How to Avoid Putting Your Children in Daycare

When I became pregnant with my first child I knew right away that I did not want to have to put him in daycare. I was raised by a stay at home mom and I had heard of all the horror stories of what sometimes happens to children in daycare. As a young family I also did not want the added expense of daycare. Full-time daycare for an infant usually starts at least $400 a month or more.

At the time I was finishing my Bachelors degree and working part time. My husband was also working part-time. At first we thought that I could arrange my school schedule around his work schedule. Since my job had better hours and better pay we decided that I would continue with my degree and keep my part time job. My husband became a stay at home dad. He knew this was our best option but he also felt like he wasn't contributing enough to our family.

One of our good friends was in poor health and needed someone to come into her home to cook, clean, and shop for her. It was a part-time job. She hired my husband and allowed him to take our son with him to work. Our son actually enjoyed helping his dad take care of our friend. I think that experience helped Matthew to be the kind, gentle, and helpful young boy he is today.

I graduated with my Bachelors and began working full time. I realized I would rather be the one at home with my son. I searched and searched for ways that I could become a stay at home mom or at least work a schedule so that I could be home more.

I got pregnant with our second son and it seemed the stress of my job took a toil on my pregnancy. I woke up one night when I was 13 weeks to a small pool of blood. I went to the emergency room to make sure I wasn't miscarrying. Fortunately, I wasn't. I was placed on bed rest for the rest of my pregnancy and we quickly decided that if we were going to survive financially my husband would need to get a full time job.