Well for me, I don't think it's a big deal to go out in the community if it is related to daycare or if it's something the kids enjoy. I don't see the difference between picking up some groceries and doing things like laundry, dishes, cleaning, supper prep, sewing family members clothes, weeding the garden, going online during the work day, reading a personal book, paying a bill online, making plans/schedules for your own family etc etc etc. I just fail to see why some think it's okay to do some errands but not others??
Aside from Suzie, I don't know any providers who are ON all day long and NEVER use the washroom while the kids are awake.(how many times have I read on here that nap time is sacred for most and some don't even take kids if they don't nap) I am sure there are things that we all do that others wouldn't agree with but that doesn't make it wrong IMO. If you want to say running errands is bad than I'm assuming you don't use naptime to do anything for personal use or gain EVER?? Because even though they are sleeping you are still being paid...so you should only be doing daycare related things right?
I don't take the kids to the doctors with me but I can almost guarantee that if it came down to me closing or taking them with me, most parents would be 100% fine with me taking them! lol (thankfully, I am able to go to appt's during the day as my husband is my back up when needed, this is a huge selling point with parents)
Again, I am just confused as to why doing some unrelated daycare things are okay and others aren't?
And I know some think it's a load of crap but there really is a lot of learning going on during these outingsMy time in the store is doubled because of it but it's what I'm paid to do (teach the kids) so I'm okay with it. It would be a whole lot easier to do my shopping by myself but I enjoy it just like the kids do. I get that some teach with pretend stuff but why is it so bad to teach them with the real thing from time to time too?