Daycare positives

[d_arnold]

I love, love, love my child but I'm not cut out to be a SAHM.

DD goes to a licensed in-home daycare and is thriving. She's learning new things every day. There's only 12 kids total so they are all good friends and have a great time together. Most of the time when I go to pick her up, she isn't ready to leave. Ha!

[lenmont]

I can't say enough good things about my daycare. DD has been there since she was 3 months old (she's 3 1/2 now). It's an in-home daycare that they run like a center, which means she gets the best of both worlds. One of the teachers has been there since her first day and the other one for two years now. When she was an infant they held her through her naps (she was and still is a very high-touch baby). Now that she's older they're teaching her so much. She knows how to write her name and all her letters. They do science projects, arts and crafts, and she has a bunch of friends there who she's known since they were babies.

It broke my heart to leave her for the first time and I still miss her a lot, but I know she's happy and thriving where she is.

[rainysundays]

It's allllll in the quality of your care provider. We've made sacrifices so that we can send our daughter to a very high quality preschool/day care center. She's been in a daycare environment since she was twelve weeks old. There are so many advantages:

--I am not a child care expert. I am a mom and I know my child better than anyone, but child development is not my core competency. Our day care was able to get Leah on a routine and she was a happier baby because of it. As she got older they were able to fill her day with age-appropriate developmental activities that I would never have thought of.

--Our daughter is an only child so she does not experience conflict with siblings at home. Daycare replicates that environment somewhat so she has learned to share and get along with others. She doesn't have those socialization opportunities at home.

--Her preschool has a very good routine and she follows it well. She will be well-prepared for school. I can't replicate the same kind of schedule at home.

--I know me, and I would be overbearing if I didn't have the forced separation of working. I've wanted to stay home, but came to the conclusion that I wanted to stay home for ME; it wouldn't be any better for Leah if I didn't work. If I thought it was the best thing for Leah to stay home then we'd make those sacrifices to make it work but in our situation, in which I am the primary breadwinner and have a really, really good job in a crappy economy, it's best for all of us if I work. That's not about daycare specifically but it goes to the thought that kids are better off at home; studies have shown that there's really no difference between kids who stay home and kids whose moms work. My job allows Leah to have the kind of life and experiences I want her to have, and daycare makes it possible for me to work and know that she's having a great time while I'm away from her.

[BCsMom]

I'm an introvert - if I were a SAHM, my DS would probably not get enough chances to meet other babies. It would be a constant effort on my part to get him to have friends! With him in daycare, I feel so much better about having him all to myself in the evenings and on the weekends since I know he gets all the kiddie time he needs during the week.

[Spicymustard]

Dd and ds have been going to daycare since they were 12 weeks old during the school year (off for the summer because I'm a teacher) so dd has been going for almost 5 years. They go to an in home place that a couple started to watch their grandchildren. All the kids call them grandma and papa. My kids love them. When we are off in the summer dd asks about visiting "grandma" and playing with her friends there. The fact they are so happy there really helps give me peace of mind. I think it's good for them to learn to take direction from somebody else and have rules that are a little different than ours.

[armywife2002]

the daycare that i work at is one of those chains with underpaid staff and lots of turnover, and that sucks (in their defense they do have a really awesome curriculum when they have the right teachers to implement it)... but ds and i have been there for 3 years, and he mostly really likes it. hes 5 now, and has been with some of his classmates since they were in the 2s class. when he is visiting his dad, the kids ask me about him everyday when i come to work, lol.

i love my babies (mostly im an infant/tod teacher, but ive been there so long they float me around when someone quits, cuz i know everyone )... my babies when i started are in the pre-k room now, and going to kinder next year. ive got kids that run to me in the morning, even though im not their teacher anymore, and cant leave without a hug and a kiss in the evenings. every time i walk through a room, its "hi ashley! hi, hi, hi!" parents tell me how their kids talk about me at home. my kids are the reason i'm still there, even though my boss sucks a lot of the time, and there is so much turnover and my pay stinks. i will miss them when i graduate in a couple of years and move onto a different job.

[Marbie]

There can also be benefits in terms of their immune systems. Yes, they'll probably have more colds in the beginning, but studies have shown that kids who go to preschool and/or daycare have a lower chance of getting asthma.

[hokoonchi]

I love day care. I am a WAHM (freelance writer) and part time community college instructor, so my mom guilts me horribly for not having DS home with me. Jeez, Mom. I was in day care too.

This is why I love day care:

1. Sam went into the second day care we chose biting other kids. He didn't bite at home usually, so it was really when he was with other kids. Now he doesn't bite at all. His DC provider is amazing with gentle discipline.

2. He's learning French and Arabic from his DC provider.

3. He's two -- and he knows many of his letters and numbers. I would have been way lazy in those regards, but she does fun letter and number games all the time.

4. He has friends there he looks forward to seeing!

5. She takes them all outside in the summer, when I probably wouldn't. I mean, it gets a million degrees outside, and she sweats it out in the morning and lets them all run around.

6. Lots more variety than I would or could provide!

7. He gets super excited when he sees mom and dad at the end of the day.

8. Every once in a while, I'll set aside a day for myself. This makes me feel like a real person. And every once in a blue moon, DH will also take the day off, and we'll go see a movie and have lunch. Happy parents = happy kids.

9. My career as a writer wouldn't have happened without day care.

10. Sometimes when working at home, I take a short nap after lunch. THE BEST.

Because of my flexible schedule, I have one day a week at home with DS (not counting weekends) and we do whatever we want.

That said, we're moving and I'll probably be a SAHM for a while. COLOR ME TERRIFIED. Preschool/day care is good for everyone.

[MommyTephanie]

Originally Posted by armywife2002 the daycare that i work at is one of those chains with underpaid staff and lots of turnover, and that sucks (in their defense they do have a really awesome curriculum when they have the right teachers to implement it)... but ds and i have been there for 3 years, and he mostly really likes it. hes 5 now, and has been with some of his classmates since they were in the 2s class. when he is visiting his dad, the kids ask me about him everyday when i come to work, lol. i love my babies (mostly im an infant/tod teacher, but ive been there so long they float me around when someone quits, cuz i know everyone )... my babies when i started are in the pre-k room now, and going to kinder next year. ive got kids that run to me in the morning, even though im not their teacher anymore, and cant leave without a hug and a kiss in the evenings. every time i walk through a room, its "hi ashley! hi, hi, hi!" parents tell me how their kids talk about me at home. my kids are the reason i'm still there, even though my boss sucks a lot of the time, and there is so much turnover and my pay stinks. i will miss them when i graduate in a couple of years and move onto a different job.

Now, I read this and I smiled a little bc the children at my daycare are just the same- but it made me sad too. I work at a large, nonprofit daycare and preschool and its absolutely wonderful there. My 2 children come to work with me and they love it too. I know that our center is not the norm in our area and I get a lot of sad stories when I tour new parents, but its obvious from your post that there are loving, caring people out there- you just have to look for them. I hope for you that you find a better place to showcase your talent where your hard work will be appreciated!

[LillyLee]

Thanks for posting this. It's nice to read positives since I've been feeling really anxious about sending my infant to daycare and going back to work.