Aftercare is cruel to kindergarteners

[Anonymous]

Aftercare is the best thing I ever did for my Kindergartner last year.

I dreaded it. I feared it wouldn't work. I feared he wouldn't be able to handle it.

And it turned out to be the absolutely best thing to get him to open up socially and learn independence in a safe environment. Kids don't get a lot of free play in school these days. Aftercare gives them a safe environment in which they get to independently choose which activity to do, they get to walk around the school (with people watching them with walkie talkies) and they get to interact with kids of all ages.

I know stay at home parents who wish they could send their children to aftercare on random days because their kids want to go.

I totally respect stay at home parents. I think there is a benefit to kids getting home early enough to have time to play with neighbor kids or relax at home. But for those of us who choose to work, aftercare is no where close to being cruel. There are actually some real benefits to it.

[Anonymous]

As a working mom, I'm lucky to be able to carve out time to volunteer in my son's school.

It is shocking how little free time they have. The academics are intense. It is NOT he same elementary school I attended for sure. Aftercare is not such a bad thing. My son does TaeKwanDo and thankfully gets much needed exercise that he really gets none of in school all day. I'm astonished that PE is not daily. Its a crying shame.

If he came home, I have no idea who he would run around with. All the kids on our street attend some sort of after care or program after school, even the ones with SAHMs. The kids do nothing all day, but learn. Some sort of after school program, I think, is mandatory-especially one that is physical.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have three friends whose children are starting kindergarten with my daughter. They will be dropping them off at 7:45 am, and not picking them up until 6 pm!! These poor kids are going to be in aftercare from 2:30 on. Why on earth would you do this to a five year old??

I don't get how they are comfortable only seeing their children about 2-3 hours a day. It would break my heart.

What do others think?

That your fake concern shows what a colossal cuntasaurus you truly are.

Word of the day -'cuntasarus'. Thanks for a much-needed laugh, PP.

I've stopped reading this thread at page 3, but I still want to add my two cents to the discussion. My husband has a chronic medical condition that requires expensive drugs, and he owns a small business meaning no good health insurance. So I work mostly for health insurance, otherwise we'd go broke paying for his meds pretty much out-of-pocket. If we lived in Canada, that wouldn't be an issue, but in this country, it is. With Obamacare's prohibition on discriminating based on pre-existing conditions things might improve, but health insurance provided by a big company still beats anything you could buy on the open market.

Before someone jumps in and says 'Oh, you should have married a healthy man before you decided to have kids', I want to say to those self-righteous assholes that karma is a bitch. You might want to keep that in mind.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have three friends whose children are starting kindergarten with my daughter. They will be dropping them off at 7:45 am, and not picking them up until 6 pm!! These poor kids are going to be in aftercare from 2:30 on. Why on earth would you do this to a five year old??

I don't get how they are comfortable only seeing their children about 2-3 hours a day. It would break my heart.

What do others think?

That your fake concern shows what a colossal cuntasaurus you truly are.

Word of the day -'cuntasarus'. Thanks for a much-needed laugh, PP.

I've stopped reading this thread at page 3, but I still want to add my two cents to the discussion. My husband has a chronic medical condition that requires expensive drugs, and he owns a small business meaning no good health insurance. So I work mostly for health insurance, otherwise we'd go broke paying for his meds pretty much out-of-pocket. If we lived in Canada, that wouldn't be an issue, but in this country, it is. With Obamacare's prohibition on discriminating based on pre-existing conditions things might improve, but health insurance provided by a big company still beats anything you could buy on the open market.

Before someone jumps in and says 'Oh, you should have married a healthy man before you decided to have kids', I want to say to those self-righteous assholes that karma is a bitch. You might want to keep that in mind.

I live in Canada. Meds you pay on your own if your workplace doesn't have coverage.
The govt only pays for those over 65.
What are you talking about?

You could work and have your spouse be a SAHD.

[Anonymous]

So Canadians are judgmental bitches too? You hags are everywhere!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So Canadians are judgmental bitches too? You hags are everywhere!

Dammit DCUM, where is my like button?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So Canadians are judgmental bitches too? You hags are everywhere!

I am judgmental.
So what?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have three friends whose children are starting kindergarten with my daughter. They will be dropping them off at 7:45 am, and not picking them up until 6 pm!! These poor kids are going to be in aftercare from 2:30 on. Why on earth would you do this to a five year old??

I don't get how they are comfortable only seeing their children about 2-3 hours a day. It would break my heart.

What do others think?

I think that most kids would find it way more enriching to spend time with peers and educators than with someone like OP.

[Anonymous]

I have been a SAHM or working part time and picking up right after school for years. What do my kids do after school? Play on the playground with friends, or come home, do homework, then have a playdate or head off to sports practice. Very similar to what they'd be doing in aftercare.

