Either find a way to open schools, or send me a stimulus check so I can pay for childcare.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People are SO dramatic. You need to be HOSPITALIZED because the stress and trauma of working remotely while managing your kid on a Zoom classroom is too much?

Google a migrant worker gathering bushels of radishes all day. Read up about working in a coal mine, or the allocation of family work among families during the Depression that had no steady income. Here’s a hint: way more unpleasant than missing “wine-o’clock” a few times a week.

I am so sick and tired of this whining. No one “owes” you free money.

If they need to be hospitalized for having to take care of their kids 24.7, they shouldn't be parenting their kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why would anyone owe you a check? I'm not paying for your childcare.

Except you usually do pay for childcare for all public school children. It's just that right now you are still paying that money but OP and people like her are not receiving the benefit.

Why not just cut her a check?

No, our tax money pays for an education. Its traditionally been in person and the child care is a bonus but since its no longer in person OP and others need to readjust their budget for afford child care, like they did when the kids were little. Surprise, the government is no longer taking care of your kids every day and you need to. Its called parenting. Be an adult and take care of you kids or pay someone.

Nope, sorry you didn't understand this before -- the public school system is a form of childcare. The childcare part isn't incidental, it's a primary purpose. I don't know where people on DCUM and elsewhere got the idea that it's something else. But our entire economy depends on a public school system that provides free or heavily subsidized childcare so that parents can work. Pretending otherwise is a form of magical thinking not grounded in reality.

And OP is right -- we either help her with childcare so that she can work, or her entire family unit ceases to function and we wind up helping her and her child anyway via public services for the unemployed, homeless, mentally ill, or abandoned children. That's how society works. If it bother you, feel free to go get yourself a private island and go it alone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why would anyone owe you a check? I'm not paying for your childcare.

Except you usually do pay for childcare for all public school children. It's just that right now you are still paying that money but OP and people like her are not receiving the benefit.

Why not just cut her a check?

No, our tax money pays for an education. Its traditionally been in person and the child care is a bonus but since its no longer in person OP and others need to readjust their budget for afford child care, like they did when the kids were little. Surprise, the government is no longer taking care of your kids every day and you need to. Its called parenting. Be an adult and take care of you kids or pay someone.

Expecting someone to be able to pivot on a dime and adapt their budget to pay for full time childcare for elementary school students- something that has been reliably provided by the state and taken for granted as part of the social fabric of our nation for decades- is extremely unreasonable. Maybe OP waited to have children until she had saved up enough to help get hervthrough the daycare years or maybe she opted to move to a more expensive home in a better school district to benefit her kids once the daycare payments were done. Her no longer having several thousand dollars a month of disposable income with little notice to devote to childcare costs that she reasonably believed were behind her does not make her an irresponsible adult or parent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People are SO dramatic. You need to be HOSPITALIZED because the stress and trauma of working remotely while managing your kid on a Zoom classroom is too much?

Google a migrant worker gathering bushels of radishes all day. Read up about working in a coal mine, or the allocation of family work among families during the Depression that had no steady income. Here’s a hint: way more unpleasant than missing “wine-o’clock” a few times a week.

I am so sick and tired of this whining. No one “owes” you free money.

Yes, migrant workers, coal miners, and people in the Great Depression all have/had amazing mental health and take care of their families effortlessly with no assistance from the rest of society? Are you illiterate?

Migrant workers depend on school systems, too, actually. So do coal miners, who are never mining for coal while also trying to teach math to a second grader (I'm guessing both the miners unions and child services would have something to say about that!). And people in the Great Depression actually needed massive social services in order to help them get back on their feet.

I hate to break this to you, but the lower and middle class families currently breaking under the weight of this crisis ARE the migrant workers, coal miners, and Depression-era families. They are just scraping by and desperately need help. And instead of offering it, we are rolling our eyes and complaining about their "whining".

[Anonymous]

I agree with you op. It’s disgusting how no one cares about parents or school aged children. And that people just pretend we’re bad parents for needing to go to work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why would anyone owe you a check? I'm not paying for your childcare.

Except you usually do pay for childcare for all public school children. It's just that right now you are still paying that money but OP and people like her are not receiving the benefit.

Why not just cut her a check?

No, our tax money pays for an education. Its traditionally been in person and the child care is a bonus but since its no longer in person OP and others need to readjust their budget for afford child care, like they did when the kids were little. Surprise, the government is no longer taking care of your kids every day and you need to. Its called parenting. Be an adult and take care of you kids or pay someone.

Expecting someone to be able to pivot on a dime and adapt their budget to pay for full time childcare for elementary school students- something that has been reliably provided by the state and taken for granted as part of the social fabric of our nation for decades- is extremely unreasonable. Maybe OP waited to have children until she had saved up enough to help get hervthrough the daycare years or maybe she opted to move to a more expensive home in a better school district to benefit her kids once the daycare payments were done. Her no longer having several thousand dollars a month of disposable income with little notice to devote to childcare costs that she reasonably believed were behind her does not make her an irresponsible adult or parent.

