A Dream Finally Realized

Almost exactly 7 years ago, I quit a very stressful and all-consuming job as the residential coordinator of a few group homes serving individuals with developmental disabilities.  My job was so stressful that I quit without finding another job.  I had built up enough leave (because I wasn’t ever able to take any time off!) that I had 6 weeks built up.  I was confident that I could find something in that time.  This was the first time I remember looking up the requirements to become an in-home daycare.

Obviously I found a different job and did not follow through with the in-home daycare idea at that time.  But, I came back to it several times at various points in my life.  Generally, I would revisit it as I became dissatisfied with my job or following the birth of one of our children. 

After Delilah was born, we had to reevaluate our childcare situation.  In order to afford to pay for childcare, I would have had to switch to work full-time, which made absolutely no sense to me.  Russell switched to an overnight shift, that way one of us was home with the kids at all times.  However, after about a year of working nights and getting up earlier than he’d like so that I could go to work began to wear on him and a new arrangement was necessary.  We knew that we wanted to have a third baby; therefore we didn’t want to make any drastic changes prior to that.  But, the idea kept lingering in my mind and I just couldn’t let it go.  Could I actually go through with my plan to become an in-home daycare?

Then an opportunity arose for me to watch a few kids in the morning before I had to go to work.  I thought this was a good plan because I could get me feet wet in regards to the whole daycare thing and I could make a little extra money!  I had such a fun time doing activities with the kids, and my kids liked having friends come over every day.  I really felt like I was on the right path.

Once I became pregnant with Ephraim it was time to start planning the transition.  We decided that it made sense to just quit my job when I would have left for maternity leave and start the daycare process.  It took a few months after he was born to get back on my feet.  This made me nervous and I did, at one point, worry that we would never get everything together.  But, we did.  And once the worker called to schedule an inspection, I was ready to go!  Actually, I think she was impressed with how prepared I was.  And all of our hard work paid off because we were licensed later that day!  Little Sprouts Clubhouse is officially open!

It’s a thing of beauty, isn’t it?

Weekend Recap - Thanksgiving Edition

Ah, my first long weekend since I became “self-employed.”  It was so nice.  But, as you probably guessed, we were busy, busy, busy!!  The festivities actually started MUCH earlier than usual.  On Tuesday, I was able to volunteer at Jameson’s school.  They had a Thanksgiving program and I, along with 2 other moms, helped the kids to roll out, cut, and bake cookies for refreshments after the show.  It was so fun to see him in his element.  I swear I could sit all day and just watch him at school!

Jameson was sooooooo excited for his program.  He asked everyone he encountered if they were going to his “show” and if they said no, he would say “that’s okay, we’ll record it for you.”  Well, Papa Terry, Mama O, Cousin Alaina, Nannie Sandy, Aunt Rachel, Uncle Ben, and Aunt Becca were able to attend.  Let me just tell you, it was THE CUTEST thing that I have ever seen!!  And here it is for your viewing pleasure!!  After the program, we ate lunch at Pizza Pie Guys with Papa Terry, Mama O, and Cousin Alaina.  Then Wednesday night, Jameson attended his very first overnighter at the JCC.  Only, we weren't sure how he'd handle staying overnight (or how *I* would, for that matter!), so we opted to have him stay until 10 instead.  Then Russell and I took the chance to sneak away for dinner and a movie before picking Jameson up.  And after that, I had the AMAZING opportunity to drop off some gifts that a wonderful group of ladies and I pooled together to give to a friend whose daughter is going through some things.

Thursday, of course, was Thanksgiving.  We had a wonderful, family filled day.  Just like we have done for the past few years, we had lunch with my family (Dad’s side) and dinner with Russell’s family.  We were treated to two delicious Thanksgiving meals.  We were able to catch up with some family that we don’t get to see very often.  All with very minimal drama – pretty good for two family get-togethers!  I feel very lucky to have so many wonderful people to call my family!

Friday was a recover day.  We relaxed, watched some football and ate anything other than turkey!  Haha!

Saturday we took family pictures with my friend Amy.  This was a reschedule.  We were supposed to do them earlier, but something else came up…  :-)  Anyway, I am thrilled about them!  We had a lot of fun without any major meltdowns – pretty impressive considering we had 5 people to keep happy!  I’ll post a few pictures once our holiday letters go out!

Sunday was another lazy day – soaking up the very last day of our long weekend.  Then, on Monday stuff got real.  We submitted the last wave of paperwork to daycare licensing.  So, it’s just a matter of time before we get inspected and we’re off and running!!  Eeek!!

Weekend Recap

This weekend was another fairly laid back weekend for us.  Russell started it off by having an outpatient procedure done Friday morning.  Everything went successfully, but he had to take it easy this weekend.  But, more on that later.

We had a pretty lazy Saturday.  We were able to sleep in.  After lunch, Kellie and the twins came over to watch the Husker game and then we ate dinner together.  And that’s about all we got accomplished.  It was GLORIOUS!!!  Every once in a while you need a day like that.

Sunday was a bit busier.  I ran around town getting some of the items we need for the daycare and for my doula bag (more on that later, hopefully).  Then, after lunch, Russell got ready for work while the kids and I went to a birthday party for a friends’ son.  Once we got home, we ate dinner and then I busied myself putting away my purchases from earlier.  Then, I let the momentum continue and I worked on some neglected areas upstairs.  And after all that, it was time to lay my weary self down in bed, reboot, and prepare for the next week.

Happy Monday, everyone!

Surprise!

Knock, knock, knock!

Who’s there?

The Fire Inspector.

The Fire Inspector, w….WHAT!?!?

I’m sure most people know by now that we are applying for our daycare license.  We submitted the start of our paperwork about a month ago.  I received a letter stating as much and informing us that the next step would be the fire inspection.  The letter said to allow some time for the fire inspector to receive the referral and then to schedule our inspection.  About a week and a half ago, I left a voicemail asking him to return my call.  I never heard back, so I called again on Thursday and left a second voicemail.  Monday there’s a knock at the door and it’s none other than the fire inspector!  So, he came in and got started as I tried not to PANIC!  And of course, while he’s here I have two crying babies and two insane toddlers who choose that very moment to LOUDLY chase the cats.

Fortunately, Russell had already installed the additional smoke detector we needed and most everything else was not even an issue because our house is big enough and new enough that it already met the majority of the requirements.  He did inform us that we were, in fact, able to use the bedrooms upstairs as a part of our daycare.  So, that will make the nap time and potential overnight issue easier.  So, we paid the man off….errr, I mean we paid the fee and we passed the fire inspection!  The next steps are some more paperwork and the State inspection! 

Whew!