Quote Originally Posted by lisapisa View Post
Our last daycare provider had two young children of her own. Her kids were essentially able to do whatever they wanted: watch TV upstairs while my daughter had to stay downstairs, help themselves to snacks and drinks, sleep in their beds while my daughter was on a mat or choose not to nap at all while my daughter was told that she had to. I can certainly understand that this is their home. But it was really difficult for my daughter because she doesn't quite understand why these two other kids were able to do things that she couldn't. I'm just curious if this is fairly standard amongst daycare providers with young children? Am I completely unreasonable to want someone whose own children have the same expectations and rules as the other daycare kids.
I don't think your expectations are unreasonable at all. Part of choosing a dcp is finding one that parents like you do. If a dcp has 2 different sets of rules for her own children and the dck's than it would be difficult to truly know her techniques IMO.

I don't have kids of my own but I don't see why they wouldn't be on the same schedule. A big perk of staying home would be to spend time with your children. If they weren't in my daycare they would be in another and following a routine anyways. Like mommaL, my kids wouldn't be allowed to run the show. During the day, they'd be in daycare (just happens to be mine) and than in the evening, it's their home.

Just because I work from home doesn't mean I get to do whatever I want during work hours and the same would be expected of my children. It sounds like you've come up with a good solution though, finding an older provider. Good luck