Here’s what California childcare providers are carrying into 2026, and what we’re finally letting go of, in voice, at the end of the year.
What we’re bringing
The discipline of operating with real reserves. The providers who survived this stretch are the ones with cushion. We’re keeping building the reserve.
Honest pricing. We’re done quietly subsidizing our businesses with our own labor. Rates reflect costs. Increases are communicated transparently. The trust is stronger when the math is honest.
Better systems. Renewal calendars. Daily attendance closes. Subsidy reporting on Tuesdays. The boring infrastructure that makes the program steady.
Real investment in staff. Differentials. Planning time. Real breaks. Career paths. The retention math finally makes sense to us.
Honest tour conversations. Specific value over generic ‘quality.’ Real comparison with TK when asked. Letting families decide with clear information.
Stronger community. Peer groups. Provider networks. Two or three people we can text in a hard week. The isolation that broke so many of us is what we’re leaving behind.
Better boundaries with families. Communication hours. Response time policies. Late-pickup policies. The boundaries that protect our teams and our households.
Compliance as a steady practice. Not panic. Not memory. A system that runs whether we’re tired or not.
A two-year planning posture. Looking past the current quarter. Making decisions today that compound over years.
Pride in the work. The quiet recognition that we are running real businesses that serve real families. The field is hard. We are doing meaningful work.
What we’re leaving behind
Apologizing for our rates. They reflect what care costs. We’re done.
Hoping the labor market will shift back. It won’t. We’re building hiring pipelines, paying competitively, and investing in retention.
Trying to be everything to every family. We have programs. They serve specific families well. The ones who fit, we love. The ones who don’t, we let go.
Carrying every family’s burden personally. We hold space. We don’t absorb it all. Boundaries are not unkind.
Believing that policy will fix the math soon. We engage. We advocate. We also build the operational independence to survive whatever comes.
Pretending the work isn’t hard. It’s hard. Naming that doesn’t make us weak. It makes us honest.
Operating from fear. Of licensing. Of bad reviews. Of competition. Of failure. The fear didn’t protect us. The systems do.
Isolation. We have peers now. We’re going to keep them.
Sacrificing our own families for the program. We can’t pour from empty. Time for our households is non-negotiable.
The belief that we have to be perfect. We don’t. We have to be steady. There’s a difference.
Into 2026. Steady programs. Real wages. Honest pricing. Strong communities. Boundaries. Systems. And the kids — always the kids — at the center of why we’re doing this.
Happy new year to the providers, parents, and policymakers who care about California children. The work continues.