All I’m saying is that in my particular situation, had I stayed in my previous job, daycare workers WOULD be raising my children because I worked such long hours and my husband works so many hours now. I left in the morning usually before they get up and didn’t generally return until well after they would be in bed. I also worked most Saturdays and many Sundays. I’m not saying at ALL that people who take advantage of daycare are using other people to raise their kids, I’m just talking about what would have happened in my personal situation.

I think daycare is a fantastic resource and wish I could afford to put my kids into it for a few hours a day/few days a week. If the right job came up I would absolutely use daycare or possibly an in-home caregiver. But for me, at this time, it’s not an option. Also, I was a nanny through college and law school and know that, generally speaking, nannies and babysitters are (hopefully) loving counterparts to the raising process but they do NOT take the place of parents or good parenting.

Hope that makes sense and I didn’t just muddle things up more…