Feeling a bit bored?

[Rhonda]

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.

[Judy Trickett]

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.

Yes, yes, and YES. I will admit to this too. Mostly your bolded parts.....I have been providing daycare for over a decade now. I did it because it really worked best for MY own kids. I always said I never, ever wanted MY kids in daycare. I just didn't. So, I started in daycare and I did what *had* to be done at the time to eat and still have my kids at home with me. Now my own kids are older and I have thought more, this last year than ever before about getting out there and doing something for ME. Something that I, ME, wants to do. I feel like my hubby has a career that he CHOSE (he has a doctorate degree so I say he CHOSE his profession because he got to invest time and money into doing what he wanted to do), my kids have interests that they CHOSE. But here I STILL am, 10 years later, doing something I did out of necessity because, as a momma, I believed that was what was best for MY KIDS. And, sure, that put me LAST but that's what good mommas do. I don't regret having provided daycare or have any resentment toward my family for doing this. But I am really started to feel that it is time for me to go out there in the world and find something for ME that I WANT to do.

I was actually talking to another provider recently about this. Not to sound corny but there is a Reba McEntire song called, Is There Life Out There, and it really sums up how I am feeling these days. I just want to go out and find something for ME.

I have put everyone, my hubby, my kids, my dcfamilies, hell, even my DOG ahead of me for so long. My hubby went to post-grad school back in 1996 and I worked so we could eat. So, in essence it has been 17 years that I have been LAST. It's time for me to be FIRST.

[Spixie33]

I hear all of you who are feeling bored.

I am finishing up my first group of dcks and on my 2nd. I have been doing this 3 years and there are times where I feel like I am dying of boredom.....kids bring me the same books for the 100th time. I have TONS of books but we have read them a lot in three years and there seem to be the favourites that all kids want to hear again and again. I sometime have to hide certain books in the basement bookshelf just to get a break from it.

Sometimes I am on my cell phone refreshing my email or forums a dozen times an hour because I am so bored and am desperately hoping for something new to read. Part of my issue is that my summer is lighter I guess and that has been driving me bonkers. During the school year I was doing 5 dcks and bus stop pickups/drop offs so the days were busy. Now I am down to 2-3 kids a day (because parents are on vacation or else are teacher kids) and extra time without school runs so I am B-O-R-E-D. It is better to be busy with 5 kids and stretched in several directions than idle.

Sometimes I feel like I am losing patience and enthusiasm and I look back at the pictures from my first 2 years and try to recapture it for the 2nd group but it all seems to take more effort to get the same enthusiasm/energy.