Caring for Sue Yumol spends her days wiping tears, giving hugs and affection, fostering learning, teaching conflict management skills and a lot more as a child-care provider working out of her home in Aiea.
the children
Sue Yumol's child-care job
lets her get more involved
with her own kidsFOREVER YOUNG
Nancy Arcayna / narcayna@starbulletin.com
Often, childcare providers do not get the credit they deserve, she says. "I really feel there is a lack of respect for what I do. Some people still don't see this as a serious business. But for me, I have to work and it's my income. And I'm just lucky to enjoy my work.
"On a few occasions, people wanted to pay me what they felt I was worth. You wouldn't go to the grocery store or another business and tell them you didn't have enough money, and then see if they would accept a lower amount for the goods."
Yumol said she felt sorry that some families were having financial difficulties, but said she has to think of her family first. The charge for services is $450 a month for each child.
Yumol, who used to be an office worker, made a career change to daycare 10 years ago because she wanted to stay home with her daughter.
"I didn't want to leave Lauren with anyone else," she explained as she bounced 9-month-old Jesse on her lap, engaging in a game of pat-a-cake. Jesse is one of the five children she watches daily.Yumol, 37, also has a 16-year-old son, Marc.
"This job allows me to be involved in my own children's extracurricular activities. At my other job, I'd get off at five, have to deal with traveling time and even go in to work on weekends. ... Now, when the day is over, my work is done until the first child arrives at my home the next morning."
Her family pitches in whenever necessary, including Mauro, Sue's husband, 10-year-old Lauren and Marc.
Yumol also calls Parentline if she has questions or needs an opinion on something.
"When my husband is home on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, he helps out. Once in a while, when the children are taking a nap, I sneak out to do some errands while he watches them."
While there are no medical benefits and the profession suffers from a lack of respect, Yumol claimed that the rewards far outweigh the drawbacks.
"Mornings are the busiest and since imagination is so important, sometimes we just play with boxes or create art projects with different size pieces of paper, markers or crayons," she said. "I do whatever keeps them interested.
"Parents come back to me and tell me about things that they noticed their child has learned," Yumol said. "Others notice that their children are becoming more independent.
"The kids here learn table manners, and most are eating by themselves by the age of 18 months. It's definitely rewarding when the kids don't want to leave at the end of the day. It means that they like being in my home."
Most of the kids stay in Yumol's child-care program from the time they are infants until they enter school. The keiki range in age from 3 months to 4 years old.
"When I first started, I used to sit and cry," she said. "It took me about a year to get used to things. Kids want something from you all the time, whether it is attention or actual objects. Now, if the kids weren't here keeping me busy, I'd really miss them."
Mauro added: "It takes a special person to do this type of work. The kids play with me, but they really want her. She is like a mother figure to them."
The number of people running their own businesses, as the sole employee, is growing in Hawaii and the United States as a whole. Here are the latest estimates on nonemployer establishments* from the federal government. Nonemployer establishments
Number of Receipts Establishments (in $1,000) U.S. total (all industries) 15,708,727 $643,720,460 Child daycare services 501,009 $5,107,053 Hawaii total (all industries) 71,039 $2,560,133 Child daycare services 1,307 $12,486
* Includes only establishments that have no paid employees besides owner, subject to federal income tax. One owner may have multiple establishments.Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Non-Employer Statistics 1998, issued July 2001
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