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Is It Lunchtime Yet?

Daycare Dilemmas of Stay-at-Home Moms

By Sharon Waldrop

There is no reason for a SAHM to feel guilty about having a slight desire or desperate need for occasional time away from her children. Whether this time is spent alone or with an adult friend, doing something productive or self-pampering, it is time well-deserved.

Scott Noyes is the director of a nonprofit child care center in South Burlington, VT and an international child development speaker. He has spent the past 17 years nurturing, educating and caring for young children who do not call him "Daddy." As a parent himself to a 7-year-old daughter, he understands how important his role is to other parents who need his services.

"The only way parents can take great care of children is by taking great care of themselves," he says. "Our nurturing capacity is not within a bottomless pit. Every once in a while we need to refill the well." He adds that the part- time use of quality childcare benefits both child and parent. The child is given supportive opportunities to learn social skills. Toddlers benefit from chances for parallel play with friends while in a daycare setting. Whether parents need to grocery shop without children clambering to get out of the metal cage on wheels, or visit the gym and talk in sentences with more than three words with a workout partner, adults need adult time.