Quality Time With Your Own Kids

[justgettingstarted]

I started my daycare to be home with my toddler son and to have the opportunity to have a second child. Lately I've been feeling that I spend all of my time caring for my daycare kids and only have time to take care of the basics for my own son. How do you make sure you're spending quality time with your kids while still running a great daycare? Some examples are I used to read to my son at nap and tuck him in. Now that my dck's are getting older I've switched them to cots so I can't leave them for 15 minutes while I put my son down. Also he spends a lot time playing by himself in his room so the babies don't grab his toys (mostly trains) and mess up the tracks he builds. Yesterday afternoon I realized that we spent most of the day in separate rooms which makes me so sad and feel like doing daycare pointless.

[daycare]

I started my daycare to be home with my toddler son and to have the opportunity to have a second child. Lately I've been feeling that I spend all of my time caring for my daycare kids and only have time to take care of the basics for my own son. How do you make sure you're spending quality time with your kids while still running a great daycare? Some examples are I used to read to my son at nap and tuck him in. Now that my dck's are getting older I've switched them to cots so I can't leave them for 15 minutes while I put my son down. Also he spends a lot time playing by himself in his room so the babies don't grab his toys (mostly trains) and mess up the tracks he builds. Yesterday afternoon I realized that we spent most of the day in separate rooms which makes me so sad and feel like doing daycare pointless.

this sounds all about right to me...My son always gets the short end of the stick...He does not take naps any more and this is our special time, but even now that is starting to fade.

Honestly, DC does not really allow for a ton of time to spend one on one with your own. I feel sad a lot that I always have to tell my kids sorry I can't, Ihave DC or you will have to wait, I am not an octopus and only have two arms.....

Maybe others will offer better advice than what I have shared..... Good Luck

[daycare]

I started my daycare to be home with my toddler son and to have the opportunity to have a second child. Lately I've been feeling that I spend all of my time caring for my daycare kids and only have time to take care of the basics for my own son. How do you make sure you're spending quality time with your kids while still running a great daycare? Some examples are I used to read to my son at nap and tuck him in. Now that my dck's are getting older I've switched them to cots so I can't leave them for 15 minutes while I put my son down. Also he spends a lot time playing by himself in his room so the babies don't grab his toys (mostly trains) and mess up the tracks he builds. Yesterday afternoon I realized that we spent most of the day in separate rooms which makes me so sad and feel like doing daycare pointless.

this sounds all about right to me...My son always gets the short end of the stick...He does not take naps any more and this is our special time, but even now that is starting to fade.

Honestly, DC does not really allow for a ton of time to spend one on one with your own. I feel sad a lot that I always have to tell my kids sorry I can't, Ihave DC or you will have to wait, I am not an octopus and only have two arms.....

Maybe others will offer better advice than what I have shared..... Good Luck

[DBug]

Here's the thing though -- your ds gets to spend his days at his own house, with his own toys, and his own room. He can get hugs and kisses (almost!) anytime he wants from his OWN mommy. If he's feeling tired he can lay in his own bed. If he's feeling icky, his own mom is right there to take his temperature. If mommy's okay with it, he can do his own thing instead of having to follow the same daycare routine day in and day out. He might even get a special treat once in awhile (I always gave my dd a cookie right before nap, when the dck's were already fast asleep ).

In alot of ways, doing daycare is just like your own child(ren) having more siblings. They need to learn to share Mommy, but at the same time, when they really need you, you're right there for them.

That right there, my friend, is priceless!

[Ariana]

Maybe you need to change things up a bit? What works for me is having a limited number of kids that are around her age. They are more like playmates and although I take care of them they aren't newborns that need constant attention and care. The kids play together but if I want to sit on the floor and read her a book the other kids carry on playing. Most of the time she doesn't really need me at all but knows I'm there; we can talk and I can teach her my values and morals and use my form of discipline. I also decided to start taking my Mondays off for just the two of us. I'm very lucky in that we don't really need my income (although we definately like the $$!) so I can sort of afford to be more picky.

I also make sure to spend about 1/2 hour one on one with her after daycare. I'll say something like "well daycare is over time for special mommy hugs" or whatever just to let her know I'm there for her. There are certainly ways you can make time for your kids you just need to be creative. Maybe putting the babies in a seperate play area using gates might help? Many people on here do that.