I agree with Lucy (who made her point in a very Mummy/teacher voice!! LOL). OK - Long post coming!!

I think it is the best thing for a baby to stay at home - if you have that choice. But there are simply some families that financially can't afford to have mum home, or Mum has other things on her plate, such as study, part time work, charity etc.
And when I say the best thing - I dont actually mean just the baby, I think parents get SOOO much out of being parents, that it seems a shame not to take full advantage of it!

I earn alot more than my partner, and if I went back to work and he stopped, we would be in an insanely better world as his child support payments would pretty much drop away. But I just dont want to - I want to be a full time mum, and I'm prepared to make the financial sacrifices for the time being. It doesn't mean my baby wont be socialised, or spend time with other babies older and younger.

My cousins children have always attended daycare3 days a week from about 4months old, and these kids have such a great social, outgoing attitude - they're parents have got the perfect balance! They love daycare, but Mum still gets time with them.

My sisters children have always attended Hoikkuen in Japan from a very young age, pretty much every day for at least 4 hours. They are very sociable with other kids, but terrified of adults. But my sister has been able to continue her masters part time as well as teach english so their family is better off.

Finally my SIL is studying and unexpectedly fell pregnant. She is 33 so its a pretty big deal for her to get through this course and start working. So she's going back to school immediately by correspondence, and will be spending some time on campus where the baby will go into daycare. I don't think she wants to consider other options, and it makes me a little angry. More than that, I dont think she realises how hard is going to be to say goodbye to that little baby!!
Its not right for me, but its her decision, and she has to live with it.

So there are so many reasons why peopl need to use daycare, and it can be a great way to socialise kids and give mum and dad some time off too.
I want to be a full time mum so badly that I dont care about hoe poor we will be - I know we'll survive, but then career wise I'm at the perfect place to take a year off, and it wont cause any problems for me.

It is important to respect different peoples situations, but its more important for the government to realise that all these situations genuinely exist, and they should damn well be doing something about it!!! Why cant we work part time and still be considered equals in the work place? Why cant our kids socialise with other kids for 2-4 hours a day without paying for a full day? And why wont the government give realistic subsidies regardless of what your annual income is??

I'll get off my soap box now - but I think its great that we can all feel comfortable to air our views on BB without getting down each others throats!! Yay to reasonable, rational women! (And half of us have preggie hormones too...... amazing!)
Fi