The 5 types of daycare parents

Over the last few weeks we have had a few visits to Little Dude’s daycare. They do these transitional visits so the babies can see the space and meet the staff while the parents are able to accost question the staff on anything and everything. Over my visits and from doing these visits 2 years ago with Princess Peach, I have grouped some of these parents into different categories. If your kids go to daycare I’m sure you will recognize these parents too..

The Newbie parent: This parent is green. They are excited for their child to start daycare yet they are apprehensive. This parent will spend hours upon hours labeling every single item that will go to daycare with their child. God forbid something should get lost, dirty, or go home with another child! This parent wants to meet other parents and will excitedly introduce themselves and try as best they can to remember everyone’s names (yet they probably won’t). This parent will drop off their child at daycare, hold back the tears and then call their best friend and bawl about what they just did, and how horrible they feel. Yet deep down they know that they have made the right decision.

The Concerned Parent: This parent is always worried about something. If there is an outbreak a communicable disease they are the first to call the daycare supervisor to question and get the low down on what the daycare is doing to keep it at bay. They have all the important numbers of the daycare staff on speed dial and in their “top callers list”. They call for daily updates and read the communication logs like they are the bible. This parent sends antibacterial with their child and teaches them how to use it as to not spread germs. This parent will worry about every little thing in their child’s life and try as best to have control. The concerned parent will have two sets of clothes for their child- their daycare clothes and their non-daycare clothes.

The Inspector parent: This parent checks and rechecks everything about the daycare. You wouldn’t be surprised if they called the ministry and found out their scores and ratings on everything. Staff and other parents question why this parent is actually sending their child to this daycare because nothing seems to be good enough for them. They complain and nit pick about more things than anyone could think possible. The best part is that their child has yet to spend a full day there!

The Laissez Faire parent: This parent is confident with their choice of choosing this daycare. They will go to all school events, but never cause a problem. They will triple check the number on the thermometer when their child has a fever as they don’t want them to miss a beat with their friends on with their education. This parent will only speak up if there is really something truly alarming. This parent is excited for their child to start daycare and meet new friends. The Laissez Faire parent will become friends with other parents in the class due to their laid back nature. This parent will label their childs clothes only with their last name. If its popular or not, they hope those items will make its way back to them!

The Been-There-Done-That Parent: This parent has had at least one child in daycare before. They may or may not label their child clothing and items. Heck, they probably didn’t even buy their child new items for daycare like they may have done with their first. This parent probably won’t attend any school functions as they overdid it the first time around. They know their child is good hands and that’s good enough for them.

 So, spill it! Which parent are you? Or are you a combination or two, or three or all the above?