Daycare Ethics
Yesterday was the first day of daycare for my son. Not entirely surprisingly it was hard on my girlfriend. I’ll admit it isn’t the easiest on me either. It’s difficult to leave your kid with strangers, particularly at so young an age. My girlfriend made the point that he’d now be spending more time with strangers than his parents - that kind of stuck with me.
I was fortunate enough to have my mom around alot as I was growing up. I can’t imagine what it’s like for kids to go to daycare so young. I know it’s for the best in terms of socialization for him and financial stability for the family but part of me wonders if it might be worth it to think about my girlfriend only working part time.
I don’t think stay at home mom would be the best even if we could afford it simply because he’d largely be spending most of his time at home doing the same stuff: playing with the same toys in a small-ish space and watching too much TV. The more positive experiences he has the better. Plus the more teachers he has, the better. And my girlfriend would benefit from getting a break from the same thing all the time and get to have adult interactions and a sense of accomplishment and self not directly attached to the family.
So daycare is a good thing, no question but when it gets to be full time is it right for a child so young to spend more time with strangers than family?
I’ll be doing the Mr. Mom thing 2 days a week for the next 3 months and then once a week for the next 2 months. All told he’ll only be at full time daycare for 2 months a year. I suppose that isn’t so bad. Another gift from my job I guess - once again the fair will provide in unexpected ways.
February 5th, 2008 at 5:49 pm
I feel your parental pain, both of you. I wish there was some way I could help that babe have the benefits of being with family more than strangers, but in this day & age, so much more is expected of the wee-toddler generation. e.g. expected to accept what society says he needs. How about how HE accepts it, himself? My heart went out to you both, but most of all to a little one who has no choice in the matter, at such a young age.
I still believe that mom’s are the best caregivers to their own children. Hats off to you both for being able to accept this. I hope babe does well, and that there are no pushy-overbearing-spoiled brats there for him to learn from.-nana.