Educator vs Parent

My son (24 months) and I had an evening alone last week ... we made dinner together, jammied him up, and headed out for a walk before bed. We listened to the birds, talked to a few dogs, saw a mini excavator (aka digger) and a fire truck. We live on a quiet street out of town so this was a very eventful evening. We returned home, played in the living room for a short while, and headed off to bed. I'll be honest and admit that I am not the bedtime person in our house so things started off a little shaky ... "Where's daddy?" "My want daddy." "Daddy, my want to come with you." We chatted about daddy's whereabouts and when he would be home. He rested his head. Then out of the corner of his eye he saw the eco made never played with fire engine on his shelf. Toddler made siren sounds followed. He began shuffling his way to the edge of his bed nodding yes (his way of asking permission to get off his bed). *Insert dilemma here* The parent thinks not a chance mister, it's bed time. The educator thinks teachable moment; what a great connection he made, can't waste the natural learning opportunity while consistency and follow through bells chimed in the back of my head. I compromised with myself and told him to stay on his bed and that I would bring the fire engine to him for a couple of minutes. Good, right? We talked about the fire truck and he told me about "outside. fire truck. go go." I felt confident in my decision to let the educator over rule the parent ...........  until I tried to take the fire truck away.


I used to feel offended when a parent with a child in my care would suggest that I didn't really understand because I wasn't a parent. I felt like I totally understood; I had completed years of education and knew all about child development, behaviour and guidance, health and safety. For the last two years I have gained an immense appreciation for what it was they meant. They never meant it negatively, it was just a simple fact. I truly didn't understand what it was like to feel parental guilt; to maintain consistency in parenting while juggling the demands of a career, relationship, and household; to make decisions for your child that you feel are right only to be judged by those who do not agree ... the list is neverending.