Can we still have kids?

After reading all the posts, you have lots to think about!  The main thing is that you have to consider how you want to live your lives.  My dh & I had very demanding corporate jobs for the last 6 years before we moved here & our family life suffered.  It happens everyday in all walks of life.  You have to make time for what is important to you!  There are lots of jobs, careers, professions where we could all use a wake-up call about this!

In this business you have to work around all the aspects of guests and then there is the "behind the scenes" part of the business - marketing, shopping, maintenance, paperwork, etc.  If you are working full-time outside of your B&B, your wife will be doing most of the work.  I guarantee it as there are several of us here in that position with about the same number of rooms that you're talking about (6).  And, you have to be able to count on only yourselves or pay people to work for you.  Don't count on family to just pitch in.  We have grown kids and I just had to disappoint our son by telling him that I might not be able to drive up to see him for his birthday weekend.  If we get bookings, I need to take them since we have been in such a lull.  There are bills to pay!  Sad, I know. 

Separate space is very important for most innkeepers & I think paramount if you have a family.  Every innkeeper that has a family has told me this.  And there are innkeepers that have had to change their living arrangements to improve their quality of family life (move off-site, build a separate smaller home, or expand their quarters are all examples of what some have done).   One of our inns here was recently sold because the owners wanted to spend more time with their school age children, who were born while the parents operated the inn.

We had great friends when our son was in elementary school who owned a restaurant - the mom was the one who kept everything together at home because their dad was always working in the family biz.   Owning your own business is very demanding but it can be done.

Choices...something to think about. 

Come back to the table and everyone else is done and clearing the table and there's your cold plate, the dinner conversation is over and now your kids have to get ready for bed.

Story of my life right now, 100%.  I am ADAMANT about FAMLY TIME. But it does not matter.  The guests feel cheated, I am telling you this for fact.  They WILL TAKE whatever they want to take.  I GET SO ANGRY when a guest corners me and I KNOW MY KIDS are in the kitchen waiting to go shopping or to a movie.  GRRRRRRR!

A guest at check out mentioned he met DH and said, But he didn't seem like he wanted to talk to me.

NO? Because he had worked all morning at the B&B and was off to Lowe's after working all week, and TRYING to spend some time with his family before spending all day in the heat on maintenance and restoration work here.

EVERY WEEKEND is GUEST TIME, NOT FAMILY TIME.  Sometime in the evening IF people are checked in you can do stuff together.

People ask questions and don't want the answers.

You do what you have to do.  You make the best, take advantage of any situation.  If I was running a farm, and the kids had to milk the cows at 4am every day, they would LEARN SOME GOOD THINGS FROM THAT TOO.  Obv any thing you do, any business, any thing at all has it up side and down sides.  BUT - you have to weigh them carefully.

I could make more money and be home evening and weekends EVERY DAY OF THE YEAR if I worked outside my home/B&B.

But now I am able to call the shots, run this business as I want to, do whatever I like. 

If I was going for the niche factor then, yes, but in reality, for me personally, I wouldn't do this with young children. Not to be the pessimist but....

 We started when our son was age 7, daughter 13...and it's still stressful and hard on them, always having to be quiet...living your life around the schedule of the inn, remember, your guests think that you live to serve them, you couldn't possibly have a life outside of the inn.

What about school schedules and activities? How do you make back to school night in the middle of check-ins? (We did that one last night). What if your kids want to play out side and you have guests? Do they want to hang out with your kids? Most of the time,  probably not!

We have to dance around these issues everyday, luckily we have a lot of SPACE and our kids are school age, so they are gone 8 hours a day, 5 days a week! But when the kids are home.... you are in the middle of check-ins- they are doing homework and chores, when you are trying to sit down to a meal together, you have to go check in all of your late guests or go to the door to address any questions or problems your guests may be having...Come back to the table and everyone else is done and clearing the table and there's your cold plate, the dinner conversation is over and now your kids have to get ready for bed.

