They Say: Daycare Makes Friends For Mum

Stop hanging your daycare-loving head in shame, mum. A new study says what’s good for our sanity (and our paychecks) is also good for our circle of friends.

Researchers at the University of Chicago found that mums who put their kids in daycare were likely to have at least one more “good friend” than mums going it alone.

But I’m sceptical.

On the surface, the study makes sense – where there are kids, there are parents, and where there are parents running into one another, friendships are struck up (the study’s author says that centres with specific drop off and pick-up times help to facilitate meetings, and thus friendships). But having switched just recently to being a completely work-at-home mother after four years of sending my daughter to daycare part-time, I’ve encountered my first real taste of the at-home mum friendship ring.

They all know each other. And they all spend time together.

While being an at-home parent is not all baking cookies and throwing playdates, working full-time, I saw more friendships slip away because I didn’t have the energy at the end of the day for a phone call after dinner, bath, etc, and weekends were for hanging with my husband and daughter.

But what’s your take on the study’s results? Working parents, do you meet friends at daycare? Stay-at-homes, where do you pick up your bestest buddies?

Image: tips for moms

Source: University of Chicago