Search Results for: blog the daycare in the future

The Daycare & The Cold

Less than 1 week into Daycare and my son is already sick. I suppose this should be a common enough occurrence but it certainly doesn’t make Mom & Dad feel any better about putting our child into daycare. Is the environment clean? As far as I know. Is the staff trained? Yes. Are they kind and caring? They certainly seem to be. So what is the problem? I’m really not sure. Perhaps it is the other kids. My son has been super healthy since his birth… so hearing him snore because his sinuses are clogged is not a pretty sight … Continue reading →

Daycare Day 1: Evening

It turns out that the day didn’t go badly for my son at all. The accounts given to us by the employees and the administrator were extremely positive. They told us that he had the best first day of any of the babies at this relatively new facility. That sure does make Mom & Dad feel good. That evening my son was laughing with glee and giggling more than he ever had before. He was happy. He was at his house with his parents and they were spending time with him. I’m not certain that this wasn’t influenced heavily by … Continue reading →

Daycare Day 1: Morning

The morning came particularly quickly on my son’s first day of daycare. Despite my wife’s best efforts to have everything neatly organized in bags near the door the morning still felt rushed, uncomfortable, and different. I had a little talk with my son. As a father I felt it was my duty to tell him that today was going to be different. I told him that we weren’t abandoning him and that his mom was going to check in on him at lunchtime and pick him up early. I told him that he would be with other babies and some … Continue reading →

The Daycare in the Future

Today a future reality became present one, momentarily, as my wife and I briefly toured the daycare that will house our son at the beginning of next semester. We entered through the doors, took off our coats and hats, abandoned our stroller, and walked into the room for the babies who cannot yet crawl. While my wife and I knew the day would come when our son would need to be in daycare our visit today made that future reality much clearer. My wife and I are not excited about the prospect of daycare. We’d much rather have our son … Continue reading →

A Parent’s Dilemma: Time or Money?

Which would have a more positive impact on your family’s future, an extra $10,000 each year or an extra hour of quality time every day with your kids? The question was posed to more than 2,000 parents across the county via a survey conducted by Parents magazine and the Center for the Next Generation, and the results may surprise you. According to the poll, two-thirds of parents would rather have the extra cash than time with their kids. Chock it up to hard economic times and financial uncertainty. “Parents have some very, very serious concerns about providing for their families,” … Continue reading →

Interviews with Homeschoolers: Karen Loutzenhizer, Part One

Today I’m talking with Karen Loutzenhiser, a homeschooling mom from Utah who took time out to chat with me about her homeschooling journey. Karen, how did you know that homeschooling was the right choice for you? I have wanted to be a teacher since I was a little girl, and the only thing that could top that career in my heart and mind was being a mommy. By the time I got my degree in education, I already had two kids in tow. I knew that they were my absolute joy and my #1 priority. Why would I drop my … Continue reading →

Happier Mornings

One of the greatest difficulties for our family over the past year and half has been the ever-changing situation for our son. If you’ve been reading this blog for a while you will remember our hesitation to put our son in daycare for a limited time. When his brief time in daycare was finished we were very excited to see it go despite the fact that it was better than we had expected. At any rate, our work schedules have been in constant rotation with frequent changes. At one point my wife had our son with her at work, then … Continue reading →

So What is a Parent’s Job, Anyway?

Here’s where I get all ranty. If you’re not in the mood to listen to a rant, tune out right here. Ready? Go. My husband is back at school. He is a teacher. From all of the media outlets this time of year, I hear many murmurings about our education system. Most of what I hear is blame placed squarely on the curriculum, or often on teachers themselves. Our system is failing our children, they say. Everything from lack of budgeting skills to drugs is the part of the failure of the educational system and must be addressed by that … Continue reading →

How Much Sheltering is Too Much?

My daughter has a chronic health condition, so there are precautions I need to take on a daily basis to ensure she stays as healthy as possible. These are considerations other parents never think of that have become second nature to me and to my husband as well. There are people who don’t seem to get that. On Labor Day we took Maggie to her first fair, complete with animals to pet and kiddy-rides that spin. She loves to spin. She had such a good time that she cried when we tried to leave, so we turned around and went … Continue reading →

The Sitter Dilemma

I never knew the difficulties that would come along with having children. They’re not unmanagable and they’re not so strenuous that children should be avoided (because children are great) — they’re just stressful. The problem stems primarily from loving them so much. If you love them and you are responsible for them then you can’t just give them to someone for a certain period of time and hope for the best. No, there’s so much more involved. There are emotions and pacing the floor and headaches from thinking too much about it. Worry is the name of the game. You … Continue reading →