Thanks for the suggestions so far. I was thinking that it would probably have to be about $14 - $15 an hour as well. I just have to make sure that I don't break the bank. Now to start the search for someone who would be able to work those hours and who I can trust with the kids. At least they'd be here where I can at least hear what's going on. Soooo not looking forward to it.

[Momof4]

What about a student from your local college who is going through for the ECE program? Or a recently retired woman? Do your parents or grandparents know anybody like that? Can you call your local OEYC or Ontario Works or Manpower or EI and ask if they have any recommendations? Just a few thoughts that flew through my head just now.

[jazmic]

Those are great ideas, Momof4! I'll keep them in mind!

[playfelt]

Sorry to hear about the possibility of surgery. I think a lot will depend on what you will be doing after surgery too. Will you be confined to bed or the couch with limited mobility and needs of your own or will you be able to be up and about just not lifting, bending, etc and need to take a nap whenever needed. I'm sure for the time of recovery your daycare parents would be more than willing to have their children remain in the stable environment and just play with no programming or outings. With that in mind the person you fire is there more to supervise, help with the housework and generally do whatever you ask them to do.

You might have some success working through an agency that supplies homemakers/some with psw or other medical training as well. I know when my daughter was helping out with a special needs child the parent was receiving $15 an hour for respite care.

Another option to the long day would be to hire two people and split the shift so that someone is coming in very early in the morning to have the house ready for your own kids to get up, daycare to arrive and to tend to any needs you would have and then someone else arrives during naptime to do the afternoon and early evening shift to help out that way even just playing a game wtih your kids and getting them ready for bed to make it easier for you. That also means between the two of them they could switch out as needed so less chance of being without help. This would also allow use of students from the ECE program, developmental social worker, psw, nursing, almost any field that involves care and nurturing would be able to do what is required for the short term. Students in college are usually more than happy with any payment. Even minimum wage for a student is still a welcome amount for many.

[jazmic]

More great ideas! Thanks playfelt!

[Spixie33]

I had to have emergency surgery this summer. I was crying in the ER telling my husband that probably all my daycare kids and families were goners because there was no way they would wait around for me for 6 weeks.
I didn't want to start with a new group because I like the ones I have now.

Long story short...all the families were so supportive and made alternate arrangements and are all coming back now that I have recovered.

The lesson I learned was that you really do have to focus on yourself first - not the daycare families. Have the surgery before things get worse because otherwise you won't be of any use to anyone or your own family. You don't want that.

I like the idea of bringing someone in for the daycare kids and agree that you should get some of the fees (half at least) since it is still your house, your food, etc that you are giving the daycare kids.

I had to shut down for months while i recover but it all turned out well and I am happy to be getting all my kids back....but even more that I recovered so well and tool the time to recover properly.