33 years? Wow. Kuddos for loving it that long!
When I started out 8 years ago, I had the "it takes a village" mentality. I wanted my daycare to have a family atmosphere. So, I took on a small group (4 kids plus my own). I treated all my daycare parents as extended family and gave them as much of me as I could.
Then I realized; not one of them gave a fleeping bleep about me. They didn't care I was a mom too and needed time away from my job as much as they did. They didn't reciprocate and "help" me in any way, even when I watched their children nights and weekends. They wanted the lowest cost care, for the longest time possible and will leave on a dime without any notice.
It took me 1 year to wise up. That's where the "it takes a village" thought process ended for me and ALL BUSINESS ALL THE TIME mindset kicked in.
I feel sad about that at times. I have the occasional parent who is awesome and spends as much time as possible with their children. But most don't.
Although I don't feel it's much different now as it did when I was a kid. I'm a product of the 80's when living in a world full of "must haves" and keeping up with the Joneses was in full bloom. It was possible to afford staying home with the kids then, but most parents didn't. My mom flat out told me that she never could have, we'd drive her nuts. I sometimes see her point.
