E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSSJuggling parenting with a high-powered career and hectic social life is a challenge anywhere in the world. One daycare center in India has stepped in to help with at least one part of that equation: a 24-hour nursery for the children of the super busy.
Care Plus World in India's capital New Delhi bills itself as the place to go for "children of parents who are too busy to put them to bed," according to Britain's Times newspaper (which operates behind a paywall).
"At 'Care Plus World' we recognize, in this busy world, that not everyone has the luxury of being at home with their children, therefore we strive to give children a 'home from home' environment in their most important early years," the nursery says on its website.
Parents are "invited to leave their children with us for a considerable period of leave from one week to one year in case of any emergency such as hospitalization, business trips etc."
'We don't want it to be a chore'
Capitalizing on the demand a booming economy has on the blossoming professional class, Care Plus World offers surveillance cameras monitoring each room and text-message alerts for parents, alongside with dance and music classes.
Daycare on demand: round-the-clock childcare services on the rise
Yogesh and Charu Gupta, who the Times described as the embodiment of a successful middle-class couple, said they happily leave their 13-month-old daughter, Yatie, at the nursery overnight.
"Both our parents live in Delhi but the truth is they'd rather not look after her and we'd rather not ask," Yogesh Gupta told the newspaper. "We don't want it to be a chore."
But this ultimate outsourcing service in the outsourcing capital of the world does cause unease among some of the clientele.
Priyanka Tyagi, a 31-year-old teacher, turns to the nursery when her husband has to entertain clients and she needs to go to work the next day, according the newspaper.
"Of course I don't always feel great about it but I know he'll be safe," she says of Anany, aged two, the Times reported.
More world news from msnbc.com and NBC News:
- Now towering over London: 'The Godzilla of public art'
- France's 'Monsieur' Normal takes office ... unmarried
- Too busy to put the kids to bed? Try 24-hour daycare
- 88,000-mile voyage? Plastic card found after 33 years
- Bad neighbors for Team USA? Occupy camp axed
Follow us on Twitter: @msnbc_world
Leave a Comment:
Seems to me, if you're too busy to put your own kids to bed, maybe you shouldn't be having them in the first place. Sounds like poor parenting at its finest.
Exactly right. And a great many people having kids SHOULDN'T be. Seems everyone else is raising children but the PARENTS.
Sounds like their having kids for the status symbol, so they can claim they have children at social outings. Sad that in effect the kids are being raised in an orphanage because their parents just don't care about them.
Sadly, the matra of the 21st century. It's all about the parents and their busy schedules and careers, and the kids have become a "chore". I suspect this will only worsen as each succeeding generation seems more self-absorbed than the last.
Apparently Tech Support never sleeps. Except when I've got a problem.
I agree. Maybe instead of 24-hour daycare, someone should be providing 24-hour birth control.
Jenney, agreed, this is especially ironic considering this is located in one of the most populated nations on Earth. So let see how this adds up - India doesn't need any more people, yet people are having kids they obviously place down the priority list, ahead of career and making more babies. JCA mentioned 24 hour birth control sounds like a fine idea to me.
How long will it be before our 1%er's start doing the same?
And the RCC is AGAINST birth control?
It's good that the Indians consider the cow sacred, because they've just become livestock, breeders. Although animals will only give up raising their young if forced. Only humans will do it voluntarily. Guess that tells you where we rank in the hierarchy of the animal kingdom...right at the bottom.
I work full time, am a full-time college student, and have a child wilth special needs who requires different types of therapy. He only spends about 3-4 hours a day in daycare. If I wasn't going to raise him myself, I wouldn't have had him. That is insane. I can see that having the option for a night child-free from time to time would be nice, but up to a year?
Ed McT,
Humans eat cows. How does that affect your theory?
Dang! Jenny you beat me to my exact thought well said. as a busy Professional my wife and I have had challenges when we decided to have kids, she became a stay at home mother and returned to work when the kids started school. For us we are lucky she is a teacher so our children have always attended private school where my wife works which runs a program K - 12 But that does not limit our responsibility to raising our children that is first and foremost in our minds in all of our descions.
DAG
I knew a couple with 3 kids and 3 nannies. The parenting was either nonexistent or scary. The kids were pretty messed up with no social skills by the time they were 4 yo. These people had lots of money but little else.
