Licensing Season is Here Again

Well, it’s my favorite time of year again, Renewing of the Daycare License. During the year we have the phone interview, the Scheduled Inspection, the Unscheduled Inspection, and a 6 month Inspection. The whole thing is a TON of fun. In the meantime, I have to have yearly training hours, and yearly CPR training. Every 2 years, I need to have a food handlers permit and Health Department Inspection. I also need to have Fire Inspections, and don’t get me started on the Food program people and their visits. This year,  the licensor who usually works with me has retired and I am getting a new guy. Goodbye Sheila, hello What’s-his-name.

Here is a sample of the questions the state licensor will ask:

Do you have any firearms, tobacco, illegal drugs or sexually explicit materials available to children?

Me: Um, no.

(This is the correct answer. What do they think I’m going to say?)

How do you insure that no tobacco, illegal drugs or sexually explicit materials are used on this property?

Me: Um…Well, people just don’t have them here. We don’t allow it.

( Here’s the thing. How does anyone insure that none of that is used on their property? I mean, it’s not like I stand guard out there on the property line with a taser…guns being prohibited in a childcare setting…..prepared to zap chain smokers, and perverts.  On the other hand, I think I have a pretty good idea of what I would have to do to someone if I found them handing out smokes and Playboy to the kids….*hint*: favorite book, The Godfather)

Here’s another of my favorite questions:

What do you do if an infant or toddler is hungry or tired and it is not a scheduled meal or naptime?

Me: Feed them, or nap them.

( Again, this is the correct answer. AND it’s what I do, of course. I’m getting paid to keep these tiny people healthy and happy and so I do the things that keep them that way. But you know me,  I’m dying to say something snarky:))

I like the benefits of the license, I just don’t love the hoops. Or the paperwork. I’m not a paperwork person. You would be shocked, I think at the amount of paperwork I end up with over here, especially for a small in home daycare.

I also don’t love some guy/gal coming into my home to tell me what I’m doing wrong.

On the other hand, eh, what else would I do? I’ve rejected about every other profession/job women in my boat are doing for various reasons. Those jobs definitely don’t sound less complicated than mine. Usually my job is mostly about snacks, stories, diapers and naps. And money. Lest we forget. I mean, after all, a girl’s got to get her nails done:)