There is no easy way to sugarcoat what I’m about to say, and as a guy, some people will think it is sexist or traditionalist or — whatever.
But when did it become a Republican belief or conservative principle to encourage parents to send their kids to daycare rather than have a mom or a dad or another relative stay home and raise their children?
During the last year, Republicans in Iowa have aggressively pushed incentives for childcare in different ways. They do this even though they know — we all know — the importance of kids spending as much time with their parents as possible in the first few years of life.
But last year, during debate on an adoptive parents/employer bill, Rep. Jacob Bossman amended it to include children 0-6 years old.
Why?
Because he said that infants and younger children often have “more intense time demands.”
Infants and younger children have “more intense time demands.”
Agreed.
This is why infants and younger children need more time with their mom and their dad — not less.
During debate, Bossman repeated himself. There are “much more intense’ time demands for children preschool age versus kids having already entered school.
So why are Republicans so eager to incentivize parents to ship their kids off to daycare?
When did that become the ideal situation?
As conservatives and as Republicans, the platform states public policy must always be pro-family in nature, encouraging marital and family commitment and supportive of parental rights and responsibilities.
People can point to studies on either side of this argument — whether daycare is better for kids than having a stay-at-home parent or relative.
So let’s bypass the studies and just utilize some simple common sense.
First, doesn’t it seem like if God gives a man and a woman a baby He probably wants them to spend more time with the child than anyone else?
Second, more than anything, don’t kids benefit from consistency and predictability?
Third, last year there was a bill dealing with behavioral issues in classrooms. I wondered what role putting kids in daycare as soon as possible might have in leading to this increasing epidemic.
Follow me for a minute…
Every little kid craves the same thing — attention. When kids are at daycare, who gets the most attention?
The kid doing things right, or the kid acting out?
And if every kid wants attention, and the person who gets the most attention is the kid acting out, why are we surprised when other kids act out?
Call me old-fashioned or traditionalist or whatever, but I’ll never be convinced kids who are at home all day with a mom or a dad or a grandparent rather than in daycare are not better off than others.
After all, children 0-6 years old have more intense time demands than others, right? Who can better meet those intense time demands than mom or dad?
Now, this isn’t possible for everyone. I get that. And there is no perfect situation for every individual. I’m just talking about what I believe would be “the rule” while I know there are exceptions.
But, when you are giving tax credits to have other people take care of children rather than stay-at-home parents, who are footing some of that bill? The same parents who are trying to be stay-at-home parents.
If we’re going to incentivize sending kids to daycare, can we at least incentivize having parents stay home with their kids equally?
Or do we not believe the most ideal situation for the upbringing of a child is staying home with mom or dad or a grandparent?
Because if Republicans don’t believe that, it’s news to me.
