O Women!

Kid's Ministry Postcard Front
Originally uploaded by ChrisMoncusPhoto.com

I work hard to bring me a status and satisfaction from myself. Extra special is that I also get compensated with a paycheck. That paycheck brings vacation plans, Dinner outside, some other luxury frills and a satisfaction of being able to save some at the end of the month. That also buys some future security.

It also brings in the guilt for not being with my child for the most of the day.
Even though all these decisions are made for family security and prosperity, our nuclear family or our immediate extended family irony is, I feel that I am alone in it, debating with myself day and night, every single moment of my wake life. I am always weighing the pros and cons. No matter what choice I make I am guilty for something else. So I register for Family child care business orientation seminar.
Yesterday I was at the orientation for Family Child care business. It was from 6 PM – 8:00 PM. Though the location was close to home I was going for the first time so I came home an hour earlier and left 25 minutes prior. It was wonderful location; I would have never imagined there would be this huge building sitting on a humongous and manicured landscape in middle on NJ. It seemed if I have driven at least 1 hr south from my town. Well NJ is called the garden state.
As soon as I parked and off went looking for entrance a woman approached me saying the class is by the back of the building. I wondered if it is written on my face that why I am here. Well as it turned out, every person driving by / parking at that time were there for the orientation. So I parked my car at the back of the building and there were another ~ 10 people still lost looking for an entrance. I walked ahead while they stood still wondering and as I figured I signaled them to arrive to where I was. The orientation was held in a huge conference room and there were around 40 people in the room and no more than 4 men. Yeah I guess men have already given up on the Herculean task of child-care, Kudos to those who still gave it a shot. I was amazed to see that majority of the attendees were of color. There were 2 other Indian women, who sat next to each other.
The speakers spoke about every aspects of the business. They talked about the limitation and challenges to great length. I agree that they had every reason to feel that this is not for anybody-everybody. Only people who can love kids unconditionally, walk the thin line between running a business and being in love simultaneously, handle the parents (who always want there kids to be loved THE MOST) and also be prepared to keep their own family priorities straight. There are many legal obligations to keep in mind as well and like with every other business these are tough times here as well. As owner of the business (which can not be expanded beyond certain limit) usually staffed by single person, you are also responsible for accounting, marketing, DR planning. Though a substitute is required, that can arrive at site within 15 minutes.
It was fun to be a part of it and as usual I am debating if this is for me. I definitely wish to attend the next 8 hr session required to become certified and will think about it later.
As you know, I never believe in burning those bridges even if it sometimes means creating new ones.