thoughts on childcare

This is the first month in our parenting career where one of our kids is enrolled in full time childcare.   

I’ve been through quite an evolution in my thoughts on daycare.  Initially it made me a little sad to send D, and I do still think there are some dismal childcare situations out there.  Now, however, I feel bad for the kids (over age one) who are missing out on the consistent, group experience.  In the time before preschool age there is so much to be gained!

That said, the social benefits of childcare definitely don’t depend on full time attendance, so that part is about families making it work, like us, right now.

We have been so lucky for so many years to have regular help from our parents.  Having grandparents help 1-2 days a week balanced routine social time with other kids with one-on-one attention and flexibility.   Together our parents and the kids (hardly ever both kids, due to timing) read lots of  books, went on adventures, napped according to our kid’s needs and gave us the chance to go to mid day music classes or the library.  They also did loads of dishes and laundry :)

It’s sad that this is over, at least for a while longer.  Dd knows his grandparents well, but I hope they gets the bond that D has, from regular time together without the interference of me and Jack (well, mostly).

However, in a time where childcare centers, which already struggled (being simultaneously expensive for many families and not being able to pay workers well enough), are closing left and right because of COVID-19 challenges, we feel so extremely fortunate to be part of a center that is well-run, convenient, cheerful and reliable.  It is not only shielding us from some unknown upheaval of our careers and finances, but it is providing Dd with developmentally key normalcy in this bizarre reality.

Speaking of reality, this full time thing is still theoretical.  The last week of August was the center's annual closure week for cleaning, organizing and planning.  Since Labor Day the kids have been kept inside because of the air quality and perhaps this lack of outside time is the cause of the longest nap mutiny I’ve heard of in any of the classrooms.   Dd has skipped napping altogether a few days and had several days with 30 minute naps instead of his typical 1.5 hour school nap.   Then Monday's air quality was so bad that we kept him home because the center didn’t yet have air filters.  Today he is home, and currently in the bath, with a runny nose that would not prevented him from attending school during normal times.   

But hey, I already took some time off this week in anticipation of another little vacation that is delayed (or cancelled?) because..... it's 2020.

Since we no longer go inside the center for drop off or pick up they've been good about sending us pictures more often.  Here are a few recent ones.

Lastly, D, who was originally signed up for seven weeks of camp this summer, got to go to five weeks of summer camp.   Two were at the science center and the rest were at or near the arboretum.  There were a few covid scares that turned out to be nothing, but we were so extremely grateful he got to go out and do things away from us before diving back into another at-home school year.

I get a good laugh when I remember worrying in February about the one week of summer we hadn't yet filled with a camp for D.