This isn't technically a "job" to most people, but I'm very excited. I've signed up to be a home daycare through a local agency, and I will be starting in January. I will be fully licensed, insured and have four more rugrats in my house. Oh boy.
I know it's going to be an adjustment, but I think it will be a positive one. It allows me to stay home with E until he starts school and still earn a decent amount of money. I had reservations about a home daycare, because several people have suggested I do it before. My feeling was that I couldn't spend very much quality time with E if I had a bunch of other kids to run around after. But I changed my mind, or perhaps the timing is better now because he's older. Now my opinion is that he will benefit from the interaction, structure and increased activity level.
I wanted to stay home and devote all of my time on E for two more years at least, but this didn't turn out as well as I thought it would. First, I rely on the bus throughout the week, and for those who know Peterborough, the buses are anything but convenient. Suffice it to say that a 2 hour outing in any other city turns into a four hour outing here. That's a lot of wasted time and energy for very little benefit. We were in the habit of going out for five hours every morning, and only about an hour of that was time spent together. I felt bad because it wasn't easier to interact, but then when we stayed home he got bored and wouldn't sleep well. It was a no-win.
So with all these other children invading our space, I can organize activities and playtime with minimal (ie. zero) travel time. Hey, anyone who thinks I'm taking five children under four years old on the bus is crazy! I still get to spend time with E while allowing him socialization and stimulation, and I get to save money on bus passes too!
There are some added benefits. One being that I can follow a structured routine every day that includes exercise, playtime and learning. Come on, that's just fun! Oh, I'm good at that kind of thing too. I will receive a whole bunch of training for free as well, and maybe when I want to rejoin the work force outside of my home, it will open up some new opportunities for me.
There are some things I'm not looking forward to though. The most obvious is nap time. There will be a gaggle of kids downstairs on sleeping mats for 1-2 hours, but I don't envision them sleeping. I think I may purchase a video monitor, and maybe an intercom system so they know I am watching.....
The other thing I'm not looking forward to is outdoor time. Don't get me wrong, I love taking kids outside to play, but our local park has been closed for two years and will remain closed at least until next summer, maybe longer. Our backyard is large, but I don't have a play structure or swing set. I will be stocking up on outdoor toys, clearance or used of course, and then I may feel better, but for now I see me and a group of children standing in the backyard looking at each other. There's only so long a ball can remain interesting.
These things aside, I am still quite excited. I gave them January as my starting date because there are several legal things to do, like First Aid training, Police Check and making the house safe. That will take up most of November and then it will be December which is Christmas and is crazy. Besides, there's a certain sense of poetry (is that the word I want?) in starting something so big in the New Year. It may be small potatoes to other people, but for me and my family, it will be a significant change. There is one other thing I forgot to add about the timeline. I have less than two months to teach E to sleep until at least 6 am.......I`m not optimistic.
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