For fifteen years, I had a large family childcare in my home (14 children plus my own). I honestly thought I was doing the right thing. I was helping families to keep their children “loved” and not in an institutional center, while being able to stay home with my kids. My oldest child hated “living” in a daycare. My other kids didn’t seem to mind, but it was all they knew. Often, it seemed that I cared more for my daycare kids than their own parents. I fed them, bought them clothes, and nursed them when they were sick. However, I didn’t realize the hardship this was on MY family until I closed my daycare down and saw the transformation in my home.
I thought our arrangement was the best for everyone. I got called a “super-mom” by my outside circle, but I realized I was a lousy wife and a terrible mom. When you care for fourteen other people’s kids, you are NOT caring for your own. My kids were constantly neglected, and spent time in their bedrooms alone while I was in the playroom with other kids. My kids were on the back burner. My husband had to wait to be seen and heard until the children were gone. He hated being the custodian and repair man to the daycare on top of his day job and family duties. So, one day, I decided to stop.
The difference in my home is astonishing. There is no longer chaos here. We are all less tense and more pleasant. I would give back every penny and live in a modest home and drive a modest car to give my children a mom and my husband a wife. I realized I was no better than the parents who dropped their kids off. I neglected my family for a job.
Jessica
My Own Kids Got Neglected When I Opened a Daycare in My Home
