• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • FOOD
  • GAMES
  • LAUGHS

My Life and Kids

  • Breakfast
  • Lunch
  • Dinner
  • Snacks
  • Desserts
  • Drinks
  • Feeding Teens
  • Freezer Meals
  • Copycat Recipes
menu icon
go to homepage
  • FOOD
  • GAMES
  • LAUGHS
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • FOOD
    • GAMES
    • LAUGHS
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
  • ×
    • Coffee with Honey in a glass mug with frothy hot milk on top and a sprinkle of cinnamon.
      Recipe: How to Make Hot Coffee with Honey (Cafe con Miel)
    • Tall glass filled with ice, cold brew, club soda and cold foam. Glass straw inside.
      Easy and Refreshing Iced Coffee Soda Recipe
    • Starbucks Copycat Sugar Cookie Latte in a glass mug with whipped cream and red and green sprinkles on top.
      Homemade Sugar Cookie Latte Starbucks Copycat Recipe
    • Fork breaking into Finished Plancha Grilled Chili Crisp Salmon on rice.
      Big Green Egg Plancha Grilled Chili Crisp Salmon Recipe
    • Starbucks Caramel Brulee Latte in a clear mug
      Easy Caramel Brulee Latte Starbucks Copycat Recipe
    • Copycat Starbucks Peppermint Mocha Frappuccino Recipe in a clear glass topped with whipped cream, red sprinkles and a candy cane.
      Easy Peppermint Mocha Frappuccino Starbucks Copycat Recipe
    • Starbucks Chestnut Praline Latte in a clear mug with whipped cream and pralines on top.
      Chestnut Praline Latte Starbucks Copycat Recipe
    • Box of grape uncrustables next to a plate of celery
      Do Uncrustables Need to be Refrigerated or Frozen?
    • Creamy tan colored coffee drink in clear mug with cold foam and cinnamon on top. Contains coffee, milk and ashwagandha.
      Easy Ashwagandha Coffee Recipe - Tasty Adaptogenic Latte
    • Two kids doing a crab walk in a kitchen, while playing Animal Workout on an Alexa Device
      More than 26 Games Kids Can Play With Alexa
    • Person wearing a black tanktop and holding a pink fabric tape measure to highlight how to measure your bust. White background.
      How to Take Your Clothing Measurements for Amazon
    • Boy on blue background holding stopwatch
      20 Awesome Back to School Games
    Home » Laughs

    Published: Mar 21, 2013 · Modified: Mar 22, 2021 by Anna Luther · This post may contain affiliate links ·

    10 Things I Miss About Daycare

    Ever since I started staying home with my kids, I've been trying to convince Even Steven that most stay-at-home moms send their kids to daycare.

    So far he's not believing me, but that doesn't stop me from trying.

    As much as I love staying home with my kids, there are several things that I really miss about daycare!

    #1 - Let's get the obvious over with - professionally trained childcare providers were taking care of my children all day. They taught them things, so I didn't have to.

    #2 - And the next obvious reason - I didn't have to take care of my kids 24/7. I had adult time five days a week. And - believe it or not - I really liked having entire conversations without someone throwing a tantrum or peeing on the dining room floor.

    #3 - Professionals got my kids on a nap schedule for me. All I had to do was not mess it up too terribly on the weekends. I never understood how hard it was to get a kid on a decent nap schedule - until poor Simon came along, and it was all up to me. (That didn't go so well, by the way.)

    #4 - Someone else was responsible for feeding my kids two meals and two snacks five days per week. I didn't have to worry about fruit and vegetable intake because it was their job to meet the nutritional needs of my kids.

    And it meant that I wasn't in the kitchen feeding kids for the majority of my day.

    #5 - My kids didn't watch television all day long. And I never felt guilty if they watched a show before bed.

    Okay - I'll be honest - I still don't feel guilty if they watch a show (or several) before bed. But I thought it would make me sound like a better mom if I at least pretended to be concerned. Oh well, I tried...

