Maybe i'm old school in thinking this....
I'm unsure how to even put this as to not be hated on for my style of caregiving.
I was born and raised on a farm where self exploration, supervision, and responsibility was what any upbringing in the country would be. My mom was always around the house, feeding the animals, cleaning the house, making dinner, whatever else needed to be done....We as children grew up in a daycare setting as my mom watched other children and fostered as well. As i grew older i helped out with the daycare and now 25 years later here i am doing the same thing as my mom, and I love it! :).
I really feel like i'm a great provider that offers so much more than daycares that just stay in the home all day and have a very structured day in terms of time and scheduling (and theres nothing wrong with that, its just not my style). We do awesome activities, crafts and go out in public often but never is it planned or scheduled it is for the most part child led. The parents know this and I tell them in the interview that we go tons of places. Obviously to the park, play groups, and library, but also to lots of other places like the grocery store, post office, walmart, out to a restaurant for lunch ect.....general outings, doing everyday stuff. The kids love these field trips and it helps them better understand the world around them, something i feel is a very important lesson and experience for them when their young (again, i mention this and talk with parents before hand about what we do and where we go and more importantly WHY i take the kids to all these places) .....to the point....I have had a few parents recently and some over the past couple of years (some after a year + of time with me and on to their second children) concerned about how i manage this "out and about with 5 kiddo's in tow".....totally understandable, not discrediting their worries whatsoever!! I just manage it well, i always have, its in my nature. I don't stress, and i let it happen as it happens. I'm very relaxed, have a non rushed view of our days events, I take it as it comes, it changes often and I never plan too much as to how its going to unfold. Some days we simply go out in the morning on a nice day and see where it takes us, most of the time the children choose where they want to go and we go, often its a nature walk in the woods or to their favourite park, or shopping at the grocery store to get a special treat!
I don't drive with the kiddos so we walk everywhere (in a quad stroller with one walker or on a tricycle) I guess what i'm discussing or rather asking is that some parents i find now a days are "hover type" parents, babying their children to an extreme and holding them back developmentally and physically out of fear that something might happen to them. Do you as a provider have parents like this? How do you put their mind at ease that their children are fine and well cared for and they need a chance to learn and grow on their own sometimes? Some parents ask how I "watch all of them" at all times. And to be honest (this is where i'm worried i'll take some flack for my style) I don't directly supervise THEIR child at all times, every second. Out and about in public of course, without question they never leave my eyesight, any of them, at any time! i'm constantly doing head counts at the park and playgroup, but within my home or backyard I do allow free play where i'm not constantly directly supervising them or correcting behaviours. For example, I put out a bin or an activity and let them explore amongst their peers, and yes, of course sometimes they fight and take stuff away from others and aren't very nice and I just watch from the background and don't run in and intervene right away. Their toddlers and these are normal behaviours and they are trying to work out their emotions about. Sometimes, I run upstairs to grab sippy cups or grab a quick snack for them. Sometimes I take a toddler to the bathroom and we do one on one potty training while the others are in the playroom around the corner. If a baby falls asleep on the walk to the park i let them sleep in the stroller when we get there until they wake up while the other kids and myself go play on the play structure always within hearing distance and always have my eye on them but i'm not directly standing beside them at all times. Is this wrong? Parents are starting to make me feel like i'm not doing as they like and its making me feel discouraged that i should just stay home and sit in the playroom at all times, all day long with them. I have never felt like it was wrong or bad, or that i was putting a child in harm or danger but parents seem to not like or disprove of this, as their child's feelings might get hurt by another child, they could wake up and cry for 30 seconds before i get to them in the stroller, or that at times, I don't always reprimand the child that took that toy away from their child and just watch to see how they as a 2 or 3 year olds handle the situation themselves and correct them afterwards with a "thats't wasn't very nice to take that away from suzy like that, you made her feel sad"
Over the years I find parents are more and more very uneasy about the other children in care, and this "going out in public". There is tons of questions regarding supervision, where we go and how i manage outings right from the first email I receive from potential clients. It makes me feel like my style of caregiving and this career choice in general is not the right fit for me anymore as parents of today aren't as they were 20 years ago. I don't want to be that provider that stays at my home all day for the parents piece of mind that they are not out and about. Is this a general trend in parenting that you have seen as well? I could see these types of questions and fear towards a daycare centre that takes care of 25+ children but i suppose as my experiences in the past years of daycare that i assumed that in a home daycare setting I wouldn't have these types of parents.
I fear for the children of the future and their inability to problem solve on their own and discover the world and things around them that interest them. Maybe this is more of a rant about parenting styles of today than a direct question to any of you but thanks for listening :)