Childcare is a big concern these days in America.
A major news station has done a piece on childcare
and what they call a crisis. According to the promos
it seemed to be pointing out how important a good
Daycare is since it provides good healthcare, education,
and basically a jumpstart in life...according to the
reporter.
To me this is one more step towards the government
telling us that we parents are not adequate enough for
our own children. Now dont get scared, Im not a
conspiracy wacko. =) Nevertheless I am wary of any
group or organization that seems to be pushing parents
to give up raising their own little ones. Frankly, no
matter what any newsgroup says I know that my children
are better off having me raise them daily, rather than
just visiting me in the evenings.
Moms, please be very careful in this area. It is a myth
that it is impossible to make an adequate income with just
one parent working. First let me say, I understand that
there are some extreme cases where daycare is needed, such
mom and kids being abandoned by the dad or the tragic cases
when the husband dies. This is where family needs to step
and/or the local church. However, these cases are not
the norm among children in daycare. The reason I can speak
about this situation is because I am living in it right now.
I am a stay-at-home mom living in southern California in 1999.
I am here to tell you it is indeed possible to stay home with
with your little ones and actually raise them yourself. It is
possible to find at-home work to help out with the bills. What
about working while all the kids are in school? Also my husband
does NOT make a whole lot of money. Last year he made 30,000.
I tell you that so that you can know you can do it too. We live
frugally, we have one car, our kids dont have designer clothes..
unless grandparents buy them. And to tell you the truth, our
kids dont care. We teach them that there are more important
things than material objects, or fancy clothes. We always have
enough to eat, and we have more than enough to wear...God provides.
The old adage "where there's a will there's a way" is very very
true. Children want love more than they want material things.
It is true that they ask for alot of things, but their true heart
needs one-on-one attention and love from his/her own parents.
I have also worked in the daycare system myself. I can tell
you that the majority of daycare providers don't have time to
spend teaching the children things like morals, ethics, values.
I'm sure most of them would like to but they often have 6 to 12
kids for each teacher, mostly in the same age brackets. Tell me,
moms, could you imagine 8 hours a day with six 2 year olds?
Plus very often there are small babies there on up to kids that
have to be picked up from school as well. This does not add up
to an environment where there is much one-on-one time.

Before you start to comfort yourself with the "research" that
says daycare is not detrimental. There's "research" available
to support everyone's agenda no matter what side of any issue
you are on. Hey, there used to be "research" out there that
said flies came from rotten meat. It was scientific research
too. Academic success is not the only, nor most important,
kind of success in this world. Emotional success is as or more
important. Don't let anyone tell you that you as a parent can be
replaced by some hired daycare worker.
You are vital, you are important, you are needed for the emotional
health and wellbeing of your children. And contrary to popular
opinion, quantity DOES count. Kids want you to be available to
them when THEY need you, not just a few hours in the evening when
you decide you have the time.
Please don't be the kind of parent that treats their child like
a cute little pet. Maybe this seems harsh, but I've seen it too
often. Parents who drop their kids off at 6 or 7 in the morning
and dont pick them up until 7 or 8 in the evening, even on their
days off.
Can you tell I get pretty worked up over this subject? I think
parents have unknowingly started to see their role as insignificant.
This is very sad, and I believe we have to change our attitudes
and recognize how important parents are to their little babies.