Have you ever been called a babysitter?  Ugh! I know I’m not the only one offended when someone calls me a babysitter.  My reaction is always professional but inside I’m saying, “EXCUUUUUUSE ME? I am so much MORE than that! I am a home daycare provider!”  Can you relate?

7 Big Reasons Home Daycare Is Not the Same As Babysitting

1. Home daycare providers pay taxes.

Let’s check this box off right out of the gate.  As a licensed home daycare, I pay taxes.  Most babysitters are occasional, under the table employees.  They don’t pay taxes on their income.  But we do!  Even if you get enough deductions and use your spouse’s withholdings so you don’t have to pay in, you still have to get all the paperwork together and file.

→ Psst….here’s some FREE templates to help make record keeping and taxes easier.

2. Home daycare providers keep more than one child or family.

The majority of home daycare providers care for more than one kid.  A babysitter only keeps the kids in one family at a time.

But as a business, we have to keep our ratios close to full in order to make our numbers work out at the end of the month.  And there’s a lot more stress when you add an extra 3+ kids to the mix!

There’s been days I’ve had 8 kids here all day (6 daycare, my own 2).  Does a “babysitter” do that?  PUH-LEASE! You have to be a super teacher to survive 9 hours on your own with 8 kids under 5!

3. Home daycare providers work excessive hours.

Since babysitters typically care for one family at a time, their schedule goes right along with the family’s schedule, too.

But home daycare providers care for many families at a time, who usually have various schedules.  Which means we might be working from 6 AM – 6 PM every day.

Not to mention the cleaning, meal planning, grocery shopping, record keeping, and lesson planning we do outside of daycare hours.

Don’t you dare call a home daycare provider lazy.

4. Home daycare providers follow safety regulations and undergo inspections.

All licensed home daycare providers have rules to follow.

Each state is a little different, but in Pennsylvania, they have rules for everything from my contract to how to wash hands.  I have a yearly inspection where someone from the state comes to check out my home for safety issues.  She also looks over all my files to make sure that everything is in order and I have the proper paperwork for each child.

Let me tell you, I hate paperwork.  It’s definitely not why I got into this business.

5. Home daycare providers are business owners.

And there’s a lot of responsibilities that come with owning a business.

Record keeping and chasing down clients who didn’t pay.  Setting policies and then enforcing them.  And don’t forget about marketing!  Employees add another dimension to owning a business, too.

Basically, it’s a whole other full time job just to be the director of your own home daycare.

6. Home daycare providers are long term caregivers.

Babysitters come and go.

But a home daycare provider is one of a child’s first caregivers.   It’s so important for young kids to have the opportunity to build up a relationship with their caregivers!

And that’s what we are.  I’ve always told my kids to call me Aunt Shannon.  Because I want to be a part of their family, and I want to make them a part of mine.  I want to spoil them but also have them know when I mean business.  But most of all, I want them to know it’s okay to come to me any time they need me.

Babysitters don’t do that.  They aren’t around long enough to build that relationship to the point where the child respects your authority but also loves to visit you.

Nothing melts my heart like the toddlers smiling at me when mom brings them through the door each day!

7. Home daycare providers teach.

Whether they make up formal lesson plans or not, most home daycare providers are doing an excellent job of teaching toddlers and preparing preschoolers for school.

Most parents think that they need a formal school or a tutor to get their child ready for kindergarten.  But the best learning comes through play, AND a quality teacher-student relationship.  A kid in a class of 20 is just not going to have the same relationship as a 1:6 ratio like a home daycare provider.

And since learning comes naturally through play, kids learn at a home daycare, too.  They learn their colors, shapes, how to hold a book, social skills, and new vocabulary just from interacting with the adult and playing with the other children.

→ Read more about How To Easily Teach Preschool in Your Home Daycare

What did I forget?  Comment below and tell me more reasons why you think daycare is not the same as babysitting!