Daycare Beginnings

I really struggled with the idea of finding daycare.  Not just because of the obvious, placing my little MB into the care of someone I didn’t know and being away from her, but also because I worked in the daycare field for 10 years I know what can go on in the shadows.  Now I’m not saying every center is terrible but throughout my entire career I can only think of a handful of positive experiences.  By positive experiences I don’t mean interactions with the kids (for the most part the kids are the only reason I stayed at some of the jobs I had), I mean a positive environments or outstanding co-workers.  The things that went on behind the scenes of these daycare centers were unbelievable to me sometimes.  I worked in centers that were beautiful and inviting, some that were the “elite” in our area, and ones that seemed full of happy staff and sparkling facilities but looks can be deceiving.  I came across all kinds of things I never expected to find in a daycare;  from bug infested kitchens and cutting corners to drunk/high staff and child abuse.  Realistically I know this isn’t how they all are but I just kept replaying all those bad things.

Personally I’ve had more positive experiences with home care, my siblings and I grew up in home care (Grandma Berta and Aunt Sally you rock!) and I worked as an assistant and relief provider in multiple home care programs.  But even though I have those positive feelings and experiences I do know that they are less regulated and really after one or two meetings you still know nothing about that person or the life they lead.  Like it or not in a home care setting you need to be ok with their way of living because it is their home and life your child will be a part of each day. 
I do know that my experiences are not the majority but I really struggled to get past all the memories and was uber paranoid.

I’ll admit there were a few providers that we really felt would be a great fit for MB but either they were more than we could afford at the time or in a location we just couldn’t make work.  So after looking at daycare costs, trying to find one I felt comfortable with, and reassessing our finances I decided to use my experience in child care and start my own home daycare. 

It takes more than just a trip to the toy store to get a daycare started.  From the beginning I got great advice from a friend (major props to Jo-Jo for all her advice), this was my business and I needed to treat it like that.  I take it very seriously.  I’m not, as many on craigslist advertise, a “stay at home mom looking for a kid to watch,” I’m a childcare provider and this is my business, my livelihood, and something I enjoy.  I’m not just sitting on my couch watching TV while the kids play (Side Note: I KNOW that is not what SAHMs do all day, but I literally interviewed 5+ “providers” that admitted to doing this 3/4 of the day plus many ads online that listed TV as an activity provided ),  I wanted to create a program more like the other serious providers I saw on craigslist and interviewed with.

No matter how many children you plan to watch, make sure your first step is to check your state’s requirements for in home childcare.  This should be step number one, you may not plan to become a flourishing daycare with 10+ kids but some state have VERY strict regulations, even if you are only watching one or two children.  My state for example requires first aid/CPR, background checks on everyone living in home, and you can only watch 3 children (of that only 2 can be under 2yrs which includes your own children) at the most or you must become a registered provider.

I started with contracts, permission forms, and a parent handbook.  I searched online for samples and took things from my prior experience in childcare. Eventually (after about a week of working on it) I hammered out an 8 page parent handbook and a 6 page contract.  I felt very confident in my contract but after a few weeks in business and a few interviews with parents I did have to go back through and redo sections or add to it. Even since then I have revised it a few times. 

I also had to sit down and work out what ages I wanted to care for and what hours I wanted to keep.  I set my hours with a little bit of wiggle room as I figured there would be people that would ask about flexibility (which they do). My posted advertised hours are 7:30am to 5:30pm as that is what hours I really preferred to keep but I do have flexibility til 6:00pm and I could be up at 7:00am if needed. 
After I decided what ages I wanted to accept I hit Ikea, goodwill, and all the second hand kids stores to find any good deals on toys, books and storage that were age appropriate.  

Keeping receipts is key in this business! So many things can be written off at tax time so save everything that you buy that is even partly used by daycare (paper towels, tp, tissues, toys, rent, cable, utilities…). I tried to stay away from toys that required batteries as that was just one more start up cost that I could avoid (plus I totally hate them!)

My final steps were creating a in depth website (I used webs.com), putting together an interview portfolio (experience, trainings, and letters of recommendation), and posting my ad on craigslist.

The interview process is nerve racking, and so far hasn’t gotten any easier, but I’ve found some great families and really enjoy the kids I’ve found.