If they were in daycare yesterday we wouldn't have . . .

Beau wouldn't have slept late because he's getting over a cold. They wouldn't have passed a happy half-hour eating cheerios together on the kitchen floor while I washed dishes. Hemi wouldn't have climbed up the stairs a dozen times before noon. They wouldn't have wrestled together on the living room floor. Beau wouldn't have helped mix biscuits and scramble eggs for lunch. They wouldn't have eaten lunch with Mommy and Daddy. Hemi wouldn't have dozed off for his afternoon nap in Daddy's arms. Beau wouldn't have taped eight new words to his word wall to learn. We wouldn't have read Go Dog Go and Diggers and Dumpers at least three times each. We wouldn't have walked over to the little butcher store five blocks away to get some hamburger and Parmesan cheese. We wouldn't have bumped into Poppa (my father) there, picking up steaks and fresh fish. Hemi wouldn't have dozed off in his stroller on the way back. Beau wouldn't have labeled every car, truck and van that passed us as we walked. We wouldn't have met the lady with the two half-grown standard poodles.
Some folks may have no choice but to put their children in daycares, but none of us should ever pretend, or let others get away with pretending, that those children are doing and learning the same things they would be at home, let alone learning more than they could at home.