The parents of one in five families head to their summer holiday destination while leaving their children behind in a summer nursery or kindergarten. An Epinion survey for DR News showed that fully 20 percent of families are opting for vacation without taking along the Legos and diaper bags.
A spokesperson for the daycare providers' union, BUPL, said that number is way too high.
“Children have the same everyday life as their parents,” Birgitte Conradsen told DR News. “They get up early, they come home and get up and do it all over again, so they have the same need for a break that their parents do.”
Conradsen said that some parents park the kids in daycare because they are afraid they cannot offer them an interesting enough holiday.
“Children do not need a three week all-inclusive charter somewhere, especially small children,” she said. “Just let them rest and play ball in the garden and they will be happy.”
Conradsen said that educators need to be better at reminding parents that kids also need a break from everyday routines and stress.
Lars Klingenberg, the head of FOLA, the national association for parents of children in daycare, said he doesn’t see a problem with parents getting off on their own now and then.
“If the same parents take off year after year without their children, then that is obviously problematic,” he told DR News. “But if parents head out alone on a long weekend to Rome, I see it as a healthy sign because it suggests that they are two people who will nurture their relationship, which is good for the whole family.
