A NEW LIFE:From supermarkets to childcare, Peter Smith says he is not only enjoying his new business, he's loving it, writes Michelle McDonagh.
AS THE ONLY male owner/operator of a childcare facility in Ireland, Peter Smith is certainly in the minority, but he loves getting up every day and "getting paid to have fun".
As a male in a predominantly female world, Smith has had to deal with all of the jokes and sniggers about his chosen occupation, but coming from a household where his father was the primary carer, it seems perfectly normal to him.
"I wanted to create a 'home-to-home' style childcare facility and to care for children in a homely environment. Central to my idea is the contentment of the child and also that of the parents where a child should never experience feelings of anxiety and where the parent should never experience feelings of guilt."
Running Daddy Daycare in Gorey, Co Wexford is a big change from Smith's previous career with the Superquinn retail group in Dublin for over 20 years. He started working part-time in Superquinn at 15, eventually working his way up to management level.
After 13 years at management level, Smith was offered a redundancy package in early 2003 which he accepted. He felt his life had become a bit dull and it was time for a change. Although he did have the idea of going into childcare at the back of his mind, he kept it to himself because he knew people would think he was crazy to make such a move.
In 2003/4 Smith undertook a feasibility study, focusing on the requirements of parents and the care of children of various ages, along with the existing facilities available to them. He also attended various childcare seminars and conferences including the first Men In Childcareconference in Ireland.
With a teenage daughter, a young son and a wife who travelled extensively in Ireland and Britain for her work, Smith had first-hand experience of the needs of parents and, more importantly, of children.
He embarked on a series of courses including business, computers (as he was not even able to send an e-mail) and a two-year part-time childcare course.
"It was daunting being the sole male in a female childcare class. I was like the black sheep for the first month. People were wondering why I was there and every thought was probably going through their minds and mine but they came to realise that I was really serious about childcare."
When he was refused planning permission for his childcare facility at his home in Wicklow, Smith moved the whole family 30 miles down the road to Hollyfort, Gorey where he had the land to create the kids' paradise that he dreamed of.
With the help of a grant from Government agency Pobal, Daddy Daycare opened in September 2006 and quickly established a reputation for offering childcare with a difference. Children as young as two years can be found baking cakes, cycling bikes, puddle hunting, making sandwiches, dressing up, playing on swings, bouncing on the trampoline, cooking sausages on the local beach and running mad around the hay bales and concrete tunnel.
Armed with their own wheelbarrows and shovels, the children plant carrots, broad beans, cabbage, strawberries and raspberries in the garden, and as Smith remarks, the dirtier they get, the better.
"It's what we did when we were kids. I remember working in the back garden with my dad. He was the main carer in my family as mother was very ill - we never knew any different. He cared for me and my five sisters while also keeping down a full-time job. He was a very big influence on my life. I grew up thinking it was normal for men to cook, iron and make beds."
Smith started the business with 12 children and now has 36, between his playschool and afterschool services ranging in age from two-and-a-half to 12 years.
He does not provide full-time daycare or take babies under two as he says the regulations are too strict in this area and there are plenty of other places providing this service in Gorey.
He employs one full-time Montessori teacher ensuring "a happy mix between fun and teaching" and two part-time staff but Smith himself is Daddy Daycare.
"I'm not just enjoying it, I'm loving it. When I get up in the morning, I am actually paid to have fun. I could have got another job in retail but I changed my stars. I couldn't have done it without the support of my wife, who allowed me to take six months off to get my head together while she was out earning money."
Smith admits that if the family was depending on the income from Daddy Daycare alone, without the income from his wife, Susan's company, it would be a struggle.
Despite the perception that there's a lot of money to be made in childcare, he points out that the costs are enormous and it's very difficult to compete with Government-sponsored community childcare.
Now that the business is entering its third year, Smith hopes to start taking a reasonably good wage from September. Although he has been invited to get involved in other childcare facilities, he points out that he is Daddy Daycare and he can't multiply himself.