i WAS the hired help for a while, and i loved it.
i was paid cash under the table, so it was about the same that i would have gotten working for a regular daycare, but with a LOT less stress. 5 kids instead of 16 or 24.

and no one to eagle over me, and i got to rule the roost and structure everything.

i also wanted to, someday in the future, open my own home daycare, and working in one was great training, until i could afford the most expensive aspect of doing so... a house. (which i have bought! and daycare opened! go me!)

i have a diploma and a bachelors of ECE, as well as my OCT, so i'm not even just a bum off the street!

i just wanted a daycare job where i could do the daycare thing, hug and cuddle the kids all i wanted, not have a crazy boss who yelled at me for sneeking extra snacks to the hungry kids, and LIKE my job.

i found my job off kijiji, (or maybe it was craig's list) but you might want to think of advertising at the colleges that do ECE courses? when i was in school, i arranged my schedule so i only went to school 3 and a half days a week and took a part time job for the other 2.

a lot of students would love to have daycare experience, and since it's a home daycare, they get the experience without the problem that they don't have their full ECE certs yet, and then you have someone who might want to take over more hours during summer, holidays, or next year after they graduate!