November 2011 Moms

I should open my own daycare...

Seriously. I applied to work at a preschool and got hired and pretty much said "yes" without really thinking about pay just because I was so happy to get a job. Well- I may have to call back and tell them it's not going to happen. I have a degree and they would look to eventually transition into a teacher position but I have to take the 90 hr certification first. They want to pay me $11/hr when they charge $1,680 for a 2 yr old per month! I wouldn't even clear as much after taxes as they charge for a 2 yr old that goes 2 days a week! If I want to get the certification, which I would have to b/c employment is contingent on that, it's an additional $500 that I'm responsible for (so two weeks worth of pay). It's one of the best preschools/daycares in the country for kids but SERIOUSLY? I feel bad that I said yes because they need someone starting Monday... I'm waiting on another offer that I have before I call and say "never mind".

 Not that this justifies ANY sort of mistreatment of children that I have seen people post about-- but this certainly may explain why some people in childcare are so angry! You have people that have degrees and that are responsible for lesson plans, etc getting paid PEANUTS. Ugh vent over

Re: I should open my own daycare...

  • Would you get a discount as an employee?  My mom worked as a day care worker when my brother was little, and they only charged her like $20 a week for care.  If not, is there someone around that you trust to watch your son while you work?  Sorry you are in this bind.  I ended up not going back to work for this school year since I am due with #2 in January and paying for daycare for 2 kids would mean shelling out my whole paycheck plus an extra $100 every 2 weeks.  Sometimes it is more affordable to stay home.  

    And I understand your frustration with having a degree and not making much money.  In the 5 years that I have been out of school with my Master's degree, I have always had jobs that allowed me to barely scrape by.  

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  • imagesmwiggle:

    Would you get a discount as an employee?  My mom worked as a day care worker when my brother was little, and they only charged her like $20 a week for care.  If not, is there someone around that you trust to watch your son while you work?  Sorry you are in this bind.  I ended up not going back to work for this school year since I am due with #2 in January and paying for daycare for 2 kids would mean shelling out my whole paycheck plus an extra $100 every 2 weeks.  Sometimes it is more affordable to stay home.  

    And I understand your frustration with having a degree and not making much money.  In the 5 years that I have been out of school with my Master's degree, I have always had jobs that allowed me to barely scrape by.  

    As an assistant teacher there is no discount.... when you become a full teacher (aka- $14/hr) you get half off... so I still probably wouldn't be able to afford to send LO there LOL! Right now DH could watch him.. but we are waiting on him to hear from a job he applied to and if he gets it then we have a backup family friend.... but the amount she charges would likely be about 1/2 of what I would make. Plus, during my interview she kept asking me if I was sure because apparently they get lots of turnover ( not surprising) I'm in the same boat as you "is it even worth it?" . I think if I do make the decision to turn it down I will call after business hours tonight because I don't feel like getting bit*&ed at

  • Can you turn down a job on unemployment? I think I would take it for the time being, if something better comes up or your dh gets a job you can always leave.
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  • It sounds like a lot but it really isn't. My DD's child care provider was getting $3.90 an hour to watch her.

    But I understand if $11.00 won't cover the cost of getting to work and back (espically if you have to pay any addition costs for child care for LO on top of it). Will they let you bring LO in for free?

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  • imageKaeldrasmommy:
    Can you turn down a job on unemployment? I think I would take it for the time being, if something better comes up or your dh gets a job you can always leave.

    I'm not currently on unemployment... just not working. I was at my last job for three months because I got my schedule texted to me the day of/night before. I never knew when or how many hours I would be working. Also, it was a hostile situation. Since I worked for 3 months, I didn't qualify for unemployment. It sucked, but I didn't really have much of a choice. There were sometimes where I spent more on gas then what I made in the week! 

  • imageRedCamaro:

    It sounds like a lot but it really isn't. My DD's child care provider was getting $3.90 an hour to watch her.

    But I understand if $11.00 won't cover the cost of getting to work and back (espically if you have to pay any addition costs for child care for LO on top of it). Will they let you bring LO in for free?

