Moms....would you do this?

I agree with you but, sometimes we don't see the whole picture. Maybe his mom could not take the time off from work and she felt badly about it so she had a great evening planned for him. I hope so anyway. Glad you were a nice person and made the day special for him

Here is something that was not brought up. Would she have had to pay for daycare whether she brought the child in or not? If she still had to pay for daycare even if she didn't bring him in, then I can see why she would take advantage of the fact. Today is Friday and whether she is having a party for him today or tomorrow, she is probably running around getting stuff for the party, not to mention birthday presents. She wouldn't want him with her for that and a two year old can be mighty hard to deal with in a public place if they decide to take a tantrum. I hate taking my 10 and 14 year olds shopping. They drive me nuts with their "I wants". If this woman is planning a party, and you have given him a party, the child will have had the benefits of two parties. You did a good thing for him. I was a single mother raising my child from birth to 2.5 years. I still had to pay for daycare if the child did not attend so I took advantage of the time for myself to get things done. I also cherished the time I spent with my child. If I was able to work I would be doing so and my children would have been in daycare and now be coming home to an empty house. My illness gave me the opportunity to stay home with my children, but we are struggling financially because when we bought our house I was 8 months pregnant and working full-time. We could do it with the double income, we can't with the one. But we have had to. I hated putting my child in daycare when I first went back to work but you have to do what you have to do. I was a single mother after all. I believe mothers should stay home with their children and do without the vacations to the tropics, boats, cell phones and satellite dishes. At any rate, you don't seem to know the whole story, or at least haven't given it to us. I am sure the mother will make up for it on the weekend if she cares anything at all about her kid. We really shouldn't judge people, though we tend to do it all the time. Everyone's life is different in so many ways, even though people tend to say "we are all in the same boat". (I hate that!) This is the life she has chosen or been forced to choose. We must respect her for that.

It is hard not to be judgemental in a situation like that. I run a home daycare as well and see a lot of the same thing. You have to remember that working moms are under a lot of pressure. She may have had to take care of some personal issues so that she could spend time with him celebrating his birthday this evening. Then again, some people don't see the value of time with their children. You just have to love them when you can.

Maybe the mom pays for a full week even if she doesn't take him to your daycare. I have heard a lot of mom's complain about that. They won't put there child into a daycare that they have to pay even if the child stays home. Also since it's a week day, maybe she's going to throw a huge party on the weekend. So that everyone that's family and friends can be there when they are not working themselves. While she's off, she could be running around getting everything together before the weekend. There's really no telling what she does. You can ask her if she has any huge plans for his birthday. When my youngest has her birthday next year when she's in school, I'm not planning on doing anything either during that day. I won't take her out of school because it's her birthday. The school won't care about that and will mark her absent. Plus weekends are more fun. They can have the whole day to run around and just have fun.

You have a special heart to care enough to make his 2nd birthday special. Too bad his own mom doesn't feel the same way. I had a home day care before, I would make the kids birthday's and holidays special for them. We would have little parties, with cupcakes, dancing balloons, presents, treat bags. The kids loved it. They were always happy to come over to my house. The parents would say that the kids would ask to come over all the time. I had ages 1-11.

WoW!! I couldn't imagine taking my child to daycare on thier birthday when I had the day off from work. I use to make sure I had my childrens birthdays off so that we could spend the day together doing special stuff. If I was you I probrally would have done the same thing. There was a boy in our neighborhood whos mom forgot his birthday. No joke, it was his seventh birthday. He told us a few days after it happen. We gave him a little neighborhood birthday party that following Saturday. All the kids from the suroounding area came over to play games, have cake and ice cream. It made himn feel a little better. His mom told us she got her months mixed up. Who knows made its true.

I am not a mother or a parent for that matter, in fact I am still a teenager, but reading what you have just shared with everyone, I would very much love to have my mother do such a thing on my birthday! It would make for a very memorable birthday indeed, cheers on having a happy family!

If I could have may children's birthdays off from work to spend just with them - I defiantely would! I remember taking a vacation day on my daughters 1st birthday!

that is why there are people like you in the world. what you did was so sweet. you gave him his moment in the sun, and i bet now matter what he will remember that on his day, someone thought he was special. I take my hat off to you if i had one on my head!! LOL for him, i say thank you

I would never! Every day that I have off my daughter is home with me- Granted she is 10-- but I'm not sending her to daycare for me to have time alone! I think that is crazy! She is old enough to run errands and stuff with me though- But the thought on his birthday! How selfish of that mom! I can't believe that any mom would do that! Unless she had a good reason! I just hope she did!

