Child Care Options For Stay At Home Moms And Dads

Affordable Child Care Options For The Stay At Home Business Parent

Hi Folks

A different blog from my usual 'Help' ones and this is because I do have a lot of young women who follow me. Time and time again I give tips and advice and don't see them implemented as soon as they should be. The highest percent of reasons is usually put down to having kids and all that entails when looking after them. This involves getting them up in the morning, feeding them, getting them off to school, picking them up from school, extracurricular activities they're involved in to mention just a few.

Although working at home can be one of the most rewarding experiences in the world, one of the biggest obstacles can come from the ones we love the most - our kids. To be successful home business owners, we must find affordable and effective child care to maximize our work at home productivity.

Perhaps the biggest obstacle for the stay at home business mom or dad is the kids. That screaming toddler is not going to be quiet when you have business calls or take that nap to let you get your work done. This will be the same child who will eat all of your post-its and stick food into your hard drive. As you are ripping your hair out and getting more and more frustrated you will wonder what the point of working at home was if you were going to still need childcare. You were probably envisioning no more commutes, flexible hours, and lunch with the kids’ everyday.

Your childcare options are flexible as well. That is the beauty of being self-employed. Here are some of the most common affordable ways to take care of kids while you build your family's fortune from home:

(1) Childcare Co-op:

Find a group of work at home parents and swap off childcare duties. You can keep track of how many hours you watch each child and use the time you accrue when you need it most. The great thing about this is it is free. The downside is that you will have to give up work time to handle other people’s children.

(2) Trading or Mom-swapping:

This is the smaller version of co-op. this will involve you and a good friend trading off childcare days. Make sure you set clear boundaries about when you will take the other child and when they will take yours. You don’t want to be taken advantage of. You will also want to make sure the kids like each other and get along well. If they don’t then this will end up being a bad experience.

(3) Sitter Sharing:

Share a sitter with a friend. You can have the sitter watch both kids at the same time and split the cost or use the sitter on alternate days. Make sure that you have a written agreement on how the sitter is used and what you will be paying to avoid any unseen complications.

(4) Barter:

Trade your products and services with a neighbour or friend in exchange for childcare. This will keep you from spending money and still pay the person doing the care for you.

(5) Day Care:

You will find that the right day care center will be a rewarding experience for both child and parent. Which day care is best is entirely up to you and beyond the scope of this blog. Costs vary from center to center and from state to state. But, you will find that the return on investment will be worth it because of your greater focus and productivity.

To come up with inexpensive childcare solutions you must have great networking prowess. Spread the word that you are looking for childcare to everyone you know. Think in terms of trading and business opportunities. You are looking for a partner in business deal. This will help you to get what you need. Some moms are lucky to have businesses that are kid friendly. They are the lucky for sure. Those ladies who have to make endless phone calls or have meetings may find that childcare of some sort is unavoidable. Try your best to get the right childcare for you and not spend an arm and a leg getting it.

I believe that I have made some valid points but I know that I as a mere male will probably have got it completely wrong and if so please feel free to put me in my place with a comment below.

Have a great day folks wherever you are in the world.

Robert Allan

ps

Last time I looked this blog is in the number one spot on Google.