Quote Originally Posted by playfelt View Post
We sort of cease to exist when we do daycare because our life doesn't change. When working outside the home someone else does the daytime care for us and we have our own time. Not that we enjoy the work either but it is our time.
Ah now this describes me! I don't have younger children, my youngest is 15. I am not bored with daycare, love it, been doing childcare for over 20 years (if I include the 2 years I was a live out nanny and the one year I worked at a centre). I love working from home, not having to travel to work, being able to be my own boss, etc.

I know we all have our own opinions, this is just mine ... I'm frustrate with today's parenting trends, frustrated that I feel like I have to baby sit the parents, the children I have had in care for 2 years are horrible nappers so I'm also burnt out, I have only about 30 minutes where children are napping and to get that I have to spend an hour+ watching over them, few of my parents will help in the learning process, my children aren't taught self help routines at home, but the one thing I am so tired of is changing bums and parents not helping with potty training. I have 2 children that should have been trained almost a year ago, but excuse 'weekends are too busy'! But like I said this is just me, parenting 15+ years ago was so different than now, and I have had a hard time moving forward with the trends and I know I am burnt out.

I'm in Ontario so not having play dates has been a bit depressing and has added to my frustration. I miss the social interaction, the shared activities, the big parties for birthdays and special events. Throwing a birthday party with 5 kids instead of 15 isn't as fun.

But daycare frustrations aside, you hit the nail on the head with me. Because I work from home with the younger ones, my schedule is different than my friends so I don't get to the park the same time to have those stolen moments of social interaction for me, I don't have school runs. I attend field trips, but I am always so busy watching and helping my group enjoy the event that again I miss the stolen moments of adult time. I also find I'm in a hard age, most of the people I know who are my age have young children, so I find after work, I don't get the same social interaction because I spend my days with younger kids and in the evenings or weekends I don't want to. I don't get to take care of me! The only time I do, is those few times I can afford to do a photo shoot with a group of people, but then we are so busy taking pictures sometimes there is little time for socialization. Oh, I should add I'm the Mommy of a competitive dancer, who dances 6 days a week, being a single parent a lot, all the chauffeuring falls on my shoulders unless my oldest is kind to me. Right now, between chauffeuring and work, I'm on the go from 7 am to 7 pm, by the time I get 'home' I'm exhausted.

The main reason why I'm ready to close down daycare is because I want to find out who I am, I want to have some me time and take care of myself, get into photography, lose weight, etc I would in a heart beat if the budget allowed.

I would love to take just a few months off daycare, I know me, all it would take is 3 months and I would be ready to go back to work I'm just burned out and frustrated. Bored, is generally not in my vocabulary.