From the sounds of it, she should have taken him since she was off. I know I need some alone time now and then, but every afternoon and a full day off? The little boy probably doesn't understand yet, which is good. It was sweet of you to give him a party.

I think it's a bit sad when a parent has the day off of work, on their child's birthday yet they still put them in to day care. It sounds as though you did a good job of making his day special, he got the song, you gave him gifts - i think i would have done the same i think. In Australia it's a little different, you need qualifications to take on other children, i would do it if i could but it would take a few years of studying & a first aid certificate. Good for you making the little taker feel good on his birthday & i can only hope that his mother actually did something fun for him later when he got home!

poor little guy. I would of taken him somewhere even if I had things to do. It is his birthday. Thats good that you did somethings for him.

I am a mother of a two year old girl and i never missed her 2 birthdays and would never want to miss on any of her upcoming birthdays. I always planned what to do on her birthday so my baby would be very happy on her special day. i always want to do something that would make my daughter happy in anyway i can, even the littlest thing.

You are most fortunate to get paid for the week even if the children aren't there. I did home daycare for years. People would only pay me for the days I had their children. Even if they were late, I often didn't get anything extra to cover my time, yet the parents felt it was their right to take extra time to shop or whatever after they were done, without even asking if it was ok with me. There were also times parents skipped out and just didn't pay me. They would start off paying regularly, then gradually start missing days and just not showing up, then eventually not showing up to pay me. I loved looking after the kids and being home with my own child and able to help out with other children. I also settled for less money a lot of the time because the parent was a single mom or had several children and needed some place that was affordable so I ended up doing it for less. I supplied the snacks and meals, I took the kids outside for walks and to the park every day unless the weather was too bad, I spend time doing crafts with them, and sending home special little things all of the time. I never worried if they had to bring the kids a little early or if they showed up a little late, because I enjoyed the children and it was a little extra income to help me afford to stay home as well as a playmate for my children. I took the kids in and treated them like they were my own while they were here. If I went someplace they also went. If I got a special treat for my child, the others also got it. Hugs always were available to them all, as well as doing special little things like throwing little parties, giving a little gift, helping a child make a special little card or gift for the parent... I treated them like I would want someone else to treat my children, but certainly didn't get the same consideration from all of the parents. Yes some were good, but most were not! I didn't get paid when they didn't show up, I didn't get paid if they got picked up early, and I didn't get anything if there was a holiday, or they were late. If it wasn't for some wonderful little kids (well most of the time) I don't think I could have continued with it as long as I did. Thankfully I understand that daycare is a lot better than it ever used to be.

Well I'm happy that he has you to celebrate his bithday with. If it was my childs bithday and I was off of work I would spend the whole day together doing what they wanted to do. I think that it is important for parents to spend quality time with their children, especially on their birthday. Show them that you love them and that it is important to care for others not just yourself. Thanks for making his birthday as special as you can!

Hi daycarepal, I know just what you mean and it makes me sad. I see parents do this all the time on my job. Also, they drop them off on their day off of work and have the nerve to leave them at the center until the last minute to closing. I have my granddaughter in an afterschool program from 2:30 til I get off work at 4:00. The program is opened til 5:30 and I would never dream of leaving her there. You are a great home provider. You gave the little guy his birthday, you did his parents job. Bless you! If a parent has an urgent matter to attend to on their day off I can see dropping the child off in the morning, but they should pick them up early. Thanks for the discussion and thanks for making that little boys day. Take care...

poor little boy, if i am his mom i would definitely make this day very special for him. even not throwing out a party spending the whole day with him will be special already. today is my daughters bday also i been wanting to spend this special day to her but my situation is different as i'm thousands of miles away from her.

I guess I would need to know if there was something else going on with the mother to say if I would do that or not. I don't know if the mother had a doctor's appointment or something more serious going on. Just because she was off from work doesn't mean that she didn't have other things to do. Also how do you know if the parents didn't have something planned for him after daycare or if they were Jehovah's Witness and don't celebrate birthdays. I am glad you guys did something for the boy, but I think every situation has more then one side.

I recently quit my job, because I hated never seeing my daughter. She will be one on the 24th and I am so happy that I can be home with her. Even if I was still working, I would always take off for her birthday and make sure ever weekend was special.