At Least - Like Kids!

You rushed around this morning, making breakfast, gathering up books, making lunch, fixing hair --- and that was just for YOU! After that you woke the kids. And then you started getting them ready for the day. And like a lot of parents out there, you took your youngest child to a day care center. Unlike older kids who are settled into a school routine with certified, highly trained professionals, you don't always have that reassurance of quality-control when it comes to the folks who are caring for your baby or toddler.  Most working moms have daily concerns over their childcare situation and don’t want to chance making a mistake. One thing that you can do to deal with your worries about childcare, is to personally interview the caregiver that will be with your child the majority of the day. Get to know her personally. Does she seem to be easygoing around your child? Does she act as if she really loves kids?  When my daughter was a toddler, I left her at a mother's day out program for one day with a woman who just appeared grouchy. She wasn't friendly to me as I was dropping off my little girl, much less my child. I found out later that this woman had been talked into the job by her mother who needed her help and she hated working at the daycare. My daughter did not have a good experience that day. Needless to say, I pulled my baby girl out of that program pronto! My advice from that experience: it is a requirement that a child's caregiver have a soft heart for children. I mean, really? Taking care of kids and you don’t even like them! Next time I did do a few things differently. I asked for God’s wisdom to find someone really nice to watch my little one. And I asked for some good advice from a wise mom or two. Don’t leave this important decision to chance.