Am I crazy?

[torontokids]

I left a very promising career as a child and family therapist to open a home daycare 3 years a go. I did it because I really wanted to be home with my girls who were both daycare aged. I have actually loved it. It is extremely challenging and all my years working with children couldn't have prepared me for the job. I am extremely organized and love to do programming and although these skills have come in very handy, I still feel sometimes like I am just treading water with all the work that is involved. This job can be very draining and it requires you to always "be on." I have one of those "go, go go" personalities and I am the person at my previous job that wouldn't take a lunch but keep working and was always doing something. That being said, I find this job pretty exhausting at times. I have learned as I have gone how to make things better e.g. doing most of my cleaning during daycare hours etc but the hours are still long. I agree that although you get to be with your kids, the quality of time spent is not the same as when 1:1. My eldest found it very difficult to share me and her behaviour could be pretty horrible at times as a result. She is now in school and I can't attend any of her field trips or in class activities because I knew it wouldn't "fly" with my clients. I have been very fortunate and have had amazing parents in my daycare (with few exceptions) and I know they respect and care about me. I am 6 mos pregnant and I do not think I will reopen after my mat leave with my new little one. I have enjoyed this but I think with Bill 10 and just pure exhaustion I will look into something else. I am torn because I don't want to place my child in daycare after the year so this is something I will have to figure out!

[Lee-Bee]

Certainly not trying to interrogate you :-) I do believe that before one takes such a big move they need to consider everything and when we are left to our own thoughts we can often make our future dream all rosy and pink and pretty and sometimes need someone to bring the realities into sight for us to consider too!

Any chance your current job would allow a 1 yr sabbatical. No pay, but the chance to return in a year if this isn't working for you?

[torontokids]

Certainly not trying to interrogate you :-) I do believe that before one takes such a big move they need to consider everything and when we are left to our own thoughts we can often make our future dream all rosy and pink and pretty and sometimes need someone to bring the realities into sight for us to consider too!

Any chance your current job would allow a 1 yr sabbatical. No pay, but the chance to return in a year if this isn't working for you?

That's a good point Lee Bee. I actually did that with my job as a safety net. I took a year leave without pay to test the waters and ended up staying on for another 2 yrs.

[mickyc]

Personally I would not do it if I was you. I totally agree with MsBell.

I began this job when my daughter was 8 months old. Like everything I do I give it my all. I have been doing it for over 5 years now and I know I am soon ready to move on. I won't just take any job as I don't hate what I do but I do know I am not in this for the long haul.

The money is good, I love the write offs every year, I for the most part enjoy the kids.

I do crave more though. I do look forward to the day I get my home back! When I clean it and it stays that way. Now that my daughter is in school I feel like my job gets in the way of things sometimes. My previous job was very flexible so it's hard to not have that. I don't want my career choice to affect my daughter and it already has. I have no desire for play dates, I do not take my nieces because I don't want additional children on my off time. I work when I am sick, take minimal time off etc.

I am good at what I do, don't hate my job (right now anyways lol) but know I can't do this for much longer. I wouldn't have done it any differently though but I certainly didn't have a good wage or lots of perks at my previous job either. I am making more now than I did then so the choice was easy.

[ottawamommy]

You are not crazy at all! if you want to run a home daycare you want to run a home daycare lol and if that's what makes you happy then go for it. A friend of mine is like 5 Little Monkeys she doesn't have children and she runs a wonderful home daycare and makes more money then I do lol Not everyone does this job to be with their kids, there are providers out there who do this job because the choose it vs something else. Some people seem to complain about this job a lot and those are the type of people that are not cut out for this business. The reality of is you don't get the perks of everything and you figure out what perks work more for you and your life style. For me its simple I love children and working from home so everything else I can deal with.

[pink]

I ran a home daycare for 8 years, I went back to work in July. Lots of advantages from being at home, I am always going back and forth should I stay home and do daycare and then I come to my sense no. The new rules killed my business and three license daycare centers in my neighborhood. I do miss my kids a lot and not liking the commute at all and I make less money but I do have benefits. They are way more babies than over 2 children that require care in my neighborhood and as soon as they have a spot in the daycare centers they leave. I would not recommend starting a daycare with the new rules.

[MommaL]

Thank you everyone for your posts, for sharing your experiences and for your honesty. I think I'm more confused than ever. But you all certainly gave me some important things to consider.

It's just interesting because for many of the reasons provided for not starting a daycare, I can say something similar about working outside of the house. I guess the grass always looks a bit greener on the other side.

[Lee-Bee]

Thank you everyone for your posts, for sharing your experiences and for your honesty. I think I'm more confused than ever. But you all certainly gave me some important things to consider.

It's just interesting because for many of the reasons provided for not starting a daycare, I can say something similar about working outside of the house. I guess the grass always looks a bit greener on the other side.

It is always greener on the other side. So ultimately the question is...is your grass green enough at your current job and will you have enough fertilizer to keep it green for years to come in a home daycare?

[Van]

Don't get us wrong as a lot of us love working with children, I do for sure , but we were just being honest to you about a lot of the cons of this job that we did not consider when we went into this kind of work and it is good to see it from all different ways pros and cons.
now you have more info, maybe more than you wanted LOL but I think you will have a better idea of want you will be getting into if you choose daycare and leave your career behind and know it is not all just sitting in the park with the kids on a sunny day and you did put it under the title of AM I CRAZY ? lol

[mickyc]

Flower child- that was the exact reason why I have a designated daycare space (basement) and the rest of my home is daycare free. My daughter never has to share her toys. I also let her play upstairs by herself if she wants to. My daycare is not her choice it's mine.

The part that bothers me the most is the lack of flexibility. Luckily my MIL doesn't mind running my daughter places but sometimes I wish I could