Staying at home with your children versus working and putting them in child care has been a battle for every parent for years. There has always been a debate with this subject because there are pros and cons to each side. You will never get the same answer from anyone, and I am here to tell you that it is a personal decision that you will need to make. You just need to weigh your options and make the right decision for your lifestyle. Here are some things to consider when you are deciding to either put your children in child care or stay at home with them.
One of the first things to consider is your personal financial situation. Do you have enough money to live off of if you are not working. If you can live off of your significant other’s income, then if you want to stay home with your children you will be able to. You do not want to have to stress about money, that will just bring the whole family down. If you are able to afford your bills and have a little left to spare, you will be able to stay home with your children.
Another thing to consider before putting your children into child care is the cost. Child care can get really expensive. Are you going to be working just to cover the cost of child care? If so, you may just want to stay home with your children since you will not be getting ahead with money. I have worked retail my whole life and found that I could not find a job that even paid enough to put my children through day care. Therefore, it would not benefit me, and I was excited to stay home with my children and see them grow up.
One downfall to not putting your children in child care is that your children will not get as much interaction with other children. They need to have quality time with other kids to learn how to play nice, share, etc. Unless you know other people with children around the same age, it may be beneficial to put your children in child care part time just so that they get the interaction that they need. They may have a tough time when they get to school age if they have not had the interaction with kids.
Child care can be beneficial if they are in a small group setting. They can learn a lot at day care, some things that you just cannot teach at home. If you are going to stay home with your children, you need to make sure that they are just not sitting around the television all day. They need to get down on the floor, and you need to get there with them. They are not going to learn by themselves, you need to teach them. A good thing to have when you are staying home with your children is lots of books. Books are very educational.
Weighing these couple items will help you make a better decision about putting your children in child care or staying home with them. Personally, since I work retail and do not make a lot of money, I have always worked around my husband’s schedule to be able to stay home with the kids, but be able to make a small income as well. You just need to make the best decision financially for your family.
