We’ve been lucky enough to have grandparents live close by enough to look after Grayson whilst I work part time and Mark works full time, Grayson turns 2 in April and the fact we’ve been lucky enough to keep him out of any childcare for that long is something we’re both very thankful for.
There’s obviously nothing wrong with putting your children into child care, it’s purely just that in the UK it’s very expensive and would essentially be my whole wage to put Grayson into a nursery for the hours that I work.
However, we’re now considering putting Grayson into a nursery, even if it’s just for a few hours one day a week. Not even because we need to, but as something for Grayson. He’s an amazing little boy: he’s kind and considerate, funny and smart, and just an all round legend. He is also an extremely sensitive soul, and quite shy.
This isn’t a bad thing at all, I love him even more for the fact that he feels emotions more deeply than some adults do. I worry that without even trying, my anxieties rub off on him and make him nervous around people that he doesn’t know. So if he were able to be around other children his own age, and other adults more, I like to hope that he’d slowly become more confident.
Ideally I would keep Grayson in this protective little bubble until he needed to go to school. The thought of sending my sweet and sensitive boy to nursery and not being there for him fills me with dread. The thought of him being upset, and not being there to comfort him makes my heart break. However, I know that’s my own issues and Grayson will more than likely be absolutely fine.
I’m still very conflicted about the whole thing, but I think we will start to look into it more intensely over the upcoming months and hopefully I’ll eventually start to feel more comfortable about taking Grayson out of our little bubble.
What age did your children go into childcare? And how did you/your children find it?
I agree fully, the costs of childcare here in the UK are very high. I think it is a beneficial thing for kids Graysons age, it gives them more chance to interact with children their own age and develop social skills.
I first met my 2 step daughters when they were 2 and 15 months of age, their mum and my partner was a working single mum and had no choice but to pay for childcare. They both had been in with a local childminder from around the age of 8 months. Same with our daughter Ellie, she was in the same childminder from 6months. It helped with their development from such a young age, playing with jigsaws and speech were good for all of them. It was noticeable with Ellie at around 2, her social skills were incredible, she wasn’t shy but full of beans and confidence, she would be able to make a friend in the click of your fingers if we visited our local soft play. Me and mum put this down to the confidence she had built through being at Pre school.
Thankfully Grayson’s speech is really advanced for his age and he’s really clued up on a lot of things, so I don’t feel I’ve let him down in that area. I definitely think it would help develop his social skills though ( I make it sound terrible, he’s fine with most people after about 10 minutes of clinging on to us haha). It definitely sounds like it’s really helped her in being such a confident little girl!
It really has, my eldest daughter didn’t start with Pre schooling till 6months before she started school. She was very shy, she would cling to us for the whole time a new face would visit or hide behind me and her mum in a que at a shop for example.
That sounds exactly like Grayson, and I want him to be as confident as possible so I definitely think nursery will help!
I think the hardest part is choosing the right nursery for your child. Ive thought before the surroundings and environment of some benefit the child more than some others may. Good luck to you both in the search for a nursery, I’m sure Grayson will love it.