    When you start they offer no discount whatsoever (the only place I know that does this). The woman even said it wouldn't be worth it to enroll LO even if it's a great school because it would be able $500-$600 more than what I would make in a month. Once you make lead teacher, it would bring down the cost to about $800 a month... which I still wonder if it's even worth it! 

  • imagemama&baby:

    imageKaeldrasmommy:
    Can you turn down a job on unemployment? I think I would take it for the time being, if something better comes up or your dh gets a job you can always leave.

    I'm not currently on unemployment... just not working. I was at my last job for three months because I got my schedule texted to me the day of/night before. I never knew when or how many hours I would be working. Also, it was a hostile situation. Since I worked for 3 months, I didn't qualify for unemployment. It sucked, but I didn't really have much of a choice. There were sometimes where I spent more on gas then what I made in the week! 

    Well as long as that doesn't get in the way then eh. I'm not sure I would in that case, if both you and your DH have more promising prospects.
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  • Isn't some pay better than none?
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  • imageAllieCat16:
    Isn't some pay better than none?

    This is what I was thinking, too, and pretty much the only thing I struggled with. We don't have the money to pay out $500 for a certification and the school won't pay it. Since I likely wouldn't be staying there it probably isn't worth that cost in and of itself..... with that cost it would be easier for us financially to find a job that may pay just a bit less (even retail) but is close to home (this place was about 1/2 hr drive w/o traffic)

    DH has applied for a job that required LOTS of steps to get it.. so I suppose on the bright side for right now we know that if he needs to go somewhere on short notice, unless I have an interview elsewhere we are covered for child care.

  • I've never been able to figure out how a daycare can be profitable actually.  At ours, we pay about $1K per month per kid (so significantly less than what you're talking but still a chunk of change).  In the infant room there's 1 teacher per 5 babies.  In 2s it's one teacher per 7.  So, we'll say 1 per 6.  So, 6 kids is $6,000 per month per teacher, or $72,000 per year.  Sounds pretty good until you consider that they also pay for the facility, insurance, a director, an assistant director, food, a cafeteria employee, a bus, bus driver.  All I can conclude is that it's sucky all the way around.  It's hella expensive for parents and yet, it's not like anyone's getting rich off of it.
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  • Something is better than nothing. I would be taking it and leaving LO at home with DH. Until he was able to find better thats the way it would be. My DH would be mad as hell if I turned down a job.
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  • imageTastetherainbowunicorn:
    Something is better than nothing. I would be taking it and leaving LO at home with DH. Until he was able to find better thats the way it would be. My DH would be mad as hell if I turned down a job.

    Normally he completely would be but we can't afford the $500 upfront cost for a job that I won't stay at..... even though it wasn't close to where we live if it wasn't for that I would have gone with the job. 

  • imagesmilelari:
    I've never been able to figure out how a daycare can be profitable actually.  At ours, we pay about $1K per month per kid (so significantly less than what you're talking but still a chunk of change).  In the infant room there's 1 teacher per 5 babies.  In 2s it's one teacher per 7.  So, we'll say 1 per 6.  So, 6 kids is $6,000 per month per teacher, or $72,000 per year.  Sounds pretty good until you consider that they also pay for the facility, insurance, a director, an assistant director, food, a cafeteria employee, a bus, bus driver.  All I can conclude is that it's sucky all the way around.  It's hella expensive for parents and yet, it's not like anyone's getting rich off of it.

    This is quite true and I would be interested to see what their overhead costs are... I am going to assume that they aren't small because it is a nice facility. However, they seem to pass on that cost to the parents. Their cost for an infant for daycare is $2,000 a month. They seem to have a large staff and clientele (large wait list). I guess just comparing it to daycares in my area it's ridiculous-- ones closer to me (and we're only talking a distance of 30 mins) cost roughly $300 a week for an infant. But I agree I guess looking at it if you don't raise prices by a lot you aren't going to be making much money

  • Could you find a home daycare for your LO? They are significantly cheaper in most cases. I paid $140/wk for my DD. Or what about keeping another kid at your own home? I didnt read all your responses but Im guessing you have some kind of childcare experience since you were applying at daycares. I did the math for myself - I could keep LO at home and two other babies for $600/mo and make more than I make at my current job. If I had a house big enough, I would actually consider doing that..

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