Dropping off, with food in hand!!!!

[daycarewhisperer]

I agree that the idea of the whole family sitting down for the breakfast meal is ideal but it is not not realistic for 2 working parents in most cases. When my son was in daycare I wouldn't put him in care somewhere that didn't serve breakfast. I wanted him to have a healthy meal that was not rushed and that just wasn't possible for morning in my home. I would get up 2 hours before I had to leave but by the time I was showered and ready, had my son woke, seen hubby off and mixed the formula/got the bag ready for daycare there was just not enough time to sit at the table and eat with him. Most morning I packed breakfast for myself and made it/ate it at work. This is why I offer breakfast in my program.

Long story but bear with me: I'm 52 and was raised in the sixties and seventies. I'm from a blended family that had four boys and two girls. Five of six of us were within four years of each other. 3 of 5 of us were within 11 months of each other. My stepsister and I were the youngest of the five kids and the only girls.

We were raised from the time I was 9 to 14 in Rapid City South Dakota. We lived 2.2 miles from the Jr. High. We were raised in a strict Southern Baptist family where "womens work" was to serve the males. Our daily chores for a household of 8 people were very extensive for 12, 13, 14, 15 year old girls.

One of our daily chores was to get up and make breakfast for our brothers and ourselves, serve it to the boys, clean up the table, wash the dishes, get dressed for school and then walk the 2.2 mile walk to school. Now this was Rapid City South Dakota... so imagine what that was like in the winter. Brutal. We never ONCE ... not ONCE got a ride to school.

We had to be at school by 7:30 ish so that meant we had to be out the door by 6:45 to walk that walk and to get to our lockers and get to class on time. So here we were... two young teenage girls getting up EVERY day by 5 so that we could cook a home made breakfast (rotated french toast, pancakes, white rice, oatmeal, and scrambled eggs/toast M-F).

We did this every single day for YEARS. We weren't asked to do it.. we had to or we got hit/grounded/punished. By the time I got to school every day I was exhausted. I had put in 2.5 hours of pretty hard work for a kid... and a long cold walk... before I even opened a text book.

So when I hear how difficult it is for a parent to get their little kid up in the morning, make a REAL home made breakfast, get ready for work, and drive to work... I honestly have to say that's rediculous. I did WAY harder work for WAY more years with WAY less resources as a CHILD.

We need to get a grip and quit making excuses for parents not parenting. It's not THAT hard for an ADULT to get up, get dressed, make a meal, feed and dress a kid, and drive to work. I've btdt as a child and I survived. It was hard but I did it.

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