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Its definitely nice to get a break. I worked 4 days a week for several months after having DD and it was so awesome. I had her in day care 5 days and would use the free day to grocery shop, run errands, exercise, cook, and also I scheduled all DD's appts on that day too. It really made the weekends better since I didn't have to squeeze errands in and we had more fun outings. I would also pick DD up after nap time on my off day sometimes to go to the library, etc. I had to stop this schedule since I still ended up working 40 hr many weeks, but wasn't getting paid such! I'm trying to get to a 3 day schedule now and am debating my options for child care for DD and DS. As far as the guilt, it made me feel soooo much better that I didn't feel guilty at all.

No - I work 4 days but the other day LO is home with me. I took a huge paycut to stay home that extra day and I did it so that I could have extra time with him.

I am thinking of taking a day off in the near future and having LO go to daycare so that I can do stuff like get my hair cut, get a wax, get a few errands done

If I ever SAHM I would be in favor of sending kiddos to daycare a day a week though. It is HARD to be home with a baby full time - you never get stuff done.

Nope! I only work 1/2 day on Fridays and I fly home so I can see my baby!!

I'm a SAHM and have a sitter for 5 hours one day a week. While LO takes his morning nap I go out for coffee and a bagel by myself, then get stuff done around the house, then go grocery shopping.

Nope – I work 5 days a week and LO goes to daycare 5 days a week. I run a lot of errands on my lunch hour – grocery shopping, store runs, etc. and I don’t find it tough to shop with LO on the weekends if we have to. I just do laundry in the evening or over the weekend too. So far I definitely don’t feel like I would need a day to myself to get those errands done. If I want time alone on the weekend or want to go get my hair/nails done, my husband or parents have no problem taking LO.

Nope. If family lived closer I would be more likely to do this. Being a SAHM is hard for me, even though I love it. I think it wouldn't be a bad idea to do this every other week or so.

Work is my break! LO goes to daycare and I stop working at 3pm but sometimes I don't pick her up until 5 or 6 because I need to get stuff done.

@autumnlove: I do the same thing too if I get home early. At first, I felt guilty about it, but now it's a chance to get the house squared away before the night becomes all about him.

I don't know anyone who does this on a weekly/regular basis.

I work 4 days a week from the office, and then Fridays are kind of my flexible day- all my benefits and such are prorated to 80%, but I still get paid for any hours I work on Fridays, and I work from home on Fridays unless I need to be in the office for meetings. I end up typically putting in about 3 hours on Fridays, and have the rest of the day to myself while LO is in daycare. I usually take LO to daycare a little late (sometimes we'll go out for breakfast together, or take the dog on a long walk) and pick him up early, but I use the rest of the time to work out, clean up the house and do laundry, have appointments for myself or anyone/thing else (dentist, vet, waxing, plumber, etc.), and have a little fun free time (the last couple Fridays I've had lunch dates with friends between working and running errands and such).
I LOVE my Fridays. I have a long (45-60 minutes each way, more if it rains or is a Friday) commute, and working 5 days a week was just overwhelming. Fridays are often a day for me to catch up on work, so if I have to leave work a little early on Tuesday to get LO, or to make it home in time to have dinner with LO and DH, I don't feel bad. Fridays also allow me to schedule all my appointments so they don't require time off- when I was full-time, I used up SO much of my vacation and sick leave on stuff like doctor and dentist and vet appointments and house stuff, and now I just do all that on Fridays.
It also keeps me sane. One of the things I miss most about my pre-baby life is flexibility and getting to do things spontaneously and not being accountable to anyone. Even though my Friday to-do lists are generally such that I only have a couple hours to screw around or do "fun" things, I love being able to decide what I do when.
I'm lucky in that it's is pretty common in my office to only work 4 days a week, or to have some kind of similarly alternative work schedule. No one bats an eye if you say you're not in the office on Fridays.

I'm not a mom, but I have a friend who works part time Fri-Sun and she brings her daughter to day care. I think it's 5-6 hours per day Mon-Fri, but she is also taking two classes.

I think every situation is different! I think personally if I was ever able to be a stay at home mom I wouldn't send LO to daycare. If I needed a little extra time I would see if my mom or some other family was available. But I don't think I would schedule it on a regular basis

No... I'm a SAHM and would love even just half-day child-care to do things on my own or just take a nap!! but it's not feasible $$ wise.

I dont have a regular day off. I'm a sahm. My mom used to come watch lo once in awhile so I could run some errands... But now she's a nanny full time for my niece.

It's not a huge deal though. If there's something I can't do with her like a doctor's apt, haircut, etc my mom will still take her or ill do it on evenings or weekends when dh can watch lo.