Am I crazy?

[flowerchild]

I just wanted to say that my kids get hit, bitten and kicked at the daycare they are at now too. Both of my kids have cried about not wanting to go to daycare because they don't like a particular kid there or because they'd rather stay home. When it comes to daycare, I don't think this can ever be completely avoided, no matter whether it's your own daycare or somewhere else. At least when it's my own daycare, I can hug my child if they are hurting and deal with the situation as I see fit. Right now, I have no control over it.

I realize that my kids would have to deal with stuff like that regardless of what childcare situation they were in. I've had kids in daycare too.

I deal with those types of behaviours as I see fit and I comfort my kids when it happens, but it doesn't change the fact that it happens to them and in their own home which is suppose to be their safe place. I don't know how old your children are, but if they are young, they don't understand the business/daycare aspect of it - they just see that mom lets these kids come over and these kids keep hurting them. When one of my daycare kids was going through a particularly brutal biting/hitting phase, my daughter started acting out too. A lot of anger and aggression towards me. When we had holidays shortly after and there was no daycare kids, all of that went away.

I'm glad you have a separate space for your daycare. My home is not big enough to have a dedicated daycare space nor is it big enough to have two sets of toys, so my home is my daycare. I have the upstairs off limits except for nap times, so my kids can go up to their rooms if they need their own space and they can keep their "special" toys up there. Its the best that I can do for them that way.

I know it sounds like I'm being really negative and that I think this job is horrible. I don't. There are lots of aspects of it that I love, but I just don't want you to go into this thinking that it is going to be perfect. It's a great job but a tough job. I could be wrong, but I'm getting a bit of a vibe from your posts that you may think starting your daycare will be a fix-all and that all the frustration etc you have with being a working parent at your current job will go away. If you start a HDC, you will still be a working parent, you will just have your children with you at work.

[MommaL]

I could be wrong, but I'm getting a bit of a vibe from your posts that you may think starting your daycare will be a fix-all and that all the frustration etc you have with being a working parent at your current job will go away. If you start a HDC, you will still be a working parent, you will just have your children with you at work.

I don't feel this way at all. That's why my initial post was asking if I'm crazy LOL. I know it's a tough job with its own set of challenges. I know that for every pro, there's going to be a con. I truly admire all the daycare providers out there. I guess I'm just thinking out loud (or in this case writing down) how I hope to deal with some of the challenges that so many daycare providers face.

Thanks again to everyone for posting. It's honestly been very helpful to me.