My Rant..

I have been challenged to rant on my blog, really let loose. Thanks for the challenge Super J! Well my biggest rant is the absolute chaos that is my life. I have been putting crazy hours in getting ready for my daycare relicensing inspection. The state requirements are absolutely ridiculous. She could come through and demand I remove all my landscaping shrubs because many of them are listed as "toxic" IF YOU EAT THE ENTIRE PLANT. I watch special needs kids who are smarter then that and at some point you do need to be watching the kids. How long would it take a kid to eat an entire shrub? And just how stupid does the kid have to be? I do feed the children, I don't think they are wandering around going "yummy tree bark", they are more likly to chomp on each other. Hey- biting each other- that's a bio hazard- better muzzle the children to prevent contamination. At what point do we have to use common sense? (The picture is a giant crab at the San Francisco Bay Aquarium)

I really think the biggest problem is the state needs to do a better job of educating parents and be a little less ocd with the provider. Teach the parents some of the regulations- most parents do not even realize the number of children a provider can care for. The most a daycare provider can watch is 12 children by themselves, 14 if there are two providers. If you are dropping your child off at daycare and he/she is number 22 maybe you should be looking for a different provider. Parents need to take some responsibility for the daycare they choose. The state can not legislate everything. I could pass all the daycare licensing requirements and be the worst provider out there. Many good providers are quiting because the rules and regulations are too much. The paperwork for the state, the food program, and for my taxes takes so much time to do, I could spend all day everyday doing it and ignoring the children. All the required paperwork would be done, but the children would suffer because of it. There has got to be a balance somewhere. OK, that's my rant, I'm done. I'm off to eat one of my shrubs...