How does being a daycare provider effect your own kids?

[jewel1122]

I have seperate toys books etc for my dc this way i dont have to worry about my children getting upset if something gets broken My kids get along great with the dc children only 1 of my children are home during the day the rest are all in school so this way my youngest has someone to play with and they teach each other new things as well

[Spixie33]

I do worry about my children and the psychological effect that having the daycare might have on them.
My son is older and seems pretty cool with it most of the time. Occassionally the kids do touch something he accidentally left out and I hear "I wish they weren't coming to our house...I hate the daycare" etc. BUt that is few and far between

My daughter is 5 and is a bit more sensitive. She loves having the kids here and having them play games but she gets very upset when the toddlers want to play by themselves and not with her or when other kids call me "mommy" by mistake or they come and hug me. I can just see the gears turning in her head and her feeling bad about herself or inferior just because I hug or say something nice to another child. I try to give her extra love during nap times or after daycare and tell her she is my favorite girl in the whole world but who knows whether it is enough.

I also agree with the person who said that sometimes by the end of the day I am more curt with my own kids and feel like I need ALONE time to hear myself think and sometimes can push my kids away because I feel like I am on children-overload. That isn't good either

[martymonty]

From my experience of providing in home daycare for 26 + years and having children at home, I can only speak in regards to my children and yes, I feel that having an at home daycare did affect my kids and some more than others. I have 3 grown daughters and now that they are older and facing having their own children, they often tell me that they felt a bit left out when it came to the daycare children. When my own children were sick with colds, etc. I had them up in their rooms, but when daycare children were here with colds, they were allowed to play with everyone. They said they sometimes felt that the daycare kids were more important (which of course they were not) and I did try to explain that I had chosen this occupation so that I could stay home with them and not have to take them to someone elses house. I never got to experience a school play, or school activities because I was always watching others children (even though they got to see their childrens school activities) I remember going to the school finally when our daughter was in grade 7 for an interview, I was stopped in the hallway and asked why I was there, I explained and the woman actually said OMG there is a mom, well happy to meet you finally. I laughed, but it struck hard. So you do have to find a way to balance the daycare children and your own. If able to go back, I would make sure to take a couple personal days so that I could have went to school functions which was very important to my girls.