Originally Posted by Blackcat31:
As far as treating him special as another previous poster mentioned, I'd tread carefully there as speaking from a parent point of view I went out of my way to never choose a provider that had their own children that were the same age as mine. It can get very complicated and when daycare kids see the providers child being treated special it can create animosity and jealousy towards your child.
I did have a child psychologist at a conference I attended tell me this was a good thing to do for my child but I agree it has to be done subtly. She told me it would help my child understand that I am their mommy and this is their house. They did not choose this life, I did. I felt bad about treating my kids special so this helped me see it from a different perspective. I never had issues with jealousy from the other kids, the other kids loved my kids! I also never had issues with my kids hating daycare or the other kids.
I do agree, however that you have to be subtle and not over board with special. I made my kids feel special in subtle ways and I had no issues hugging the daycare kids in front of them when the DCK got hurt for example, as that teaches them empathy. Just stupid little things like choosing which snack for us to have or what colours to use for painting, stuff the DCKs likely didn’t notice. Also at the end of the day we had extra cuddles one on one.
It is a really hard job and it is really hard to find balance between being a mom and a business owner and this what helped me.