[inside65]

Not picking on you but this scenario is so common I find it borderline humorous as it is so outrageously ridiculous. Both parents working all day and the kids getting a mediocre upbringing under the care of strangers - now that's freedom! Thank goodness for democracy and equality helping us improve our society. Where would we be if only 1 parent worked and the other took care of the kids.

[NikolaNovak]

That too is a relevant discussion, but probably better off without sarcasm and with a little bit more intellectual honesty.

If I had to pick one point - it's that absolutely, yes, freedom is great, options are great. We HAVE the social and legal freedom to choose what lifestyle and combination makes the most sense for our family. And we weigh all the pros and cons and think of short and long term benefits and then have that discussion again few months later to see if anything has changed. We are lucky, blessed and privileged, on many different levels. So I don't feel picked on; I only wish more people here and around the world had the freedom, support and opportunities my wife and I have.

(as others have pointed out, daycare is not necessarily a bad thing. It's staffed by certified professionals who specialize in teaching kids - whereas let's be honest I'm just making it up as a parent. It's also great opportunity to socialize and make friends outside of their family. We don't see daycare as a downside - we see it as opportunity for our kids to get diverse experience between family and friends. As I said discussions revolve around all the many factors and options but certainly does not start from "daycare is bad" stance)

[CydeWeys]

> It's also great opportunity to socialize and make friends outside of their family.

For what it's worth, everything I remember from daycare/preschool through elementary school was that it was a blast. Being home with just one parent instead of being/playing with other kids all day would've been way worse. Look at villages in developing nations: the young kids there run in packs, with free rein of everything, and are having an absolutely great time.

[hirako2000]

One could make the same argument that a professional cleaning service is better than our own ability to make things shine. The question is not only economical, but the economy is a call back to reality. A growing portion of the population cant provide decent care to their children.

[kiklion]

> Both parents working all day and the kids getting a mediocre upbringing under the care of strangers

The only problem here is the ‘mediocre’ upbringing. My daughter is in a daycare where she is learning Spanish words/phrases in addition to English.

My daughter will be 2 in December and the daycare has her recognizing most letters, numbers, colors and shapes through dedicated practice. She uses tongs and spoons to practice picking up items and separating them by color or by number ‘grab 4 purple fuzz balls!’

These are teaching programs I would never have thought of at her age. I’d just point to fingers and toes and count to 10 or sing the ABC’s.

My daycare printed out paper with every letter and asks her to grab the letters of her name. Or she has an image with lower case letters on it and she asks my daughter to match the upper case letters out of a pile.

Long story short, raising kids newborn to 5 is a specialized skill just like teaching 5 to whatever, and society can benefit from having better educators for our children than what random adults turn out to be.

[twobitshifter]

This is great for your family, but in the end just an anecdote. Babies can and have been raised by strangers successfully, and many would have had a more fulfilling upbringing with their own British nanny, but in most cases daycares are not being run to the highest standards.

It would be great if we could come up with a socially supported system that raised the standard of child-care, so that every child gets the same treatment as your daughter.

[hirako2000]

Giving birth can also be specialised. The argument doesn't address any of the concerns, it only points out that for those who can afford quality care, that care is superior to the natural caring of the parents. If only people could start looking at societal issues due to a system that is flawed rather than cherry pick personal beneficial situations that satisfies them to justify the broken system.

[inside65]

How much does that daycare cost and what area do you live?

[hirako2000]

We would be back to the dark ages where women were chained to their husband's tyrany.