Some parents who don't want to be around their kids

[mickyc]

Now don't get me wrong, there is absolutely nothing wrong with some time away from the kids, that is not what I am saying. Maybe I have just had a bad group of parents but I really truly believe that some of my daycare kids (not all) could benefit greatly from some time with their parents on a day off. Over the years I have had some interesting families. There is nothing I hate more than the "I am paying you so I will send my child no matter what" attitude. I have had my share of these parents. I have had a child whose older sibling could go to grandma's for a day but he couldn't because he has to come to my house (because they were paying for the spot ya know!). It is these kinds of parents that drive me crazy. I had a family who constantly worked, worked from home, worked weekends, both had very busy careers and their lack of time with their child showed a great deal in his constant seeking for attention no matter if it is good or bad.

I also send my daughter to pre-school - yes she needs time away from me as well. My husband takes her to dance class so that I can do housework. We take full advantage of evenings she is at grandma's house to have a date night or go to a movie rated higher than a G! The reason I don't take holidays away from my family is because well we don't take holidays. That is not a luxury for us for financial reasons so in the event I ever could afford to go on one you bet my family would be part of it.

I have no problem with parents taking some "me" time and sending their child to daycare but come on....some need to put their kids a little higher on the quality time scale IMO. They don't need to be here from the second I open to the second I close if mom is at home (and I am not talking about the ones that do this on occasion, I mean the ones that do it often). I had one family who never ever (and I mean never ever!!) took a day off unless I took one. When she ended up going on mat leave she had over a month and a half of holiday time to use up.

For myself I love the break when a child gets to stay home with a parent, those are the days we get to do extra activities and go on an outing. It happens so rarely and the whole group loves it so much.