    #6 - Someone else fed my kids their baby food. Oh my gosh - what a pain!! I seriously barely fed Simon baby food at all because I couldn't stand sitting in front of his high chair trying to shovel food into his mouth for what felt like hours a day. Perhaps this has something to do with his outright refusal of all vegetables right now.

    #7 - Five days per week, I got to interact with other kids that were the same age as mine. This was always comforting to me - especially when I saw the other kids acting like terrorists and disobeying their parents.

    #8 - The daycare teachers were a great source of information on how to handle certain ages and stages (and to assure me that my kids were normal). Except now I'm fairly certain that they were wrong, but that's a post for another day.

    #9- They basically potty-trained Miles. I can't believe I had to do it myself with Alice, and I'm going to go with a child-taught method with Simon.

    Either Miles and Alice can teach him or he can teach himself. But I refuse to have anything to do with it. See me in 2017 when I write a blog post complaining about Simon wearing diapers to kindergarten.

    #10 - Did I mention that I used to have adult conversations?

    And now I will share two pictures of my little cuties on their last day of daycare. Aren't they so cute and sweet? It's hard to believe that this was more than 2 years ago!

    More Laughs

    • 28 Things That Every Woman Should Do in February
    • 28 Things That Women Should NEVER (Ever) Do In February
    • My Life and Mother LIVE
    • 10 signs that you've been married for more than 10 years
      10 Signs that You've Been Married for More than 10 Years

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Julie says

      May 07, 2013 at 5:26 pm

      I completely understand a SAHM putting their young children in daycare for a few hours a week. There are times when, despite feeling like Super Mom, you just can't get everything done you need to get done to keep your household running smoothly. When I was pregnant with my daughter, even though I was not working during the summer and did not go back to work when the school year started, I kept him in his 3 day a week home day care. It gave me the rest I was supposed to get medically and gave him the socialization with younger children that I couldn't give him due to medically prescribed reduced activity. (He also blossomed a lot in his interaction with younger children by my placing him in daycare. Prior to that, most of his play was with the adults in his life, so he rarely would play with kids his age.)
      Frankly, I found your post very amusing! Mine are now 19 and 16, and there are still days that I would give anything for privacy in the bathroom! lol

    2. Lindia says

      May 07, 2013 at 5:34 pm

      That was funny and I think you're right! LMAO 🙂

    3. Maryellen says

      May 07, 2013 at 5:57 pm

      You are awesome!

    4. Wendy says

      May 07, 2013 at 6:00 pm

      I love your comments Seriously Annoyed!!! You are right on:) I'm a sahm with 5 kiddos, and believe me, mamas HAVE to get a break or we will go insane, no matter how much we love our little sweetie pies! Lol! And Trudy, not every moms situation is black and white... You never know what a family( or mom) is going through, dealing with or paying for until you've walked a mile in her shoes!

    5. stephanie says

      May 07, 2013 at 6:30 pm

      My kids are grown now, and I did some daycare, some stay at home mom, and some running a home day care, so I am staying out of all battles. But wanted to say that if you are going to subtract time from the 24-7 mom for time she sends away from her kids showering, pooping and folding laundry, you need to subtract that from your numbers, unless you wait 'til monday morning for all the above. 🙂

    6. Christy says

      May 07, 2013 at 7:01 pm

      I gotta admit, the free candy at Halloween seriously rocks. My brilliant parenting moment was convincing the first that the candy, OF COURSE, goes in a big communal bowl on the dining room table. Now that there are 2 kids, ALL candy goes there. They've never known anything different.

      Sure, I know they sneak a piece every time they walk through that room. But ya know what? I have free access after they go to bed. No searching for their hiding places like my mom had to do.

    « Older Comments

    Trackbacks

    1. Funny Face Alice | My Life and KidsMy Life and Kids says:
      August 6, 2013 at 1:57 pm

      [...] I had never felt a strong desire to stay home with our kids. I loved my job, and sometimes, I honestly felt that daycare was probably doing a better job than I could anyway… At least they were trained to take care of kids. [...]

