Jul 7, 2011

Well, I tried... (and failed.)

So, after going to my end-of-year staff luncheon and then freaking out, I took a leap. I'd been thinking for a long time about how I could teach art classes at local daycares as a way to halfway stay at home. I teach elementary art, and I do art camps each summer (even last summer when I was pregnant and babysitting fulltime and TIRED) so I'm well prepared to do something like teach a bunch of kids in daycare. I'm talking the four year olds though. Maybe three year olds. Much looser expectations, of course.

So I called, like, ALL the local daycare centers. A bunch of them. Pitched the idea. Most were like, "eh... send us a flyer" without so much as a hint of enthusiasm about it. Some flat out said no ("We're an inclusive preschool.").

One center was excited for the idea and we set up a meeting to discuss logistics. Classes on Fridays, four classes to a session, $10/class, I'd have to bring my daughter, etc. That meeting was a couple of weeks ago. I created a flyer for the parents, she sent it home to the two four-year-old classrooms and I waited.

Today was the deadline for signups, with classes to start tomorrow. I called this afternoon to see how many kids signed up, and was hit with a bit bummer. One parent paid, one promised payment tomorrow. That's it.

Such a disappointment. I put a lot of hope in that this could work. Of course it would not be enough to let me stay at home, but a little bit of extra cash would have been really nice (we need more diapers, a breastpump, and our anniversary is coming up). But for only one kid for sure, maybe two, I can't justify dragging Adelaide along without knowing that she'd be in a good mood.

So, I canceled the class for now. I plan on trying again next summer while Adelaide is still in daycare. I plan on having her keep going for a few half-days over the summer break so that there is still that consistency (and give me time to do camps and take lots of early morning naps.... ahhh...).

I am SO bummed. BUT! At least I tried. I went for it instead of wondering what if. I put myself out there which I rarely do. I tend to stay where I'm comfortable, and even though this didn't really work (ok, didn't work at all), I know I want to try again. Later. When Adelaide is older and I'm not tired all the time and I'm not as emotionally tied to the idea of it being a way to stay at home. Later it will be something fun to do to expand my career as an art teacher, and make a little bit of extra money.

Have you ever put yourself out there? How did it go?

2 comments:

  1. Stopping by from the Alexa hop! Would love a visit back :)

    Kristen from http://wishfulthinking247.blogspot.com/

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  2. I have been following your blog for a while as I stumbled across it one day early in my pregnancy with my own little "Adelaide" on the way! :) I actually own a business where I teach dance classes within childcare centers. I would love to help you out with some marketing ideas and give you some pointers on the in's and out's of getting into centers, advertising to parents, etc. If interested shoot me an email... kinderdancing@yahoo.com. There is a huge market out there for these kinds of classes and if you do it on your own your overhead could stay quite low. I built my business from ground zero and marketed to centers like crazy - had 7 within a week or two. That was four years ago - I now have classes in 18 childcare centers, 4 teachers working for me, about 200 students and will more or less be a stay at home mom while making about the same income (sometimes more) than I made when I was a school teacher. You can check out my website at www.northaustindance.com :)

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