On Jul 17, 5:04 pm, toto <scarec...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> On Thu, 17 Jul 2008 12:51:26 -0700 (PDT), cjra <cjroh...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
> wrote:
>
> >That is why, when someone says they want to take my kid to the bank,
> >grocery shopping, etc, I will bristle. That's *not* what I'm paying
> >them to do. No, they don't have to be glued to my kid all day. They do
> >have to recognize that caring for a child requires their continued
> >attention, however, and personal errands have to be put on hold.
>
> See for me this would depend on *how* the errands were done rather
> than on the errands themselves. If a DCP takes children to the
> grocery store or bank, I would expect her to be talking to the
> children about what was happening. Getting her groceries would be
> only a secondary goal of going. Of course, this depends on how many
> children she is caring for and the ages of the children. We did
> walking trips to the grocery store with our preschool cl***** and when
> we did we had the children involved in planning a snack or meal that
> we would cook and eat together.
>
> We also took a field trip to the bank with 3 and 4 year olds and they
> got to see the vault and to ask questions about the tellers work.
>
> We also took a field trips to nearby parks, to the local library, to a
> bakery, etc. All of these were planned so that the children got quite
> a lot out of them.
>
> All of our trips, though, were walking trips rather than car trips.
> We had everything close enough to walk to.
>
Ok, put like that, it makes sense. It's a teaching experience and if
the babysitter in question happens to get some groceries at the same
time, fine. But I don't see this sort of field trip being something
that needs to be done on a regular basis. It's the argument that
babysitters do their personal errands and take the kids along that I
have an issue with. My kid goes to the grocery store a few times per
week already, with me. She doesn't go to the bank very often, because
DH goes at lunch (it's on his work campus). She goes shopping. She
goes to run all sorts of errands with me. Because she HAS to. We do
our best to make it fun and a learning experience, but I'd feel pretty
bad for her if she was going grocery shopping with DCP during the day,
then again with me when I pick her up. IMO, she's entitled to do some
other fun kids things too.
I'd also be more comfortable with walking, than driving.
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