Family Friend and Neighbor Child Care

Ms. Stacey
11 minutes ago
2 min read

It was 2013 when my husband and I decided we would open up our home as an in-home childcare. We were foster parents with the state of Arizona and I wanted a job that I could do while still providing the best care to the children we were fostering. The childcare was the perfect solution. I never knew how much it would revolutionize my life.

I was able to stay home with my youngest daughter throughout her first most formative years. I didn’t have to worry about her. I was able to get household chores done while simultaneously contributing to the family economy. But most importantly, I was able to do what I feel like I was put on this earth to do; guide young children.

In 2017, the in-home childcare morphed into an in-home preschool. Instead of being open all day every day to all children birth through five years old, I became a school open only 2 days a week in the mornings with a curriculum to prepare three and four-year-olds for kindergarten.

This became my sweet spot. I absolutely loved my job! I thrived at work. Teaching young children unquestionably suited me. Working out of my home was fantastic.

“Find a job you enjoy doing, and you will never have to work a day in your life.”

― Mark Twain

I had become involved with a group through the United Way of Pinal County by the name of Family Friend & Neighbor Program. A grant funded program for people who provided child care and education to young children out of their homes that weren’t their direct children became a huge source of support for me. Some people took care of foster children like I had, some took care of neighbors’ children like I currently did, and still others provided care for nieces, nephews, grandchildren or great grandchildren. After a couple of years reaping the benefits of this amazing program, I became employed by them for 5 years and trained countless of other in-home child care providers and educators.

Fast forward 10 years from the beginning of this particular journey to March 2024. This is when my daughter gave me the life changing news that I was going to become a grandmother! Of course I didn’t blink, think twice, or hesitate when I said, I would help her out with the baby when he arrived.

Some days it’s a little nuts to take care of an infant and still run the preschool. And while, I’m sure there are many benefits to children being separated by ages and stages for their development in big corporate classrooms, I think having the mixed ages in our small environment is downright precious! The older children are innately protective and nurturing toward my grandson. My grandson on the other hand, is growing up hearing loads of vocabulary and observing big kids at play. I see so many advantages to having the baby interact with the preschoolers.

But perhaps one of my favorite aspects of this new phase of my career is the multigenerational love this child receives. And that, my friends, is the secret sauce of the family child care.