Anonymous wrote:One of my neighbors was running a daycare out of her home for a while. I'm not sure how--the house is tiny and I never saw kids outside (nor was there anything remotely child oriented outside. Maybe she only took babies?

Anyway, aside from the fact they they chain smoke and there was constant pot smoke wafting over, the first thing you see when you go to their door is a big sign that they have a gun on the premises and a concealed carry permit.

They would take kids at all hours though, which I guess is why people used them. It's extremely hard to find care if you work an unusual shift.

This is probably the only reason why parents used them. It's pretty much impossible to find 24 hour childcare.

The few licensed 24/7 daycare centers out there tend to be extremely restricted in who can use them at night--the only ones I really know of are military daycares and only for active duty working nights or they are hospital daycares and only for hospital employees working the night shift.

One of my neighbors was running a daycare out of her home for a while. I'm not sure how--the house is tiny and I never saw kids outside (nor was there anything remotely child oriented outside. Maybe she only took babies?

Anyway, aside from the fact they they chain smoke and there was constant pot smoke wafting over, the first thing you see when you go to their door is a big sign that they have a gun on the premises and a concealed carry permit.

They would take kids at all hours though, which I guess is why people used them. It's extremely hard to find care if you work an unusual shift.

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in unlicensed daycares where all sorts of crazy and wrong things happened. Went on to Ivy League schools and now have a happy successful life, so all was not lost. However, PPs gave it right— licensed daycares are really expensive, and not always around/convenient.

Same for me- unlicensed terrible daycare but my mom had no other options. I also went to an ivy and became a physician but I know that deep down this probably impacts me on some level.

I grew up in unlicensed daycares where all sorts of crazy and wrong things happened. Went on to Ivy League schools and now have a happy successful life, so all was not lost. However, PPs gave it right— licensed daycares are really expensive, and not always around/convenient.

Childcare was such a horrible mess … I honestly would probably quit my job for 3 years if I had to do it again. Childcare is a huge reason I only had one kid.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The woman left the children alone to go pick up her son from school. Can't he take a bus? Or her older daughter get him?

Yeah, I don't get this. He's 15 years old. Can't he ride a bike, take either a school or public bus, or otherwise figure out his own transport like millions of other 15 year olds have?

Especially since the article says the provider was only gone for 12 minutes….if that’s true, then the school is walking distance away from the daycare??

Google maps tells me her house is less than one mile from the high school. A 15 year old could easily be walking/biking home.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The woman left the children alone to go pick up her son from school. Can't he take a bus? Or her older daughter get him?

Yeah, I don't get this. He's 15 years old. Can't he ride a bike, take either a school or public bus, or otherwise figure out his own transport like millions of other 15 year olds have?

Especially since the article says the provider was only gone for 12 minutes….if that’s true, then the school is walking distance away from the daycare??

Yes definitely or he could ride a bike.

Exactly. This horrible woman wouldn’t let her teenager walk home but left 9 children under 3 alone at home…every day. Horrible.

I do not understand the original poster. No one chooses to leave their babies with a horrible provider…that they are paying. This woman probably says her 18 year old or someone else works with her and has toys etc for the children to make the place seem warm and friendly. The parents didn’t know that she does not care…AT ALL about children that aren’t hers.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The woman left the children alone to go pick up her son from school. Can't he take a bus? Or her older daughter get him?

Yeah, I don't get this. He's 15 years old. Can't he ride a bike, take either a school or public bus, or otherwise figure out his own transport like millions of other 15 year olds have?

Especially since the article says the provider was only gone for 12 minutes….if that’s true, then the school is walking distance away from the daycare??

Yes definitely or he could ride a bike.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The woman left the children alone to go pick up her son from school. Can't he take a bus? Or her older daughter get him?

Yeah, I don't get this. He's 15 years old. Can't he ride a bike, take either a school or public bus, or otherwise figure out his own transport like millions of other 15 year olds have?

Especially since the article says the provider was only gone for 12 minutes….if that’s true, then the school is walking distance away from the daycare??

Anonymous wrote:Over half of families with kids in Springfield make less than 35,000 dollars a year…even families making somewhat more than that aren’t going to be able to afford a Bright Horizons or a licensed in home or church daycare. So they turn to situations like this.

It's not surprising. You can either take your child to work or drop them off at someplace like this.

Over half of families with kids in Springfield make less than 35,000 dollars a year…even families making somewhat more than that aren’t going to be able to afford a Bright Horizons or a licensed in home or church daycare. So they turn to situations like this.

The city of Springfield, MO is pretty poor (more than half of students quality for free lunch). It's the poorest city in Missouri, in fact, and is in the Ozarks.

There's a real lack of childcare and other services there, in general.

This is awful but I don't place blame on the parents. Both my husband and I make six figure incomes and finding affordable childcare is a struggle. I can only imagine if you were truly living paycheck to paycheck

I have no idea what these parents were thinking, but a quick story:

I'm a highly-educated middle class professional who had my kids in my mid-30s when I was well prepared (emotionally and financially) to do so.

I had a nanny, who left suddenly when her husband was reassigned. I had a nanny share lined up when the other family backed out due to the nanny deciding she wanted to start over with babies instead of toddlers. Centers were a nonstarter, so I ended up putting my child into a less-than-optimal home daycare while I struggled to find other options.

Basically, the childcare crisis is real and even "good" parents sometimes end up crossing their fingers and hoping for the best.

This poor family.

Anonymous wrote:The woman left the children alone to go pick up her son from school. Can't he take a bus? Or her older daughter get him?

Yeah, I don't get this. He's 15 years old. Can't he ride a bike, take either a school or public bus, or otherwise figure out his own transport like millions of other 15 year olds have?