Back in the 70s, when my son was a year old and I was a stay-at-home mom, my friend who was a working mom talked me into a girls' day with shopping and lunch. She said I could leave my son at her day care assuring me he would be well cared for. I kept saying no, not trusting my little guy with strangers. She told me it's only for a few hours and it would be good for him to play with some other little kids his age. I finally caved, and we dropped our kids off, leaving my son crying for Momma. I then worried the entire day about if he was going to be safe.
Later when we returned, my son was running around in a really badly soaked diaper and the woman in charge proceeded to jump me about how my son didn't conform well to their schedule! She told me when nap time came he wouldn't go to sleep! I asked her what he did while the other kids were sleeping. She said he laid in bed talking to himself playing with his toy! I explained this was the FIRST time he had even been in a day care, and that if talking to himself quietly while laying down was "not fitting in" - that was ridiculous! I also expressed my concern about the wet diaper that I KNEW had not been changed for hours.
My friend was so used to this dealing with day care, that she seemed not to get riled by this, and clearly not getting how this angered me. I never left my son again at a day care.
It saddens me our kids are just another sticky face in the crowd of kids dropped off at day care. Our kids need their mommas.
Debbie
