Home Daycare when your own children are older

[sunnydays]

I have a teenager and two little ones (5 and almost 3), so not quite in the same boat age-wise, but for me, I only see positives for my kids. That is not to say at all that it isn't difficult for them at times to share me and their home etc. It IS difficult at times. But, I actually see this difficulty as a positive thing. Don't get me wrong, I love my children and would never want them to suffer....but I feel that them learning to share me and their home and their things is something that will make them grow up into the kind of sharing, caring adults I would love them to become. In our society, where we have only a couple of kids and each child has his own room, own toys, own everything, there is not enough emphasis on teaching kids to share, to help each other, to get along with others, to care for each other and most importantly that the world does NOT revolve around them. I think, as parents, we have to be really careful not to fall into the trap of giving our kids what they want and not what they need...there is a big difference most of the time!

[daycaremom9]

I didn't start daycare until my youngest was17. I think it was pretty tough on my kids even though sharing with the dc kids wasn't an issue. But they still had to watch their behaviour around the kids.
Which , come to think about it, was harder on me than it was on them!lol.