Maybe they should adopt. Take that time wasted procreating and get back to making MONEY. sarc
I could see a night or two here and there, maybe for a single doctor with those crazy 24+ hr shifts. But don't parents that are 'too busy to take care of kids' normally hire a nanny so they see their kids in passing here and there?
There are a few 24 hr in-home daycares in my area, but that's for people who work odd hours and pick up their kids when they're done at work!
My knowledge of India and principles there is limited, but I do know of an Indian couple where I lived for years. They bought into a quick mart (had been traded about in the extended family every so many years, taxes and business rights and perks being foreign, etc..) and now I believe have at least 4 they lease. The wife attends the primary one a few miles from their home during day hours, the husband in the evenings and nights. He also has to travel some to his other stores when necessary, and other extended family will come in to cover. Sometimes in evenings and weekends his children are with him. He's got a nice, larger home and said it is customary in India for extended family to live together, aunts and uncles and nephews, parents, etc... and he has, for years at a time sometimes, similar arrangements.
Point is, even working 7 days a week at stores open from 7 a.m. until midnight at several locations his children never need watched outside of home save for when he takes them to work. It seems this 24 hour up to a year daycare isn't so much a niche that needs filled, but more of some being overwhelmed by new financial freedom that don't know how to cope correctly or find they don't want to; family may seem burdensome to a few now that they have more and got a wee bit selfish. But, again... not familiar with India, distances traveled for work, etc... but through the fellow I know I can't really believe that there's not more of a selfish motivation here than any other.....
I totally agree. I don't have kids, but if I had been lucky enough you can bet I wouldn't be handing them over to strangers to raise.
Boomer: I bet you $10 that the 1% already do. They just call them 24 hour nannies. So they have a daytime, swingshift, and nightttime one so they don't have to do anything by themselves, just trot the little darlings out in their finery when they want to impress the world with their parenting. Yes, I've known someone like this.
I guess you never heard of boarding schools. There is a long tradition among the English elite of farming out their parental responsibilities. They want the heirs, not the issues. Given the British influence on India, I'm not surprised. But what does it matter to us here? If you are a good parent, excellent, you'll never regret it. If you are just propagating to have someone to turn your wealth over to, I think you'll get what you deserve.
One word .................. Meerkats
If you choose not to have children, people will call you selfish.
Yet, I have found that the most selfish people tend to have children, as an extension of themselves. You'll notice very few politicians without offspring.
Not: I did not say that everyone that has children is selfish.
Just what's needed - another "service" to further erode family relationships. Leave your child for up to a YEAR?? That is so wrong in so many ways, I agree with Jenny. Parents that would consider that have no business ever HAVING children !!
What's also amazing is the apparent breakdown of the family unit for many upwardly mobile Indians. Families in countries like India used to include everyone living together in the same home -- all pitching in with things like child care, etc. I'm sure it's still that way in many, many Indian homes, but this is definitely a very disturbing turn of events.
I can't help but wonder what this generation of "daycare orphans" will be like in about 15 years. Very scary thought!
Children are no different than logistics and inventory to deal with.... not much difference from the outsourcing work they run on day-to-day basis from their outsourcing client. At least by the time the kids grow up the parents will have enough money to send them to the US for education. As misguided as these seem, since the world will be yet another different place by the time they grow up, this is what they are clinging on today in their point of view. At least we'll have some result of this interesting social experiment in a few years.
YUS - Are you serious? Whats the point of having kids in the first place.
"The world is just a giant rat race to nowhere." -James Maynard Keenen
I should precede my first sentence with "To them"
Why don't they just call it an orphanage? I work in a daycare setting with young children. I see, everyday, that children that are left in out of home care for extended periods of time often become more aggressive and have other behavior problems.
Why don't they just call it boarding school? What, not politically charged enough? If you are American, this is not your concern. Take care of your own issues, India can take care of theirs.
We do it in this country too! It is called Grandparents, Inc........"Best Care Anywhere"!
As in #4, it is Day Care, not Grandparents, Inc., more and more. Schools are expected to provide pre-school and after-school care to take care of the kids parents need to leave behind until they finish work. Then we wonder why our public schools are always broke and the private schools charge such high tuition. Maybe one of the parents could stay home if they weren't trying to finance those private school educations.
I'm just waiting for the drive thru to open up, I dont have time to walk my kids in the daycare..
