Yodeling Mamas

To Daycare, or Not To Daycare

August 7th, 2009 by Michelle Hedstrom, Technical Yahoo, Works from home

I admit it. Before I had a son, I thought daycare was a horrible place, and could never imagine using it. “It’s my responsibility to stay home and raise him, since it was our choice to have him,” I would think.

We all know people without kids are the best experts, right? *sarcasm*

Once Peter was born last November, and I was on maternity leave, I had to make the big decision – go back to work, or not. There were definitely pros and cons to each side. Pro: extra income means extra money for fun stuff. Con: I wouldn’t see him that much except on the weekends and a little bit after work. Pro: baby gets socialization with other people and kids. Con: Someone else might see all the “firsts” before I did.

In the end, I decided to go back to work, and in all honesty, it was a really good decision not only for me, but for him as well. Although I love him more than anything, and think about him all the time, it’s nice to have some downtime during the day and focus on something else. Not only do I get to keep my career moving, it also allows my husband and I to do some of our stuff which Peter isn’t old enough to do yet. If we drop him off early, we can do a quick morning bike ride, or one of the other great outdoor activities Colorado has to offer before work.

I’ll note here that we spend a lot more quality time with him after work and on the weekends since we don’t feel burnt out.

Conversely, he really loves daycare. He loves his teachers, gets to play with other kids his age, has started eating a lot of new foods (which, when I see the list, I say, “huh, I didn’t know he could eat that yet), and gets a change of scenery. Yes, he has been sick a lot, but it’ll either happen now, or happen when he goes to preschool and kindergarten, so there really is no difference. Everybody I see or talk to says he’s the happiest baby they’ve ever seen.

Working from home affords us a little bit of leeway as well (my husband works from home too). If the baby is sick, we can easily keep him home from daycare and still get productive work done by tag-teaming him between our two offices. And when he’s sleeping, you should watch how fast we type code. =)

Is going back to work and putting your child in daycare for everybody? No, but knowing what I know now, I wouldn’t knock it until you’ve tried it.

August 7th, 2009 by Michelle Hedstrom, Technical Yahoo, Works from home

Categories: Childcare Parenthood Place: Colorado