Daycare Stories

I recently had a bad experience with my daycare which prompted me to investigate what resources of support exist for daycare parents. I Googled "daycare stories" and was disappointed to only find daycare horror stories - from neglect all the way to child deaths in the care of daytime providers.

I am a strong advocate of children being with families as much as possible, but I also recognize that this isn't always possible. My two children are in full-time daycare; my youngest has been in full-time care since six weeks of age. In this time, I've collected a few negative stories (I won't call them horror stories). I've also collected several good, encouraging stories.

1. After nearly a year of my husband and my own attempts to potty train my first son, he spent only one week with a daycare provider before being certifiably potty trained.
2. My boys loved one daycare provider so much that they chose to attend summer camp with her, even though it was a Girl Scout summer camp.
3. Upon moving out of state, our provider and her own children saw us off each crying on my kids' last day.

Being a parent of children in daycare is tough. I struggle emotionally to drop them off each morning and a part of me wonders if their daytime providers are fostering the same manners and habits I would attempt to teach through a daily routine. These are topics that women don't tend to discuss by the water cooler...but maybe we should.