Quote Originally Posted by torontokids View Post
So I just got a positive pregnancy test! We have been trying for a little while now so I am pumped. A little freaked out though too! Its still very early days so I do not plan on telling my daycare families for a while. WWYD?

I am not sure if I will stay open and hire someone or enjoy my mat leave (I have been paying into EI for a yr now). If I choose to keep the daycare open and hire someone PT e.g. they work the mornings until nap time, I cover nap and the afternoon. Could I have parents make cheques out to my husband so I can still collect EI? Currently, all cheques are made out to me. OR alternatively, have them pay the new provider and she pay me rent or something?

I have one family that will be starting with me in Sept. His parents are pulling him from a centre to have him come to me for September. The mom is a teacher so she wouldn't need after June and it looks like the baby would be born in April. Would you tell them now so they can look into care elsewhere or just wait and tell them just before they start/after they start and claim I just found out and it was a "surprise?" I don't want to be devious but I also need to earn an income.
Only if your husband quits his job to run the daycare on his own. Otherwise it is fraud and I don't think you want to be attempting fraud with the CRA.

If you hire someone part time you can only make $50 a week, anything more than that and it just gets deducted from your EI mat pay. In other words you would be working for free, for the same amount of money you would get being home on mat leave (plus $50 a week).

I'm not sure how it works to have someone completely run the daycare while you are home on mat leave. Hopefully other ladies on here have direct experience...but I would look into the insurance for that as you won't be there someone else is and your home insurance may not cover that situation.

In all honesty...can you afford to be home on mat leave income alone. If so...enjoy the mat leave and start up again when it runs out. There are enough stresses with being home with a newborn no need to add the stresses of running a daycare if you don't need to! If you need the full income then figure out the best way to do it...just be weary of fraudulent plans...they do come back to bite you later on!

Congrats.

Oh, in regards to informing families. Not before 3 months. Though, there may be an exception with the new family that was leaving a centre just to be with YOU. Would they have remained in the current centre if you weren't available? Are you comfortable in giving them a heads up, can you trust them not to tell others? Such a difficult decision to have to make. If you wait to tell them at the 3 months mark (or later) they will do the math and know that you knew long before they started. How will that sit with them?