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That sounds like my home when I have all the kiddos here...I do take part time though bc alot of my ap parents only need full time. One mama whose little boy is only here fridays is taking classes at the alternative med school a mile away and comes every day for lunch....and it's been wonderful. We're gonna barter services...me for her and her for me when the time comes this spring...can't wait...I know that I am an exception to that rule these days. I don't believe having 1 or 2 children in care should cost close to your mortgage payments....
I do my advertising right now on Craigslist. I know that all the postings can be daunting but if you take the time to email who you may be interested in a few times and then set up a meeting, you can get a decent enough gauge before you go and meet them....at least in my area. There are MANY postings for care on the south and east side of town but many on my side of town....
HTH
Originally Posted by wednesday  Child care has got to be the toughest thing about being a parent. Wanted to say I don't think a home daycare provider with a few other kids is a bad choice. It depends on the range of age of the kids, somewhat. But I have had some opportunities to observe that kind of setting and I think people would be surprised to see what it actually looks like. It's not like there are ten babies screaming and only one adult to try to take care of them one at a time. If there is an infant, and a toddler, and a 3-year-old, and a 4-year-old...it actually can be really fun and interesting for the baby to watch what the bigger kids are doing. The older kids even often do things WITH the baby, like hand it a toy, play peek-a-boo, etc. I think a baby alone with an adult can be really, really hard. The adult ends up having to do a LOT of 1-on-1 to keep the baby from getting bored/cranky, in my experience (i'm sure all babies are different). Or else put the baby in front of the TV, which I've seen people do, but I don't agree with that. In my state a home daycare provider is limited to 5 children total, and no more than 2 children under age 2, so a reasonable mix of age like I described above is enforced. That said--most home daycares will not take only part-time, or they will but they will charge you the full-time rate anyway. So it may be that a nanny 2 days a week works out fairly equivalent. It's certainly much more convenient than taking your child somewhere else. When my son was small DH was sort of a SAHD but he was also doing some consulting, so we needed care sporadically. I tried and tried to find a SAHM who just wanted to do occasional care for a little extra money. I have to say that did not go well. I got a string of people who, while they seemed nice enough, it really kind of showed that they really just wanted to be with their own child, they resented the economic circumstance that made it necessary for them to "babysit," they judged me for being a WOHM, etc. |
That sounds like my home when I have all the kiddos here...I do take part time though bc alot of my ap parents only need full time. One mama whose little boy is only here fridays is taking classes at the alternative med school a mile away and comes every day for lunch....and it's been wonderful. We're gonna barter services...me for her and her for me when the time comes this spring...can't wait...I know that I am an exception to that rule these days. I don't believe having 1 or 2 children in care should cost close to your mortgage payments....
I do my advertising right now on Craigslist. I know that all the postings can be daunting but if you take the time to email who you may be interested in a few times and then set up a meeting, you can get a decent enough gauge before you go and meet them....at least in my area. There are MANY postings for care on the south and east side of town but many on my side of town....
HTH
