How To Deal With Childcare Worker Envy

3. Understand The Different Relationships

Over the course of their lives, your child will have relationships with many different people. Some of these will be familial, others romantic or friendly. All of them will come to pass because of the foundations laid by the relationships they have in the early years of their lives. It’s important as a mum to understand that while your relationship with your child is important, it’s not the only one that will shape them. These ‘other carer’ relationships are important too, because they teach your child that even if mum isn’t there, safety and security is still possible in the hands of a trusted other. Without this understanding, your child would be entirely reliant on your care, which is not sustainable or recommended.

4. Make Time For ‘Mum & Me’ Activities

If you’re feeling a bit neglected in the triangle of your baby and their childcare worker, make some changes in your own life. Carve out some time, wherever you can, to spend with your child in a ‘mum and me’ kind of activity. One of the reasons that kids bond so quickly with their carers is because they’re there, and ready to play all day long. So talk to your kid (or the carer) about what their favourite thing to do is, and then make some time to do it. Sit and colour in with them, play with blocks or play dough, or simply read some stories. Make their favourite activity special with you, as well as with their carer.

5. Be Grateful To Childcare Workers

At the end of the day, with a new perspective on envy, we urge all mums (and dads) to be grateful to those childcare workers. Yes, we know it’s a job, and they’re getting paid, but it takes a special kind of person to make your little one feel loved, and safe, and secure even when they’re not at home and mum and dad aren’t around. These are the people who look out for your munchkins when you aren’t there, and who love nothing more than to hand back a happy, healthy�child at the end of the day to the people who love them most: their parents.

Have you ever had childcare worker envy?

Clare Whitfield Chief Editor

Clare Whitfield is the Editor of Stay at Home Mum and a recognised voice in practical home management for Australian families. Based in the northern suburbs of Sydney, she balances editorial leadership with life as a stay at home mum to two school age children. Her background in home economics and more than a decade of experience in recipe development, family budgeting, and household systems inform her work.

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