SARCASM...
Though the country has seemingly made it impossible for one parent to work and one parent to be the stay at homer. Many more people are realizing that working one's self to death is not worth the reward anymore. My reward is seeing my children's smiling faces, beats money any day.
Annon - Amen to that. My wife stays at home and we live pretty simple. I have friends that keep up with the joneses and they sacrafice what I deem as real quality of life.
anti-trust- fyi, those before and after school programs charge parents for their use. My school district's program is run by the local university, employs education major students, and breaks down to cost more per hour than daycare.
...and don't think for a moment that the grandparents (Probably most of them) are sick of it. You had the kids, now you should be raising them.
Children are such a blessing and need to know that they are loved. Putting career before your children is criminal. This world has become a world of material gain no matter the cost. So go ahead leave children in daycare 24/7. But don't be surprised when you are abandoned in your later years.
No, that's when you need to put your kid up for adoption because you can't take care of them.
Anyone too busy to be a parent should not have children. Children tossed around like property will not develop into fully functioning human beings. This will produce more people that society will need to take care of as mal-adjusted adults. "Hey, can I rent you to take house and feed my kids? I'll be back sometime, but not sure when." Or maybe, "anyone wanna rent my kids for a few months?"
I can see it starting now. Seriously.
Seriously? Don't have kids if you are too busy for them.
If parents are so busy they need 24hour day care they should not be having children.
Why not just donate eggs and sperm to people who actually want to be parents.
Not sure I would be interested in the genetic material from a person that could leave their child in daycare for up to a year.
Greed is destroying our world. As everyone has said, if you're too busy to raise your own children- YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE ANY!! What kind of parents will children raised in daycare make?? It's a vicious spiral.
Relax people this is over in India and they have different customs. BUT I totally agree with most that it is criminal to have children just to have children. Juggling parenting and a hectic social life??? Those 2 subjects shouldn't be in the same sentence. I can totally see this crap invading the U.S. soon though, if it hasn't already.
A social life when you have young kids? I didn't know it was possible!! :)
Hubby and I occasionally get a chance to hang out with friends while the other parent is home with the kids, and I think we average one date night a year. Our kids are currently 2 and 5, so in a few years we'll actually be ok leaving them with a sitter once in a while, but overnights will only happen with close family members.
Lets hope Obama doesn't hear about this. He would probably want the government to run the 24 hour daycare. The government could raise your children.
Common Man you are uncommonly stupid to bring politics into this discussion. The problem is that this is about proper care and upbringing of YOUR children. While I admit the modern Governments of the world make this a very difficult task (too busy making war not love) your idiotic comment has no place in this discussion.
That's funny. I see Republicans as being the ones who make it more difficult for one parent to stay home and raise their child. Many parents find they both need to work in order to get insurance for their families. Hmmm...having a public insurance option might help with that. Additionally, Republicans don't promote employers paying living wages. If one person was paid enough to support their families, more parents could stay home and raise their own kiddos. I think we would find this solves a lot of problems (kids would behave better in school so the public education system would improve, there would be less crime, etc.)
I thought Republicans were the "job makers," and with jobs comes the need for day care ... maybe even the 24 hour or 1 year kind eventually.
It IS stupid to bring Obama into this discussion, but since you did, this seems something that ultra-busy Republicans would be more likely to use for their own convenience ... maybe so they could attend more Repub fund raisers and Tea Bagger rallies. That is, while they aren't out there creating all of those jobs I'm still waiting to see. :)
Sasha and Malia live in the White House and Michelle's mom is their babysitter when their parents' schedule means they can't be there. They make a point (the President included) to sit down as a family for dinner every night.
So, Common Man, you might not like the President, but you certainly can't make a statement like yours if you look at the President's own life.
And indoctrinate them. Teach them to spy on the parents.
If you can not raise your own children and be apart of their lives then you should give them up because that is what you do when you give your child to someone else to care for them, think about how this child must feel every time you drop them off and leave and not return for a year or so you have given up your parenting not a good thing for your child, I can not imagine ever leaving my children for as long as these so called parents, IT IS NOT A NORMAL WAY OF LIFE FOR THESE CHILDREN AND THEY WILL BE ACTING OUT SOME TIME IN THE FUTURE, THEN YOU WILL BE ASKING FOR HELP AND NO ONE CAN TURN THE CLOCK BACK AT THAT TIME,
i could see this as being a valuable resource for single parents who have night jobs. one of my friends found herself in that position and finding someone to take care of your child from 11pm-4am was impossible. she eventually had to quit. its not like she didnt look for a day job, there were NONE available and to provide for her child, she took a night job instead of going on welfare. if you want to call her a bad mom for choosing her child over sleep and comfort go ahead, but realize that not everyone has the luxury of a day job.
