DAYCARE and DEVELOPMENT

Make growing up great!

Hi! I'm Kate. I'm a board certified specialist in pediatric physical therapy, a former professor, a writer, and a mother of two. You can check out some of my research here and see my professional CV here.

But this blog is personal. One day (really about the 100th day I left my son at daycare crying; my daughter, by that time, just clung), I turned in desperation to the place all desperate mothers turn: Pub Med.

No? Just me?

Well, I wanted to know more about the impact of childcare on kids and if other mothers were struggling as hard as I felt like I was to balance a career, little kids, and something still recognizable as my selfhood.

One of the earliest studies I came across was a large National Institute of Health study on the impact of childcare on children's development. This study led me to another, and another, and another.  It was fascinating to learn how childcare could work for children or work against them (but mostly—spoiler alert—when it was of high quality, it worked for them). I felt I was learning lessons as a healthcare provider, as a researcher, and as a mom.

As my journey continued, I started to wonder why there was so much evidence pointing to the connection between favorable maternal conditions (education, social support, financial wellbeing) and children’s development, and yet developmental literature had nothing to say about mothers’ development…almost as though they didn’t exist anymore once they had children (which, come to think of it, is precisely how I felt most days). The studies I found on mothers, generally, attested to the fact that many mothers were feeling as overtaxed as I was, and they were struggling to pursue their own development while raising children.

This blog is a way for me to share the things I've learned—from research, from PhD coursework, from my professional life, and from the eventful journey of parenting. It is really designed for anyone caring for anyone else. It’s designed for anyone who is still growing, still developing. It’s designed for you.

Thanks for visiting daycare and development!