    Primary Sidebar

    Hi, I'm Anna! Raising families is hard, but keeping them fed makes it easier! I'm here to help you feed your crazy, messy, fabulous, funny family.

    More about me →

    Popular

    • Glass bowl on a wooden board filled with Taco Bell copycat Red Sauce.
      Copycat Taco Bell Red Sauce Recipe
      Cook Time20 min
    • Bottom freezer open with casseroles wrapped in tin foil and labeled with sharpie advertising freezer casserole recipes.
      15 Casserole Recipes to Freeze
    • Hand holding a flour tortilla filled with refried beans, taco bell red sauce and shredded cheddar cheese.
      Copycat Taco Bell Bean Burritos Recipe with Red Sauce
      Cook Time10 min
    • Metal pan filled with baked casserole with rice, black beans, corn, tomatoes and shredded mozzarella cheese.
      Freezer Taco Rice Casserole (Dairy Free and Gluten Free)
      Cook Time60 mins

    Summer Favorites

    • Glass pyrex dish with slices of zucchini, squash, tomatoes and shredded mozzarella cheese.
      Zucchini, Squash and Tomato Gratin Recipe
      Cook Time1 hour, 15 min
    • Bright, fresh salad in a wooden bowl with sliced strawberries, red lettuce, shaved coconut and slivered almonds on a white wooden table next to a glass jar of green lemonade basil salad dressing.
      Summer Salad with Lemonade Basil Dressing
      Cook Time10 min
    • Sheetpan of cooked fajitas with slices of seasoned chicken, sliced onions and red and orange bell peppers with a stack of flour tortillas on top. Bowls of shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream and avocado on the side.
      Orange Juice Chicken Fajitas Recipe - Sheet Pan Dinner
      Cook Time35 min
    • Hand holding a small bowl of purple blackberry frozen whip.
      Lemonade with Blackberries Summer Whip Recipe
      Cook Time35 min

    Hi, I'm Anna! Raising families is hard, but keeping them fed makes it easier! I'm here to help you feed your crazy, messy, fabulous, funny family.

    More about me →

    Popular

    • Glass bowl on a wooden board filled with Taco Bell copycat Red Sauce.
      Copycat Taco Bell Red Sauce Recipe
      Cook Time20 min
    • Bottom freezer open with casseroles wrapped in tin foil and labeled with sharpie advertising freezer casserole recipes.
      15 Casserole Recipes to Freeze
    • Hand holding a flour tortilla filled with refried beans, taco bell red sauce and shredded cheddar cheese.
      Copycat Taco Bell Bean Burritos Recipe with Red Sauce
      Cook Time10 min
    • Metal pan filled with baked casserole with rice, black beans, corn, tomatoes and shredded mozzarella cheese.
      Freezer Taco Rice Casserole (Dairy Free and Gluten Free)
      Cook Time60 mins

    Summer Favorites

    • Glass pyrex dish with slices of zucchini, squash, tomatoes and shredded mozzarella cheese.
      Zucchini, Squash and Tomato Gratin Recipe
      Cook Time1 hour, 15 min
    • Bright, fresh salad in a wooden bowl with sliced strawberries, red lettuce, shaved coconut and slivered almonds on a white wooden table next to a glass jar of green lemonade basil salad dressing.
      Summer Salad with Lemonade Basil Dressing
      Cook Time10 min
    • Sheetpan of cooked fajitas with slices of seasoned chicken, sliced onions and red and orange bell peppers with a stack of flour tortillas on top. Bowls of shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream and avocado on the side.
      Orange Juice Chicken Fajitas Recipe - Sheet Pan Dinner
      Cook Time35 min
    • Hand holding a small bowl of purple blackberry frozen whip.
      Lemonade with Blackberries Summer Whip Recipe
      Cook Time35 min

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • Privacy Policy
    • Disclaimer
    • Terms & Conditions

    Newsletter

    • Sign Up! for emails and updates

    Contact

    • Contact
    • Work with Me

    As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Copyright © 2023