Renee Kuykendall woke up at 4 a.m. to prepare for the arrival of her first client. She won't be done with her last client of the day until 11 p.m.
In her home in Antelope, just outside of Sacramento, she makes enough eggs, sausage, grits and toast for 13 people, to be served at 7 a.m. She checks on the frogs in the fish tank — a crowd favorite — and makes sure her house is spotless; she's recently had a problem with boogers smeared on the walls.
Kuykendall, 60, has operated a daycare business out of her home for nearly 20 years. When the long workdays become too hard, she will be able to stop and still be financially sound, thanks to retirement savings from a prior career with the federal government.
