I was amiss to not inform you about my Baby Centre blogs yesterday but one of them I want to follow on from today. http://www.baby.co.uk/mum_stories/is-my-son-missing-out-by-not-going-to-nursery/. The blog relates to the question of whether I'm making a mistake by not sending the wee man to nursery The feedback I've gotten from the blog generally says that yes I'm making a mistake and if I don't send him to nursery then he will become a sociopathic killer. Well it didn't quite go this far but near enough.
There seem to be two camps here. First off, there seems to be those who think that nursery is a necessary social convention and without it children will grow to be isolated and weird. For these people the idea of parents not sending their children to nursery is alien. This is a perfectly valid opinion.
Then there is the second group who think of nursery as only necessary as a last resort of childcare. I fall into this camp. I also fall into this camp because I refuse to spend silly money on childcare when I can do it myself. If I was still working, the job I had would have only just paid nursery fees and I hated the job anyway, so what's the point? The wee man and I regularly spend our days out and I argue that he's seeing more of the world than he will ever see at nursery and he's interacting with more people than he would at nursery.
I understand that everybody's situation is different and money plays a key role in decision making. And I would also like to add that I'm not saying that people who send their children to nursery love their children less. I'm NOT saying this.
Most of the people my age didn't go the nursery because way back when nursery was somewhat different to what it is now and people want to get back to work sooner now, again a valid right. But we, mostly, turned out OK. There is far too emphasis in life and in the feedback to my blog about getting children socialised by a certain point. The wee man will go to play groups but I see no need yet to send him nursery for the sake of it. Rant over.
jpr
I'm with you on this. My husband and I are in pretty much the same position where his salary would just about have covered some of our wee lads childcare. So we agreed that the little guy would be cared for in the main by the big guy with me doing one day and grandma doing another. The little guy is ace with other kids and grown ups. He sociable and will give anyone a cuddle. He goes to playgroups and various sessions at museums and galleries in the city. Nursery was just not a viable option mainly down to finances. I too don't think that people who send their kids to nursery love their children less. They'll all have different experiences and that's good because we're all different.
ReplyDeleteYay to what we do and yay to what others do
Great comment Charlotte, thanks for taking the time. I think you're the first person to agree with me! It's a contentious subject but a really interesting one. No right or wrong!
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