That's completely different. A daycare with flexible hours is one thing, this article is about a warehouse for kids that encourages you to leave them for days and days. There are a few 24 hr daycares in my area, but parents are still going to pick up the kids when their shift is over. The couple in the article were too busy with their social life to care for the kids even when not working.
Wait just a damn minute. My daughter uses 24-hour daycare. She works an on-call job where her job requires her to be on-site at all different hours. I live in the SAME city. I cannot look after my grandchild all the time. I do have a life-doctor appointments, etc. The father has chosen NOT to participate in the life he helped create so she is doing all she can to support my grandchild.
Look for another job? She does & is on the days she has off plus providing quality time for my grandchild. DO NOT JUDGE UNTIL YOU HAVE WALKED IN THEIR SHOES. I pity all of you because you sit behind your keyboard sounding off about a situation you clearly have NO first-hand knowledge about. Pity pity.
Gee, imagine having no opinion about something you have no first-hand knowledge of. So you have no opinion about genocide? And men can't be gynocologists because they've never had a baby? Pity pity.
I understand your anger and frustration however this article was about the CHOICE of KID DUMPING which is WRONG. It is true in a very few (relatively speaking) there are exceptions, in those cases perhaps a live in nanny (properly vetted of course) might be used ( the cost would be high so the government on a case by case bases could perhaps provide a homeless female the training and skills to move in to the home and care for the kid (s). This would help the working mother, the "homeless female" AND the Government sort of a win, win, win situation. However it seems no one is able to take a holistic approach to modern civilizations problems and come up with real common sense solutions.
The phrase " Not my Yob man" seems to be the watchword of the decaying society we live in - is this perhaps caused by 3 generations of two paycheck families not caring for their kids as they were growing up? Food for thought.
The situation in the article is different than the one that your daughter is facing. The article is referring to two-parent households that are too busy furthering their careers to raise their children, not single-parent households where there isn't any other option.
To add to Sickandtired's comment, the "day care" businesses referred to in this article will take children for up to one year. That's not day care. That's an orphanage. Not the same at all as your daughter's situation, Shaly.
We could repeat that Orphan Train Program again. It worked for 250,000 children and lasted 75 years. Private sector and religious charities working for the "good" of mankind!
The current generation is a spoiled one. What is the difference between these kids who have very busy biological parents and those kids who are real orphans whose biological parents are dead. What moral responsibility and a sense of mutual relationship can be expected from either of these parties as they grow up. My neighbors have few dogs, they don't want children because of hectic schedule, but want a living soul around them when they are home. When they travel the dogs are left at a pet care facility. The dog is more attached to the person who feeds and pets. The dogs are as I noticed, unruly. So are the children of the future generations.
I hate bedtime, it's the most painful time of the day, but I would never leave it to someone other than family to handle. I prefer to be home with my children each night, the thought of sending them to an overnight daycare facility is unfathomable to me. I guess in the busy, busy world of life, some find little time for what matters most, family.
This isn't child care; its quality kennel care for children being thought of by their parents as pets, not children.
I used to feel guilty for leaving my dog at a kennel for two or three days. This is beyond me.
Why have children if you don't have the time for them. This is all wrong.
How about this for a headline:
Too Busy to Put the Kids to Bed? Here's Your Choice; Find Another Job or Give Up the Kids For Adoption.
My brother-in-law is a child psychologist, and every day he sees cases of children with emotional or psychological issues, due to neglect by parents who work high-power jobs but are too busy to see to their children's needs. What good is it to have a job that pays hundreds of thousands a year when you child suffers from depression because they're not getting the loving reassurance of hearing your voice, or feeling your touch, or seeing you at their school play or soccer game?
Too busy to be a parent? That is the state of values and morals in our world? The children will suffer from the self-centered actions of the people that gave birth to them (can't use the term 'parent' here).