4. He doesn’t get sick nearly as often
It took me a few months of changing detergents, eliminating candles, and stopping my use of perfume to realize that my son’s nearly constant runny nose had nothing to do with allergies – it all had to do with him picking up colds and other sicknesses from the daycare. Most parents have trouble finding childcare for their children if they are sick, so they tend to just take them anyway.
5. I’m actually saving money
Look, daycare costs are absolutely ridiculous. Not sure why as most daycare workers actually make less than retail workers – about $9.40 per hour or $19,560 per year. By working at home and not having to pay for daycare, I am actually saving money.
Sure, I would make a little bit more if I worked more hours or worked in the office, but I’m able to net more this way. And of course, you can’t put a price on the time you get to spend with your children every day.
If you have more than one child, it even makes more sense.
6. These are the most important years of their lives
Did you know your 2 year old has more than 100 trillion synapses, or brain connections; this is the most they will have in their lifetime. And it is twice as many as the average adult. They are absorbing information at an incredible rate and they will take in the bad stuff just as easy as the good stuff. I prefer to be in control of that information as much as possible.
By preschool age, your child begins to see themselves as an individual and their personality is well on its way to being developed. In short, these are the make it or break it years. And there is no way I am leaving that up to chance.
7. It makes my life more flexible
With daycare, I always had to change up my work schedule, go in late, or not go in at all because of bad weather or other emergencies. Now, if it snows, we just proceed as we normally do. And I don’t have to worry about dragging my son out into the weather when we have it. I feel this method keeps us all much safer.
It’s also much easier to schedule appointments, vacations, and meetings because I can work around the joint schedule we all have. This not only benefits me, but also my husband.
In all, I realize that not sending my baby to daycare is a privilege that not everyone can have. However, I am eternally thankful that it was something I was able to do for my family and for my son. We are much happier, safer and more flexible with this choice. Not to mention we saved money doing it!
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