This is my journal of the daily life of a single teenage mother. My experience with my sugar baby was so much fun, but I soon learned that it wouldn't be easy caring for a baby all day long every day. Day one began my journey, when I introduced Lauren Ashley to my friends and family. I fixed her curly brown hair up in a bow, and I put on her a newborn diaper. There were so many styles of diapers to choose from in the store; it was mind-boggling. She had the cutest little ears I had ever seen. It was very heavy carrying Lauren Ashley everywhere all over school, including my books! The only time I needed a babysitter was when I had football games, pep-rallies, cheer practice, and class, so basically all day. I saw right then that daycare would be a necessity. I hired my parents, my grandmother, and my friends to baby sit. Whenever me and the other cheerleaders went to practice, we created a daycare in Mrs. Dennis' classroom. If Lauren Ashley were a real baby, I would pay around $90.00 a week just for her to go to daycare, and that doesn't include any extra food or diapers I would need to send. I also couldn't imagine having to wake up every two hours all night long to feed, change diapers, and rock Lauren Ashley back to sleep. But, I know I would really love my baby, so I would take care of her the proper way.
One day when I really have kids, and they are girls, I am going to name them Julia- Love and Lauren Ashley. If I have a boy, I am going to name him Colton Bradley. Hopefully, whomever I marry will think the same. I have decided I only want a few children, about 3, but I definitely do not want to be a pregnant mom in school, taking care of a child when I am only a kid myself. I know I would have to focus on my schoolwork instead of taking care of a baby. I gave Lauren Ashley a certain time to play and then it was naptime for sugar baby. She needed her rest for the next day because we would have to go to school, then daycare all over again.
Chapter seven of “Making the “Terrible” Twos Terrific” by John Rosemond is about sending your children to daycare. Rosemond believes that if possible one of the parent stays at home for the first three years of life. “The first three years of life constitute the single most critical, precedent-setting developmental period” (Rosemond 207). He also talks about putting your child in a three day or half day daycare. From birth to age two children rely completely on their parents. At age three is the transition time when children learn they are not the center of the universe and this should be taught by the parents.
Read, Katy. "Regrets of a stay-at-home mom." Real Families. Salon, 05 Jan 2011. Web. 4 Apr. 2014.
Single moms are the most affected and providing childcare on campus is very beneficial to them. More than 4 million women attend two-year public institutions or community colleges, and more than 1 million of them are mothers. Many student mothers struggle to stay enrolled all the way through graduation. Most of them are more likely to drop out of school, and the reason is because most often there is no affordable or available childcare and the students have limited financial resources. The average daycare center cost for an infant is higher than a year’s tuition and fees at a public college. It makes affordable on-campus child care a necessary provision for students. Childcare on campus helps to contribute to the learning
Many children with one parent don’t receive the accurate child care that they deserve because a single parent, can’t afford to pay child care by themselves. (Newman et al. 40). Child care is expensive but is very important for children, espcecially at a young age. Millions of children are in child care that isn’t actually giving the positive results, but also damaging them because parents can’t afford quality child care (Newman et al. 46). With poor quality child care, these children are more ...
For low-income families, particularly single mothers, preschool is a huge financial burden. Despite what parents want for their children, it isn’t always a practical option; sometimes, the cost of enrolling their children outweighs the money earned at a job (Mason 46). Soon, mothers are sending their kids to preschool so they can work to make money to pay for preschool. Furthermore, without an education, parents are confined to minimum wage jobs with no hope of advancement (49). Where’s the incentive to work? Robin Mason describes one single mother’s motivation. For her, employment is more than just money; rather, it’s also a means to boost her self-esteem, gain financial independence, and set a positive example for her children. She emphasizes her responsibility to her children to keep a roof over their head, be a good mother, and choose a quality daycare (47).
