My mum did family daycare while I was growing up - it was fantastic! She earnt good money from it (as a single mum managed to send me to a private school - she did cleaning and weekend jobs as well though) and it gave her great flexibility. The kids loved it and over the 10 or so years she did it she looked after so many wonderful kids. There are limits on the numbers of kids you can have in your home and age spread (ie: they don't let you have 3 under-one-year-olds, for example) but it can work well where you have a couple before and after school as well as a few littler ones during the day. You end up having really loyal parents and kids who love you. Many childcare centres penalise parents for showing up 5 or 10 mins late, and tehcnically as a family day-carer you are allowed to also, but my ma always said to the parents not to worry - she'd rather they got there in one piece than on time. Things like that are really appreciated by the parents and builds a good rapport. You should do really well with your background. If I was to leave my bubba in care, FDC would be my first choice, esp with someone with your skills. Go for it!!