'I Would Have Lost All My Income': Pandemic Changing Face Of Home Daycare

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — You always hear the sound of kids in Tiandra Blakemore's home. If they're not from her own three children, they're from the other kids who attend her home daycare.

But it's not just littles in her daycare anymore. The pandemic forced Blakemore to think out of the box. Many of her parents now need her to watch their older children too since they're home doing distance learning. If not, she'd lose their business altogether.

"And I was like, 'Oh gosh, that would be half of my income gone in one day,'" said Blakemore.

Now there are toddlers playing in one room and older kids doing distance learning in another.

"I went to Ikea and I built some tables and desks and chairs and I made it work," said Blakemore.

Toni Denard doesn't know what she'd do without it. At one point, she even worried she'd lose her job without a daycare option.

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"It would be virtually impossible. My job hasn't made it difficult. There just isn't an option to do what I do from home," said Denard.

Her daughter, Xaria, loves being back in daycare considering it means being with her little brothers.

"Because today we played in playdoh and they made a huge mess so I helped her clean it up and stuff," said Xaria.

The sound of kids inside Blakemore's home is now bringing a sigh of relief for one mom able to keep her job while keeping another mom in business.

"I'm just grateful I can report to work. She's been a blessing to me and my kids, It's been awesome," said Denard.

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"This is also how I feed my kids. So if I were to not offer distance learning, I would have lost all my income, so I had to do what I had to do," said Blakemore.

Blakemore says she'll continue offering distance learning as long as necessary and says she still has several open spaces.