Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I call it daycare/preschool because it’s such a controversy on this board. My kids attend a preschool and they also provide infant care. There is before care and aftercare and before covid 19, they are there from 9-6. We pay for aftercare. In any case, I was just curious if money is a motivating factor. It sounds like it’s not.

I do feel guilty about sending them this fall but I am required to go back to office twice a week.

Can I ask you why you’re so against calling it daycare for your kids? You say it’s a preschool that is open all day and also cares for infants. That’s a daycare. And there is nothing wrong with that. I’m not offended by calling that a daycare. Why are you?

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I call it daycare/preschool because it’s such a controversy on this board. My kids attend a preschool and they also provide infant care. There is before care and aftercare and before covid 19, they are there from 9-6. We pay for aftercare. In any case, I was just curious if money is a motivating factor. It sounds like it’s not.

I do feel guilty about sending them this fall but I am required to go back to office twice a week.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Money is definitely a strong factor. Plus they can get work to agree right now that they can have kids at home.

There is no way this was written by a parent with a 1, 2 or 3 at home. Not a single working parent prefers to have NO SAFE CHILDCARE just because it’s cheaper. Not a one.

Disagree. My almost 4 year old is a breeze. My best friend's 10 month old is a breeze. Because we have kids at home, work lets us stagger our schedules and I can work later at night too. Work would give no flexibility if daycares were open. My 2 year old is hard as hell. But we're saving $700 a week.

Anonymous wrote:For those of you talking about saving money, are you not having to continue payments to hold your spot, or have you completely withdrawn from daycare, assuming that you will have no trouble enrolling when necessary?
After 4 months at home with us, our children are back at daycare part-time, because we need the childcare to cover shifting demands with work. But we had to pay to hold those spots. I didn't want to just roll the dice and assume I could find a quality daycare with availability for both a newborn and an infant when the time came.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Money is definitely a strong factor. Plus they can get work to agree right now that they can have kids at home.

There is no way this was written by a parent with a 1, 2 or 3 at home. Not a single working parent prefers to have NO SAFE CHILDCARE just because it’s cheaper. Not a one.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For us it’s neither a financial nor safety decision but rather emotional well-being. This was supposed to be our 3 year old’s first year of preschool. We went and took the tour of the new COVID adjustments last week. They’re taking amazing precautions and are very prepared. Class size is small. I truly believe she’d stay healthy. BUT she’d eat lunch “alone” instead of at a communal table where conversation is encouraged and daily helpers get to pass out napkins and water. She’d wear a mask most of the day and these teachers and peers who are total strangers at the start of the year will be masked most of the time too. (All of the “get to know you” activities before school starts were canceled.) More than half the toys have been removed from the classroom so that only easily sanitized items are left. They have a “anything you touch must go in the bin to be sanitized” policy. So instead of working together and learning to share, kids will be encouraged to get a “workmat” (ie a bathmat) and pick a toy to play with alone. We can’t enter the building and must say goodbye on the first day from the parking lot. I could go on but I think we all get the picture.

I’m crushed that she’s missing out on real preschool this year but since we don’t HAVE to send her for childcare purposes I just don’t think we can justify pushing her to do this when we already expected “normal” preschool would be a big adjustment for our sensitive, slightly anxious kid.

Yikes. It sounds like YOU think this setup is terrible and so you assume your child will also. You sound like a smothering SAHM. Even with what you describe, it is still better for your child to get out of the house and experience other child and adults. You also sound dramatic. There is no way your child is eating “alone” as that is most likely illegal. You act as though your child is put alone in a room at lunch. No, the child is simply not sitting right next to others. Also, your child has no idea about the amount of toys they had previously or that they weren’t on a bath mat. You’re also assuming that any routine out of the normal is simply too hard on your child. Saying good bye from the parking lot...it makes no difference to your CHILD where the good bye is said. Again, you’re selfishly only considering yourself.

Sorry but you’re doing your child a disservice. Upset over masks? Lady, your kid will be wearing a mask for years. You’re missing out on an opportunity for in person learning that your child may not have again for a long time.

I'm a SAHM and my initial thinking was that of the first PP. But I decided to go through with it because I felt I was projecting my anxieties on her. I do think it will be difficult at first for most of the kids. But kids adapt so well, especially in a group setting. Plus, in this age group the mask wearing (of the kids) is going to be left mostly up to teacher's discretion since young children don't have an official mandate to wear them. The materials at school, the outdoor classroom that will be set up, the ability to be with peers, the learning that happens when given that independence..are all good things. I have older kids that will be attending partially and a spouse in healthcare- I don't feel my preschooler going half days will change our risk much. Plus if my big kids end up needing to do DL, I will be able to help them to a greater degree than I can when I have a 3 year old home.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Money is definitely a strong factor. Plus they can get work to agree right now that they can have kids at home.

There is no way this was written by a parent with a 1, 2 or 3 at home. Not a single working parent prefers to have NO SAFE CHILDCARE just because it’s cheaper. Not a one.

Oh believe me, this is not the case. I know someone refusing to go back in the office because she never wants to pay for childcare again. Claims she is "teleworking" while watching a 6 and 4 year old. Since COVID began they bought a new boat and RV.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For us it’s neither a financial nor safety decision but rather emotional well-being. This was supposed to be our 3 year old’s first year of preschool. We went and took the tour of the new COVID adjustments last week. They’re taking amazing precautions and are very prepared. Class size is small. I truly believe she’d stay healthy. BUT she’d eat lunch “alone” instead of at a communal table where conversation is encouraged and daily helpers get to pass out napkins and water. She’d wear a mask most of the day and these teachers and peers who are total strangers at the start of the year will be masked most of the time too. (All of the “get to know you” activities before school starts were canceled.) More than half the toys have been removed from the classroom so that only easily sanitized items are left. They have a “anything you touch must go in the bin to be sanitized” policy. So instead of working together and learning to share, kids will be encouraged to get a “workmat” (ie a bathmat) and pick a toy to play with alone. We can’t enter the building and must say goodbye on the first day from the parking lot. I could go on but I think we all get the picture.

I’m crushed that she’s missing out on real preschool this year but since we don’t HAVE to send her for childcare purposes I just don’t think we can justify pushing her to do this when we already expected “normal” preschool would be a big adjustment for our sensitive, slightly anxious kid.

Yikes. It sounds like YOU think this setup is terrible and so you assume your child will also. You sound like a smothering SAHM. Even with what you describe, it is still better for your child to get out of the house and experience other child and adults. You also sound dramatic. There is no way your child is eating “alone” as that is most likely illegal. You act as though your child is put alone in a room at lunch. No, the child is simply not sitting right next to others. Also, your child has no idea about the amount of toys they had previously or that they weren’t on a bath mat. You’re also assuming that any routine out of the normal is simply too hard on your child. Saying good bye from the parking lot...it makes no difference to your CHILD where the good bye is said. Again, you’re selfishly only considering yourself.

Sorry but you’re doing your child a disservice. Upset over masks? Lady, your kid will be wearing a mask for years. You’re missing out on an opportunity for in person learning that your child may not have again for a long time.