The part-time work given to hourly employees is often paid with low wages that make it hard to even pay for daycare. After having a second child I had to leave my hourly part-time job because the pay would not cover the cost of having two children in child care. They lack health insurance, paid sick leave, or time to care for a sick family member. 7.5% of low-income children between ages 5 and 8 are left alone while their parents work because they can’t afford child care.
In today’s society the majority of households have a family dynamic where both parents need to work. It is nearly impossible for most families in America to survive financially without two incomes. This puts many parents in a situation where they have to find extra help to watch their children while they are away at work. “These days couples face complex negotiations over work, family, child care, and housekeeping. It becomes evident that where traditional marriage through the centuries has been a partnership based on mutual dependency, modern marriage demands greater self-sufficiency” (Hekker). Day care becomes a necessity for many families, and the main concern for most parents is if the day care will be a positive experience for their children. Day care can be a positive option for parents seeking help with child care as well as developmentally for the child.
When we first moved to Massachusetts, money was tight. So tight that my mother had to get a night job. This was convenient for our family. My mother wouldn’t have to pay for daycare and she could still contribute to our family’s financial problems. She would watch her children during the day and then work at night. At first this seemed like a good idea but proved to be...
I never dreamed of having a child at such a young are. In fact, in high school I was the typical student. I maintained good grades, stayed on the honor roll, participated in extracurricular activities, and even volunteered at local hospitals. Outside of school my friends I were always doing something after the football games or just hanging on Saturday nights, being typical teens. Soon all of that would come to an end. Little did I know for the next few months to come, I would be home to what could be our future president or the person that would make history for finding the cure for cancer. The scariest thing is, I would be forever responsible for a new life, as if trying to be responsible for my own was not enough.
The child I chose to write about for this assignment is two year old Danjuma from Wayne, Ohio. He is the youngest of three children and attends an Early Head Start Program two days a week. The child’s parents have jobs; when the mother is working her sister takes care of Danjuma. The family has financial problems but don’t qualify for any type of public assistance.
It is common knowledge that a parent is considered the most efficient caregiver for their children. It’s also known that with daily responsibilities of caring for a child financially, parents partake in full-time and/or part-time employment. While needing to do so, many children attend daycare/preschool facilities. Granted, it is the parent’s responsibility to cautiously select where they decide to take their children. This is because parents know that while they are away for numerous hours of the day, their children are in the hands of another care provider and that their care would have an enormous impact on their children. At a young age, a child’s social and cognitive skills are continuing to take shape and the amount of time spent in these facilities has a resilient impact on a child’s development. With proper and superior care no matter the time spent, such positive effects on a child’s development should endure in a child’s cognitive and social development. In other words, there is a great benefit of childcare/daycare attendance on a child’s development.
Latchkey children grow up in a variety of settings that lead to self-care, which depends on multiple factors including family relationships, trust, poverty and the parent’s methods of childcare (Muller, 1991). Many latchkey children spent their time watching TV, playing video games, and visiting staying at friends houses, while others were left
When I was 11 I watched my mother abruptly become a single parent responsible for four daughters, two of which were still in diapers. I became the full time babysitter and raised my two younger sisters for years, despite being a child myself, while my mom worked several jobs at a time.
Parenting is the most difficult and most important job we ever do. Unfortunately, despite the degree of difficulty and importance of the work, no one teaches us how to do it. Fortunately, there are many child raising experts who can help. I will mention a few experts; whose work I believe is valuable, throughout this article and I encourage readers to find experts whose work they like.
Because many stay at home mothers are entering the work force, there is a higher demand for day care centers for the mothers’ children. The topic of day care centers and whether they are beneficial to young children is becoming discussed more frequently. An increasing number of parents are becoming more cautious about the type of childcare they choose for their children. Some parents are adhering to the traditional way of raising their children by staying at home and caring for them. However, other parents have no other option other than to send their children to a day care facility due to both parents’ work schedules. Researchers have performed studies in which they examined children’s development in different child care settings and the effect those types of daycares have on them.