How much daycare is too much?
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| Thu, 03-31-2005 - 11:26am |
Did anyone see the Wall Street Journal today? An article on the "Personal Journal" page talks about two studies that are coming out -- one being the already referenced NICHD study -- that shows 45+ hours a week of day can do harm to a child. What I found interesting about it is that the NICHD study says *anything* other than mom care is other care!! What happened to Dad?
The other article, in the same section, is an article about how parents are outsourcing everything now, including potty training! The article states that parents will send a child to a batting coach instead of just playing catch in the backyard. Another service, that costs $60 an hour (!), will help teach your child how to ride a bike!
I don't have an online subscription to the Journal, so I can't post the stories here. Does anyone else have one?
mom_writer

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So parent A is away from their children from 7:00-6:00 p.m. working is Good Parent.
Parent B who is away from their children from 7:30-5:30 working/exercising is Bad Parent.
well thought of point.
i think one is bound to think of *something* if they use their heads the way they've used their heads all day for a work..... aw hell, gym nurseries and mcdonalds are too convenient to opt for any other flexible suggestion.....forget it. lol.
i can't believe you justify a child's extra hour in dc for *you* to workout over a parent's commitment to a job role which provides stability, a home, food, income for basic necessities....it doesn't even compare.
Oh, this is getting too funny! So now I'm dying of "high blood pressure, obesity and high cholesterol"!
You agree? It's so funny to see the regulars chime in and agree on the silliest things.
How dare anyone say anything against having a child in othercare 10-11 hrs/day for 3x/week.
Calm down, PNJ. My being home with my children has absolutely everything to do with it. My children are with family who loves and cares for them most hours of every single day. They don't have to get used to two different dcs 3x/week. That's way too much. I'm sure if you'd calm down for a moment, you would admit the same since you're always making a point here of clarifying you have 4 hrs everyday with your family after work.
Your defensiveness is showing big time.
no it would go something more like this.
FAMILY A......one parent works anywhere from 10 to 15 hour days. second parent in this unit stays at home. children get a fair balance of quality time with daddy because it's measured not by time but by quality. sahp gets the children to where they need to go, spends quality time with them but quite frankly, needs her break too because she spends all day with one of the children who is only a toddler. that time away from child(ren) is about 1.5 hours tops daily.
FAMILY B....both parents work outside the home. they have traditional work hours of 8A to 5P. on a regular basis, they conveniently stop at mcds on the way to the gym and place their children, who have already been with a sitter all day, with the gym nursery for another 1.5 hours. they make it home just in time to read a bedtime story and kiss their child goodnight.
which child is more represented by a parent?
imagine what q time that child is getting from their parent on average? maybe 2 hours a day max."
When I'm working long hours I'm lucky to get 1/2 hour with my children. I choose to work out at 5.30 a.m. or so to make sure on the occasions I do get home from work before their dinnertime or bedtime, I can spend it with them. That said, on weekends and some evenings, we've gone on many a run together that is QT time for all three of us. Them in their stroller and me talking to them. We sing, we point out passing animals, butterflies, babies, etc., and we play "pop" goes the weasel, with all of us singing till the "pop" part when I dip back the stroller. Yes, its an exhausting way to run but...its fun, and I get to work out and get time with them.
and the young child is justifying it over and over again in his little head: "oh i'm here because mommy/daddy has to get their cholestrol level down. i guess i could play with legos for one and a half *more* hours...."
{sigh}
"children get a fair balance of quality time with daddy because it's measured not by time but by quality"
Why is amount of time with the working parent not important in family A but it is in family B? How is the quality of time any better with the working parent in family A then with family B? If they are working 15 hours then it is highly unlikely the child is even getting the bedtime kiss.
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