+1000

As a parent who very carefully saved and planned to make sure my kid would have good quality full time care until school started, but does not have the means to continue to provide that care now that my child is in school, I whole heartedly agree. Most families operate on much thinner margins. You can whine about it if you want, but if only wealthy people had kids, that wouldn't work out particularly well for anyone either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why would anyone owe you a check? I'm not paying for your childcare.

Except you usually do pay for childcare for all public school children. It's just that right now you are still paying that money but OP and people like her are not receiving the benefit.

Why not just cut her a check?

No, our tax money pays for an education. Its traditionally been in person and the child care is a bonus but since its no longer in person OP and others need to readjust their budget for afford child care, like they did when the kids were little. Surprise, the government is no longer taking care of your kids every day and you need to. Its called parenting. Be an adult and take care of you kids or pay someone.

Nope, sorry you didn't understand this before -- the public school system is a form of childcare. The childcare part isn't incidental, it's a primary purpose. I don't know where people on DCUM and elsewhere got the idea that it's something else. But our entire economy depends on a public school system that provides free or heavily subsidized childcare so that parents can work. Pretending otherwise is a form of magical thinking not grounded in reality.

And OP is right -- we either help her with childcare so that she can work, or her entire family unit ceases to function and we wind up helping her and her child anyway via public services for the unemployed, homeless, mentally ill, or abandoned children. That's how society works. If it bother you, feel free to go get yourself a private island and go it alone.

Yea, we will it's called CARES, for those who really need it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree with you op. It’s disgusting how no one cares about parents or school aged children. And that people just pretend we’re bad parents for needing to go to work.

We should have emergency funds. And the government SHOULD provide more stimulus relief checks.

[Anonymous]

I love how 2020 has exposed parents.

Its all hugs and rainbows and 'children fill a void' until you actually have to take care of and watch them 24/7, 7 days a week.

Now its 'I'm going to be hospitalized if you don't get them out of here'.

And you wonder why the child-free and single are enjoying the pandemic so much?

[Anonymous]

Being a DINK is even better.

[Anonymous]

I was just thinking that we needed another thread like this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree with you op. It’s disgusting how no one cares about parents or school aged children. And that people just pretend we’re bad parents for needing to go to work.

We should have emergency funds. And the government SHOULD provide more stimulus relief checks.

A stimulus check wouldn't be as good as schools reopening, but it would make this all a lot more feasible. I am a contract worker and only get paid for the work I agree to take on (and then complete). I'm in a real bind right now because with the demands of DL and having my kid home with me, I cannot take on anywhere close to full time work. I've been working about 15 hours a week, mostly nights and weekend.

If I could work 30 hours a week, we'd have just enough to cover expenses plus at least some childcare. But I can't take on that much work without having childcare lined up, and I can't line up childcare unless I know I have the income to cover it.

If we got a stimulus check (and our income is low enough that we would likely qualify for the full amount), we could use it to get our kid enrolled in childcare, and then I could use that time to ramp up my work (which I know is available because it gets offered -- I literally have to turn work down right now because I do not have enough hours in the day).

So this would be a win-win-win-win. The stimulus money would go straight back into the economy, paying a childcare worker who could then use that money to pay for rent/food/etc. I would immediately be able to take on more work, which would mean more both income for my family (to keep paying the childcare worker) and more tax revenue for the government. My clients would also benefit from the added productivity of being able to contract more of their work out to someone with 20 years of specialized experience in the field (that's me). And oh yeah -- my kid would also benefit from specialized attention during the day instead of the constantly distracted attention of his exhausted mom who is operating on 3 hours of sleep. And when when my kid DID spend time with me, that time would be of a higher quality than it is now because I wouldn't be so overextended.

And that's the story of how a $2000 check for one family could improve the lives of a minimum of six people and net the government additional revenue.

Yeah, I'd take a stimulus check about now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People are SO dramatic. You need to be HOSPITALIZED because the stress and trauma of working remotely while managing your kid on a Zoom classroom is too much?

Google a migrant worker gathering bushels of radishes all day. Read up about working in a coal mine, or the allocation of family work among families during the Depression that had no steady income. Here’s a hint: way more unpleasant than missing “wine-o’clock” a few times a week.

I am so sick and tired of this whining. No one “owes” you free money.

+1,000

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I love how 2020 has exposed parents.

Its all hugs and rainbows and 'children fill a void' until you actually have to take care of and watch them 24/7, 7 days a week.

Now its 'I'm going to be hospitalized if you don't get them out of here'.

And you wonder why the child-free and single are enjoying the pandemic so much?

Yes, you are correct that 2020 and a global pandemic, economic crisis, and political shitshow has, indeed, exposed parents.

100% agree.

Enjoy getting Covid from socializing with all your fellow single, child-free friends while the world burns. Sounds awesome.

[Anonymous]

Still not sure why OP things people should send them a check.