OP needs to get a life and is just a big old troll. I know lots of kids in aftercare, and they all love it-- it is basically a big organized playdate. My kids have begged me for years to do aftercare.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This has been covered before. Some folks have to work full time and don't really have a choice. .

Sure they do. Downsize, downsize, downsize. You don't need to live in a 3,000 sq ft place, hire help for cleaning and yardwork, wear the best clothes, have an iPhone5, drive an SUV with only one or two kids, use coupons and shop the specials. Cook more, go out to eat once a month or less.

It can easily be done, even in this area. But people here are too set on keeping up their extravagant lifestyles.

Priorities.

I live in a basement studio apartment and use public transportation.
Where should I downsize at?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have three friends whose children are starting kindergarten with my daughter. They will be dropping them off at 7:45 am, and not picking them up until 6 pm!! These poor kids are going to be in aftercare from 2:30 on. Why on earth would you do this to a five year old??

I don't get how they are comfortable only seeing their children about 2-3 hours a day. It would break my heart.

What do others think?

That your fake concern shows what a colossal cuntasaurus you truly are.

Word of the day -'cuntasarus'. Thanks for a much-needed laugh, PP.

I've stopped reading this thread at page 3, but I still want to add my two cents to the discussion. My husband has a chronic medical condition that requires expensive drugs, and he owns a small business meaning no good health insurance. So I work mostly for health insurance, otherwise we'd go broke paying for his meds pretty much out-of-pocket. If we lived in Canada, that wouldn't be an issue, but in this country, it is. With Obamacare's prohibition on discriminating based on pre-existing conditions things might improve, but health insurance provided by a big company still beats anything you could buy on the open market.

Before someone jumps in and says 'Oh, you should have married a healthy man before you decided to have kids', I want to say to those self-righteous assholes that karma is a bitch. You might want to keep that in mind.

I live in Canada. Meds you pay on your own if your workplace doesn't have coverage.
The govt only pays for those over 65.
What are you talking about?

You could work and have your spouse be a SAHD.

True.
I'm Canadian and live in Canada. While I prefer our health care by a long shot, you still pay for meds out of pocket if you don't have separate insurance through work. There are some good government programs for low income households but generally meds are out of pocket.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This has been covered before. Some folks have to work full time and don't really have a choice. .

Sure they do. Downsize, downsize, downsize. You don't need to live in a 3,000 sq ft place, hire help for cleaning and yardwork, wear the best clothes, have an iPhone5, drive an SUV with only one or two kids, use coupons and shop the specials. Cook more, go out to eat once a month or less.

It can easily be done, even in this area. But people here are too set on keeping up their extravagant lifestyles.

Priorities.

I live in a basement studio apartment and use public transportation.
Where should I downsize at?

Move home.

Let me guess, you're going to tell me they're dead or homeless.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This has been covered before. Some folks have to work full time and don't really have a choice. .

Sure they do. Downsize, downsize, downsize. You don't need to live in a 3,000 sq ft place, hire help for cleaning and yardwork, wear the best clothes, have an iPhone5, drive an SUV with only one or two kids, use coupons and shop the specials. Cook more, go out to eat once a month or less.

It can easily be done, even in this area. But people here are too set on keeping up their extravagant lifestyles.

Priorities.

I live in a basement studio apartment and use public transportation.
Where should I downsize at?

Ah, see, now your problem is misplaced priorities BEFORE having children. You're not supposed to have children unless you know that you and your spouse (but mostly your spouse, if you are a woman) will always, in perpetuity, be able to afford a 3,000 sf place with paid cleaning and yardwork, the best clothes, the latest phone, etc. Which, of course, requires you (if you are a woman) to first pick the right (and by "right", I mean "highly well-paid") spouse. You mean you didn't know that?! Well, you should have. Too late now, though. It's still All Your Fault your children are growing up like feral dogs.

(Not actually the PP.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ok ladies. I'm sure that OP has left the building. She came, she trolled, and she left. It's such a nice day outside...please move along.

Wow. I posted this in the early afternoon and then left work, played 9 holes, went to happy hour, came home for dinner with DS and DW, played w/DS, put him to sleep, then fired up the laptop to see what's going on in DCUM-land. I see that you ladies are still trying to claw each other's eyes out. One zinger after another. Some of you haven't stopped thinking about this thread all day. What a waste of a great August day. Cmon girls, get your acts together. IT'S NOT THAT BIG OF A DEAL. Kindergarden lasts for 1 year. After that, kids are usually in afterschool activities. Why are you getting so worked up about this topic?

I'm awfully glad that we have men to explain things to us women. Women get so muddled, what with our poor little fluffy lady-brains.

[Anonymous]

Canadians, your medications cost 1/4 of what we pay here, your government fixes the prices on brand medications and allows for importation of cheap generics before the Us patent on brands expires.