Well, when I was a kid I could always sniff out 'educational' toys. Hated them and refused to play ball. I probably would have been expelled from childcare for not taking my career seriously enough.

There's something a bit warped about performance evaluations of 3 year olds. I got one from the childcare centre my kids go 2 days a week. Told me my kids were doing this and that like I didn't know my own kids. Read like a science experiment on my kids, and they were confused when I told them I didn't see my kids as some sort of project, and that I wasn't bothered whether they achieved their KPIs. They were shocked that I wasn't excited my child had exceptional fine motor skills or that I wasn't saddened my child was not as interested in structured play as some of her peer age group.

I told my daughter not to worry too much about office politics, and that sure the bureaucrats at the centre can get you down, making you jump through silly hoops and all, but any passive protest on her part would always be supported by me.

I told her to play on their culture of appeasement and encouragement of 'special needs', and to create specious and hard to refute requirements for them to jump through, like saying 'I need a drink every 24.5 minutes or my concentration will lapse'. If they refused I told her to give them a lecture on the advantages of hydration, and to question their professional dedication to her learning experience.

She seemed happy with my advise. She told me that the carers were just doing their job, and that the poor things aren't even allowed to contemplate thinking outside the square, and were to be pitied as mere shadows of humans, and more like corporate soldiers. I tended to agree.

Yes, but Houellie, you're one of those rare souls who doesn't wish to be homogenized. Most parents are overwhelmed by a fear that somehow their child with become a social misfit if he/she isn't institutionalized as early as possible.
As Suze pointed out, it's difficult these days to find a young child outside of an institution during the "working week" for your child to play with if you choose not to institutionalize your child.

But it's the pervading shift in mindset that is intriguing. Infants have always learned and developed by playing. That they don't need a childcare worker to assist them is apparent. Children develop by manipulating their normal environment and imitating the other people around them. Does it ever occur to us that small children learn from having people of many different ages to emulate and they benefit from one on one attention...seems somewhat warped that it's now seen as normal to herd them all together with same aged peers and then to "quality control" them to such an extent.

Nice one Houel. What is a KPI?

Suze:”The good old days of having all your girlfriends around with their kids to visit yours are mostly gone unfortunately.”

Nup they aren’t but I’m wondering why govt wants them to be.

Aw Suze. You can or you can ignore it until they hit the schoolyard – it’s all much of a muchness. Weird thing that country kids are very social, isolated households have awesome kids who socialise faster than lightening whenever the opportunity arises and start school at six no problem.

What the govt should be doing is encouraging a parent to say home (cheers Pelican) and to become a member of their community and introduce their young ones to a whole concept of neighbourhood. What I reckon is happening is the isolation of families where shared time with others is only encouraged within controlled environments. Little children taught from year dot to eat, drink, and sleep at certain times along with the rest of herd.

Bellybabe:”I am full of fear truly held fear about the welfare of kids in care.”

We have that in common Belly. I didn’t realise I had to be in fear for ALL children in Aussie though, I was only worried about one particular group and then the teen mothers got picked on but I can see that was just the beginning.

Interesting Poirot and I wonder what happens to children who have not had the benefit of a variety of people of varying ages to interact with and are forced into an artificial environment where the interchangeable adults around them are paid to care and there are more children surrounding them than is natural. Also they are alone, they are without a parent or family member within a crowd of strangers – I’m pretty sure the way humans have always stayed in family groups is comforting to young ones and important on all sorts of levels.

People used to feel sorry for little orphans in institutions but now we are being made to believe it is the right way to raise children.

'Most parents are overwhelmed by a fear'

The way I look at it, there were generations of creative, intelligent, sociable children brought up when children were 'seen and not heard'.

In that era, the people who were missing out were not the children but the parents. But now many parents are still missing out and bringing all this anxiety on the whole enjoyment of having kids by looking at it as a competition and being obsessed with their kids development and how good a parent they're being.

I think... monkey see monkey do. The best thing you can do for your kids is show them how to have a happy life, and invite friends over lots, and make sure your marriage is happy.

I always say you don't see many 7 year olds walking around who haven't learnt to walk and aren't sleeping through the night or eating solids. I just enjoy watching them, and their games are more fun to me than TV, and I couldn't care less if they're ahead or behind developmentally, and I KNOW that some of the happiest people in the world are as dumb as dogshit.

So for example that 2 IQ points you rob your kids of by bottle feeding because you're a selfish mum who cant cope with 4 months of mastitis and no sleep is made up by you being a happy mum who's enjoying her kids. The older ones included, the whole family is important, not just the latest little king or queen to come along.

It's all about control. People always think they want to or can control everything in this world. We're a generation of micro-managers. People want the governmnet to eliminate all risk in living and wonder why it's becoming less and less fun.

BTW: What if you 'socialise' your kids at daycare 5 days a week, but your relationship with them suffers to the extent that they wont come to you with any problems they might have with this social life.

'Nice one Houel. What is a KPI?'

A Key Performance Indicator. Ask pelican, she'll tell you all about them.

'Nup they aren’t but I’m wondering why govt wants them to be.'

I must say that my partner and her 'mothers group' are constantly clogging up the transport facilities of the rush hour workers in their endeavours to have coffee at the Zoo rather than in their back yards. Then I get the complaints about how tired they are, and I laugh and say at least you saw monkeys today, what did I see?

My kids wake up every day and say what are we doing today. Those kids are never home, I would find their social life exhausting. Luckily they have so much energy.

But Jewls, I think it depends on the size of your mortgage and income. I mean I tell myself even if I was paid much much less I'd just live in a cheaper suburb and live the same lifestyle, but maybe I'm kidding myself. Easy to say when you're on easy street.

Then again many of the time poor have much bigger houses than me and both parents work full time. Who's to judge. People get by whatever way they want to. I don't think it's for me though. I am not built for a career, and I didn't have kids to never see them, and I want them to have mum at home the majority of the time.

I think as a society people over value education. $20k a year in school fees is the biggest waste of money I've ever heard of. Now we have people saying 3 year olds need 'high quality early childhood and education facilities' and are worried about 'performance' rather than happiness.

So people think you need this, and they work two jobs to afford it, never see their kids and have them in care all the time then wonder where it all went wrong and why their marriage suffered and all sorts of things. I'm being cocky I know, but I really don't think performance translates to happiness.

We each of us know this is a complex issue, and hopefully this move is to make it better, maybe.
From within the consolidation of departments,representing near quarter of the state, of saw it start.
An understanding of what Houlie said is needed.
Those doing the job ,bad or good, are not in control.
A dreadful one, like the very real life one I spoke about, is free to be wrong forever, if they get on with the office boss.
Consolidation started because support workers in doors out numbered front line people.
The wanted out comes they told us, openly,was less office public servants doing more work.
A spiders web of PC cripples them.
Secondary, in my mind is a new way of giving kids a start, it probably came via Lathams rubbish read to your kid.
Mine read to me,even if I did not feel like it they never knew.
Jewerly like me, will know some parents are no help in fact not parents.
Worth updating my story,the mother of my niece is now living my life raising her kids kids, and doing her best ,some are hitting the good targets in school
And for the most part,females in my family are doing well in IT and such.
I will never know why, but given the task of running private enterprise child care agency these folk, most of them would do well.