Hi! I am a NYS registered child care provider. When I started, I was operating out of a small ranch. It was a 2 bedroom that we converted half the attic as a bedroom for our oldest - there were 5 of us living in that house. So believe me, I understand.
The comment about drop in care being unpredictable is dead on. But in home-based child daycare, it's not about what you have, but what you do with it. In my kitchen, the fridge served double duty and was the "bulletin board" for the families with postings of important information. The front closet, I hung hooks on the inside of the door and voila, space for every child to hang their coat and backpack. Every child regardless of age brought a back pack with a change of clothing and whatever else I needed, ie. diapers, wipes, etc. The dining room, every day after lunch, the children helped clear the table, they pushed their chairs into the hall, and voila - nap room. Behind the couch wasn't that large, but I could store the flannel board I made and I used ziploc bags for the flannel characters, etc. I had a couple of small shelves I put on wheels, so I could easily bring the toys from different rooms and then store them away at night so I didn't have to look at my "daycare mess". I learned very quickly to be creative and think outside of the box for a while. Before I made my flannel board, I was using the side of the couch instead because the flannel pieces stuck to that easily!
But there are other advantages - almost everything you own will become a tax write off - the fridge, the furniture, etc. Your time/space percentage will be great once you get that far, because you'll be using almost every inch of your house! Your regular expenses, utilities, cable, etc. will be able to be partial write offs.
If you're in NY State, the Office of Children and Family Services even has some grant money to get you fire extinguishers, smoke detectors, first aid kits, and some traingings you need right away. I love family child care and couldn't be happier with my choice. I've entered my 5th year.
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