Parenting: Daycare- to do or not to do? Daily Prompt- Bone of Contention

http://forum.smartcanucks.ca/attachments/canadian-parents/80905d1329446210-stay-home-mo
Daily Prompt: Bone of Contention
Pick a contentious issue about which you care deeply — it could be the same-sex marriage debate, or just a disagreement you’re having with a friend. Write a post defending the opposite position, and then reflect on what it was like to do that.

Other side:

Daycare: I can’t imagine sending my children to daycare. Why, you ask? Because isn’t parenting the reason people have children. How could you birth a child and then pay someone else to parent them for most of their lives (daycare, school, etc.). A working parent barely spends any time with their children and would not possibly be able to do their job as a parent in the limited time they would have with their children. A parent, by continuing to work, is choosing their career over their children which is VERY selfish. If your plan was to continue to work, why would you have children? How could you let someone you barely know instill all of your children’s morals and values? With all of the horrible things that you hear about children and daycare (molestation, safety issues, etc.), how could you let your children be raised in this way? What is more important than your children and their future? Money, careers, etc?? Your children are only young once. If you choose to parent children, then you should be the one raising them and caring for them exclusively throughout their life.

My side:
I disagree. As a product of a working mother, I was raised fine. My mother was always a strong presence in my life and was a very active and involved parent. The old African proverb, It takes a Village to raise a child, is so true. I am a very involved parent. As a working mother, I vowed to make sure that my children aren’t suffering in any way and I feel that they aren’t. My parents and in-laws are also very involved. Not that they watch my kids all the time. They see my kids all of the time-with me there as well. We visit-have play dates, if you will. I also believe that my babysitter, Karen, and my daycare, The Learning Ladder, are the best possible places for my children. Both places have morals and values similar to my own and therefore reinforce what I am trying to teach my kids. My kids also get to socialize with other kids and adults in a very healthy and developmentally appropriate way. As my children grow older, I am not going to be the only person interacting with my kids and therefore this experience will be very beneficial for them in the future as well. There is a difference in quality and quantity time. My time is quality time with my kids even when it is not quantity time. And I have seen more than my fair share of SAHM’s that aren’t spending any quality time with their children. Being home doesn’t make you a good parent. Being present does!

Reflection:
This is a very heated topic for me as I feel that those on the other side typically have a VERY biased opinion. Because they are doing it, it is the only RIGHT way. Plus, again very biased, are unable to critique their own parenting weaknesses just because the are making the “ultimate sacrifice”. Or the SAHM has no or minimal job skills which they then use as a cop out-I am a SAHM which really means- I can’t find or get any kind of gainful employment so I will claim this as a choice. As I was writing this, I can see some merits in staying at home but I can also see some merits in not. I am teaching my boys that work is important. You want to find a job that you love and do it to the best of your abilities. You want to care about the world and help others make their lives better. (I am a social worker) I am teaching them about balance and priorities. I am teaching them how to work together with others to achieve a common goal. I am teaching them how to love. Writing this helps to reaffirm my point, a good parent is a present parent-regardless of the amount of hours together. Quality over quantity. Every time!!

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/03/17/daily-prompt-contention/