Innkeeping is already an almost 24/7 job and trying to do it without sleep, you will be taking years off of your life. When you are up all night with a crying or sick child, you may be at the end of your rope physically and emotionally... oh, now add the 24/7 innkeeping schedule.

Tag teaming in the morning to get the kids to school and serve breakfast AT THE SAME TIME! On the weekends, when your guests and your kids are home, how do you share the space so that your kids don't  feel like they are in SOMEONE ELSE'S house and have freedom and yet not disturb the guests? Who's watching your kids when you are cleaning the rooms, cooking, etc?There are a lot of things to keep in mind.  

I will be honest, with a newborn, I would probably be hospitalized from exhaustion trying to do this, raising a baby, while rewarding and wonderful, is hard and draining, I think this job is the only thing I've done that even comes close to the energy drain of the 1st year with my kids.

And no offense but, if I was a guest trying to get away from my kids for a weekend, the last people I would want to be with would be someone else's kids!

If you don't plan well or have any major problems in your marriage now, start saving for the divorce and child support payments!

Seashanty, I agree with you. I think that by having kids, one is more acceptable to having kids as guests. It can be your niche. It can be the "what" that you do.

Will it be difficult? YES! Will it be stressful? YES! Will it be worth it? It's only for you to answer.

I have 2 kids, ages 10 & 9 and we are looking at B&Bs right now. I think that it will help us define who we are in the B&B scene because we will be parents. As our kids grow and leave (hopefully) we will be able to change, too.

Good luck!!!

We have 5 guest rooms in the house and a cottage behind the house.

I hope that leaves a lot of room for adjustment of where we could stay if it becomes an issue. 

It can be done, but it won't be easy.

My kids are 4-1/2... we moved here when they were 2-1/2, opened with one room at 3-1/2... they still cry sometimes, and I leap up to quiet them.  I couldn't have had four rooms with them at 3, but something wonderful happens about the time they turn four and it's a LOT easier when you can tell them to go outside and play, or go downstairs and watch a video, and they [usually] sleep through the night

Having family around would have helped a lot.  My sister is nearby, but she has three of her own so it's not like I can dump them on her over often.  If my mom were still alive they'd go spend the night there a LOT.

It depends a LOT on your layout, your attitude, your energy level, your personality, and your babies.  The more separate your space, the better.  The more energetic you guys are, the better.  Are you there full-time or would your poor wife be all on her own?

Of course, one baby at a time would have been a lot easier on me...

=)
Kk.

Tight spaces and fear of disturbing guests could be very stressful on everyone involved.  I can't recall how big your inn is but it is one thing to SAY "we could always hire someone".  Make sure your financials from the B&B would actually support that.  If you are starting up and you only have 3 or 4 rooms, the money to hire someone may not be something the place can support.  

I will be honest. 

I do not think it is fair to the child nor the parents to put them in a B&B and a very small space. Not to mention children/babies get ill and can cry for days and days.  You cannot call someone in 24/7 to watch a child, nor to tend to your guests.

Now having said that, there are people who have raised 5 kids in 1000 sq ft home or apartment.  But that was not the question.  If you had an option, then having a baby IN a B&B setting would not be a positive environment for all involved.

The PO's of 2 of the inns here in town have kids. One couple has 4 and the other has 2. They did it. Albeit in a MUCH larger space than you are talking about. Here, at my inn, they had 2 bedrooms, bathroom, full kitchen, living room, dining room and office. At the other place they had 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms and all the other common spaces I mentioned. Their own laundry room, entrance, deck and backyard.

I would not be a happy guest being woken up by a crying baby. You will be stressed innkeepers having to jump at the first peep from the baby. The baby will be stressed from your stress. If the baby's room is AWAY from the guest rooms, ok. If not, then see if you can expand the building to get the baby(s) away from the guests.

Something else you need to consider is the pregnancy part. How will you both function when your wife can't stand the smell of coffee and sausage? Can't bend over to clean or to pick anything up off the floor? The actual delivery itself, which will occur when it's least convenient?

I agree but do any of you have personal experience with having young children and running a b&b?

That is a very personal question.  Your marriage and family life s/b priority over any business imo.