I put an ad today looking for someone who needs afterschool care for their child. I need the money and I love kids. I hope it happens. I really do love children, I just can't get them too young. This old gal is not chasing anyone and I cannot pick up a child constantly. I think it is just what I need to move on with my life. I hope I can get a child that needs tutoring. I really enjoy teaching.
Roxy,
I know you want to move on. But lets be honest here with your RA still not well controlled, a very very recent possible TIA, and daily pain medications, are you really in any shape for someone to to send their child to you. It was barely 2 weeks ago you couldn't get off the couch. You need to get your health and life on an even keel before you even think about adding to your daily burdens. What would that parent do if in another week you are flaring again and can't take care of their child. We all understand money issues but you are just asking to be put back into the hospital. Your first responsibility to is to improve your health.
Glad you are feeling better Roxy. I'm sure you are trying to come up with a solution with money issues, but truly as a parent I would never consider sending my child/children to someone that is on pain medication or has physical limitations. It's just not safe. I'm sorry about that, but it is a safety issue.
Since you like teaching, why not offer tutoring? Do you have a special subject? At least you'd be at a desk and not responsible for the care of the child, just working with them on homework, etc.
Tutoring would be a great idea?? Do you have your teaching Certificate in Oregon?? You could maybe substitute also. You can chose to do that on the days you feel well.
I agree it's not a good idea Rox. Certainly not at this point. I felt the same way about you taking in a foster child. You don't need to be responsible for a child right now with everything you've got going on. A good bit of the time you aren't up to taking your dogs out.
People need reliable child care. There's too many times when you just aren't up to being a caregiver.
Please give this some more thought before you commit to anything. There's got to be other ways you can come up with to bring in some extra money. I too liek the tutoring idea.
I take care of my mentally ill daughter. I know my limitations. I am talking about a couple hours after school and I am not talking about a toddler. I have a lot of experience with children. I know my limitations. Tutoring is more difficult than babysitting but either way the child would be under my care. I guess this is one more thing I should not have shared on here.Hey Roxy...here is another idea to earn extra dough..What about pet sitting? I have been seeing alot ads for companies that do it, so why not do it as an individual? There are lots of wealthy people that travel in the summer and dont want to kennel their pets. With your experience and know how you would be great at it, and it would be fun and rewarding. I know if you love kids that is fun too...I personally would rather play with someone elses dog than their kids...lol. Anyways, I was just reading in this months issue of First Magazine that the average dog walker gets paid bucks an hour. Can you believe that? The avg. childcare provider gets !
Anyways, with summer season coming maybe you get a kid or two to tutor and a family or two needing a pet sitter and you could make some cash.
Another thing that is making people money, my sister included, is researching people for companies on the internet. Basically it is like being a head hunter. A big company wants to find people to fill a position and they will hire someone to find qualified candidates.
Hope these ideas help you. I totally understand your need to jump back in. Liz is always fussing at me when I push myself, but she did the same thing as soon as she started seeing better days. It is hard to ease back into things. You want to hit the ground running as fast as you can to make up for lost time.
EH...I say go for it! LOL.
OMG you are such a tattle tale!!! I love you tho. Ha! Mother dear. who tattled when I was baking cookies the day after surgery? HMMMM???? Pay backs brat!Roxy, you cannot do day care. That's just crazy. I'm not as bad off as you and I would not do it for someone because I don't feel like I can live up to the responsibility. You have to get your health in order first. That is the first priority. The financial stuff will fall into place.Roxy,
I didn't mean to sound harsh, I'm sure you are a wonderful mother to your daughter. My point is that if I were paying for someone to watch my child, I would want someone that was capable of doing anything necessary in an emergency. I don't think that is possible with physical limitiations and especially on medications. Pain pills can alter your thinking or response time. Also having RA and everything that goes along with it, fatigue, etc. isn't really a fair expectation for you to be able to be strong and have the energy for the child.
There are lots of ways to make money. When my kids were young and I didn't have child care, I made phone calls for 3 car dealerships following up on their service department. I did it when it was convenient for me when the kids were sleeping.
I wish you luck finding something.
Yeah; I didn't mean to offend you.....I just think that today's a good day. Two weeks from now you could be sitting here twlling us "I'm so glad I don't have an 8 year old coming over this afternoon". Parent's want their children to have something constructive and entertaining to do after school. They don't want them to just come to a baby sitters house and watch TV until they can come pick them up.
Try to take the messages here for what they are worth. Stop and think about our point of view. Baby sitting isn't a good idea. That doesn't mean I don't think you care for your daughter.....it just means I know at times even that is a struggle for you. Why add the extra stress for an additional a week. There's got to be another way for you to make money.
I care about you....but I'm not going to pretend to agree with everything you say.
I think babysitting, even in afterschool type situations, is bad, also, Roxy. Unless you have another adult that you could call upon in the event of an emergency, it is unlikely that you could respond quick enough to bear the responsibility of the safety of a child. You could be setting yourself up for some liability that could well outweight the financial benefits of the job.
One other serious consideration: Children are exposed to all kinds of sicknesses and viruses at school. A school aged child coming to your home every day would also expose you to those illnesses. As you already know, most of us are on immunosuppresant meds, and that makes us more vulnerable to infectious diseases. Again, the risks involved just seem to outweigh the benefits. For this same reason, I feel that tutoring may also be problematic for you. I don't know your whole health history, and your immune system may be well enough to overcome the exposure, but it is something to seriously consider.