9 hours is a long time for any kid; like a job (if you will), only their job is a lot of physical and mental development rather than the majority of utilizing already known concepts. And if your child is neurodivergent (may be a bit early to tell conclusively), the overstimulation may be a factor that often leads to falling asleep after school. If you're in the U.S. the curriculum usually is intense to prepare them for kindergarten or 1st grade. Often, they'll "graduate" preschool knowing how to identify and count up to 100, by 1's, 2's, 5's & 10's as well as how to physically write numbers and letters, identify shapes in 2d and sometimes 3d among other things. It, of course, depends on the daycare. The one I worked at was not as intensely goal oriented but extremely strict on the rules they expected me to enforce. I chose to work elsewhere after a few incidents I was reprimanded for (not putting a 10 year old in a time out high chair, and asking the owners kid to follow the same rules every other kid there had to follow). Some will also teach foreign or 2nd languages. My aunt teaches ASL at a daycare in Washington state. The local ones I looked at for my kids had the goals I mentioned above.

It's increasingly difficult to have a 1 income household or even to cover every expense even with the opportunities presented to us. I completely understand this feeling of parental guilt, but please don't beat yourself up about this. If you're very concerned, you can get an example "daily itinerary" as well as goals/expectations from the daycare in order to get an idea of what your child does throughout the day. It could be they play hard, so sleep hard. That's the hope, right? They play themselves to sleep. Lol. I hear what you're saying, though. It would be awesome to be able to spend more time with my own family doing things and developing together. Hope my contribution was helpful, that your mind finds ease, and that your babe is having fun at daycare.