'Why one child is enough for me - and might be for you, too'

What I've learned from aging parents is that, often, they don't want to hear from someone whose butt they used to wipe about all the things they can no longer do.

 

I just tell her... Think of your health first... They can pay for day care...

 

No, she actually still works full-time. She's a teacher, so when my wife is off, she's off, too.

We send my son to day care - preschool now. It was an issue when my dad was still alive and unhealthy, because when my mom would get pissed at him for not taking care of himself, she'd say, "Because of you, my grandchild has to go to day care!" In other words, if she didn't have to work (because he couldn't), she'd be watching them every day.

But she wouldn't. We send him to day care to socialize him and to learn. Not just to dump him on someone. Plus, I wouldn't be wild about handing her that much influence on his development. We have, um, some different ideas from her.

 

The teachers always say that there is a night and day difference between the kids who went to day care/pre school compared to the ones who didn't.