The Ebbs and Flows

In the daycare world, nothing is for certain. You may have all of your openings full one day, but you just never know when things will change. The only thing you know for sure, is that they will change!

I sat down last fall at one point and though I had been told of the up and coming maternity leaves with 3 of my families, the reality of how that impacted my daycare world and income didn't hit me until I sat down with my 'long term budget' (that is a joke in the daycare business). 3 upcoming maternity leaves meant a huge hit to the budget.

The amazing thing about my daycare world is the way the ebbs and flows take care of themselves. When I realized that I would be losing the income from these 3 families, I instinctively panicked. Then I stopped myself and told myself that this wasn't happening over night and it would be happening over the course of 4 or 5 months. I convinced myself not to over react to something that I had no control over.

Now for the amazing part. My first family's maternity leave started a few weeks ahead of schedule, at the beginning of December. Financially, things were okay and I was just fine with this adjustment. A few weeks ago, I got a call about starting up a new 5 yr old (before and after school). Perfect! I had been thinking of trying to take on older kids and try to wean myself out of the 3 and under age group. The income would be less than half ... but the budget and numbers of kids I have, allowed it.

Then yesterday within 1 hour, I had 2 requests about whether I had room to take on more kids. One, for an almost 2 yr old (to start within a few months). My second family on maternity leave will be leaving shortly after that time. This could work out ...

The second request that I had was for a spot in about a year, for a 1 year old (this baby is presently 11 days old). I am thinking that 2 of my families may not be returning to me after their maternity leaves are over ... so this new baby just may fit into our world here.

Then, before the day was over I had yet another call about a 4 yr old to come before and after preschool and a 2 yr old for full days. It never rains, it pours (though I can't remember a day when it poured so much).

The absolutely best thing about all of these requests (for both me and the parent looking for daycare), is the fact that these referrals are by word of mouth. One was through a family member, another from a teacher at school and the third was through a family I presently work for. I love the word of mouth referrals! It makes me feel good to know that the families that I've worked for feel good about passing my name along. And as a parent, I know the comfort that comes in knowing that someone trusts a daycare provider enough to refer them. It's a win-win situation.

The ebbs and flows in this line of work are quite amazing in the way everything works out in the end.