I am not a mom (yet...thank goodness!).
But most mothers in today's society have to work a full time job on top of being a full time parent. It would be wonderful if mothers were able to stay home and raise their children (although I think some might lose their sanity if they did). So, what is a mother to do when they can't leave the kids at home? Most resort to babysitters or daycare. A question that came up in this week's discussion was, "How does a child growing up in daycare affect their attachment?" I thought this was an interesting question.
I remember a brief time in my childhood that I went to daycare. I remember eating graham crackers and then having nap time everyday. Then my mom tells me that one day another one of the girls at daycare bit me, and the caregiver didn't tell her, and she found a big bite mark on my back when she went to give me a bath. From then on my mom stayed home with me and started her own daycare for myself and the children of her close friends. We had a blast in my mom's daycare! We would do all sorts of things. My mom even had a dance instructor come to our house and give us dance and music lessons! (Sorry, off topic a bit).
So, does daycare affect a child's attachment? Personally, I believe it depends on the place you take your children. (Like it states in "Babies, Bonds, and Brains".) If a child goes to a productive daycare where they are constantly learning and growing in knowledge and relationships, I think it could be a wonderful experience and not have a negative effect of the child at all. They can learn to be independent and trust that mom or dad will pick them up at the end of the day. But if your child goes to a not so great daycare, where all they do is watch TV and eat snacks, I think that this could create some negative attachment. For example, if the child gets to watch TV all day at daycare, but is not allowed at home, they may develop some resentment towards their parents, because they can't do "fun things" at home.
It really is all very situational, but I think daycare can be a great thing for a child's development.
I think that was very brave and great of your mom to address a problem (your bite) and find a solution by opening her own daycare. I found that I have utmost respect for most daycare workers because they sure have their hands full. For the good daycare people it is a calling, not a job.
ReplyDeleteThe last daycare that my daughters were at was the best place I could imagine. They were excited to go everyday and the positive attachment to the women was amazing.
The very first daycare I put my son in was a in home daycare meaning the provider ran the daycare out of their house. I thought this would be a better arrangement since it would be less kids, resulting in more 1 on 1 time. Boy, was I wrong. I would come to pick him up and he would be poopy for who knows how long or other times no one but the father, who isn't a daycare provider, would be there! I took him out of there as soon as I could and he's been going to a learning center ever since. It totally depends on the kind of daycare establishment that children attend and the parent should definitley do some research before making such an important decision!
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