DAVEY BEAR DAY CARE--Denver, Colorado

Tending to bouncing, hungry, runny-nosed toddlers everyday, day care provider Dave Maxson rarely gets an ounce of peace. As he says, "An air-traffic controller has got nothing over me on stress." A day care provider for over four years, Dave entered the traditionally female industry when he and his wife Kathy, who now works as a manager for an engineering firm, were pregnant with their first child. After discovering the slim array of affordable child care options available, Dave decided to trade in his days working as a newspaper distributor to become a day care provider. "

A major consideration for my doing this is being able to raise my own daughter and son," he says. "That's been an experience that neither of my brothers had; my dad didn't have."