Inside our first national home daycare conference after 30 years as providers

<p>Leave us a voicemail at 651-300-2277. Your question could help thousands of providers.</p><p><br></p><p>We packed up the podcast and spent four days exhibiting at the NAFCC National Conference in Chicago, our first family child care conference ever. This is the full recap: the sweltering plane, one 30,000-step day of Chicago tourism, and what it was actually like to sit at a booth talking with providers, trainers, and advocates from all over the country.</p><p><br></p><p>We get into how different licensing, ratios, pay, and benefits look from state to state, why so many providers can afford staff, the debate over whether anyone should say &quot;daycare&quot; anymore, and the stories we cannot stop thinking about, including the daycare families who renovated a provider&#39;s basement while she was at the conference. Plus our first pod swap, the best compliment this podcast has ever received, and our giveaway winner announcement.</p><p><br></p><p>Coming soon: a finance and retirement episode for providers, and a walkthrough of Minnesota&#39;s new licensing rules.</p><p><br></p><p>CHAPTERS</p><p><br></p><p>00:00 Intro: never alone, always lonely</p><p>00:51 We exhibited at the NAFCC conference in Chicago</p><p>01:45 Travel day: the sweltering plane</p><p>06:16 One big Chicago day: Skydeck, deep dish, fireworks</p><p>11:11 What exhibiting was actually like</p><p>12:03 Providers from all over the country</p><p>14:39 &quot;You shouldn&#39;t call yourselves the Daycare Sisters&quot;</p><p>16:55 Provider stories that stuck with us</p><p>18:06 Burnout, feeling inadequate, getting re-energized</p><p>22:02 Staff, subsidies, and benefits state by state</p><p>25:52 The conference app and the chatting chair</p><p>30:45 Wildfire smoke and the no-pool hotel</p><p>31:49 Meetups, badge scans, and exhibitor exhaustion</p><p>39:49 Our first pod swap and the SNL compliment</p><p>43:05 What we&#39;d change next time</p><p>46:32 What&#39;s next on the podcast</p><p>47:28 Giveaway winner</p><p>48:16 Outro</p><p><br></p><p>KEY TAKEAWAYS</p><p><br></p><p>- Licensing, ratios, subsidies, and benefits for family child care vary enormously from state to state</p><p>- Providers in states with stronger subsidies or benefit programs are far more likely to afford staff, including homes offering 24/7 care</p><p>- Slower conference traffic meant longer, more meaningful conversations with providers, trainers, and advocacy leaders</p><p>- The field is debating the word &quot;daycare,&quot; with some preferring terms like family educator, but we are keeping our name</p><p>- Getting back into the provider community can be a real antidote to burnout</p><p><br></p><p>RESOURCES MENTIONED</p><p><br></p><p>- NAFCC (National Association for Family Child Care): https://nafcc.org</p><p>- Brightwheel and its curriculum, formerly Mother Goose Time: https://mybrightwheel.com</p><p>- Parent Aware, Minnesota&#39;s quality rating system: https://www.parentaware.org</p><p>- The Child Care Directors Chair Podcast with Erica Saccoccio: https://childcaredirectorschair.buzzsprout.com</p><p>- TRAILS, West Virginia&#39;s traveling toy and book lending program for providers: http://www.wvdhhr.org/choices/for-providers/trails.html</p><p><br></p><p>ABOUT THE DAYCARE SISTERS</p><p><br></p><p>Brandee and Erin are two sisters, moms to nine kids between them, and home daycare owners with over 30 years of combined experience. This podcast is the adult conversation providers never get during the day.</p><p><br></p><p>CONNECT</p><p><br></p><p>Website: https://www.TheDaycareSisters.com</p><p>Email: info@thedaycaresisters.com</p><p>Voicemail: 651-300-2277</p><p><br></p><p>#daycareprovider #daycarelife #homedaycare #momlife #childcareproviders</p>