Do You Have Reliable Childcare?
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Anonymous
Weird |
Anonymous
Fck off |
Anonymous
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Our child care center closed for 5 months during COVID. DH and I traded off watching our then 1 yo and trying to work FT jobs. Thankfully our workplaces were very understanding, but after 5 months we were both completely burnt out. Since then yes, we've had reliable child care (center is open 6:30-6:30 though we don't use all that time) as long as our child was healthy, which thankfully has been most of the time. But like any parent I've certainly had to take time off to care for a sick kid. Thankfully all the senior people in my office have been there and completely understand.
FWIW the aftercare program at our ES filled up for the next school year in January. Thankfully we got a spot for our child but it is legit hard for working parents to find reliable child care. |
Anonymous
The only people I know with truly fool proof childcare coverage have both a full time nanny AND family nearby (who are able and willing to provide childcare when needed). It's a truly rare and privileged position to be in. I have a kid in 1st grade and we do school plus aftercare plus camps plus use leave to fill in the gaps. Which is what most parents seem to do. I also have a less than FT job (30-35 hours a week, so I still work pretty full days) which helps a lot on the margins and makes pick up/drop off and activities easier. But I have two friends with kids in my child's class who, because they have younger kids, have nannies, and even though I get that they are paying a lot of money for the nannies, I'm so jealous of the fact that they pretty much never have to stress about childcare coverage. Sure, they still do camps for their older kids in the summer and they have to pay the nanny extra when she's taking care of the older kid too, but even just knowing that you basically never have to arrange for care or take time off for a random school holiday or parent teacher conference or whatever... so nice. Like most people, we can't afford/justify a nanny for a school age child. I'd actually love to do part-time childcare if we could swing it because aftercare is pretty subpar, but that's expensive too and also it's incredibly hard to find a part-time nanny who won't quit on you after a few months for a full time gig. Point is, 99.9999% of parents will have gaps in childcare, especially for elementary kids who cannot be left alone (or for many early elementary kids, to self-entertain elsewhere in the house) but also are not going to have full time daycare or a nanny because they are in school for approximately 50% of the days of the year. It's a maddening problem given how common it is -- why haven't we figure out how to solve it on a societal level instead of just leaving every parent to fend for themselves? That's what other, more civilized countries do. |
Anonymous
| When I was a kid 8 year olds were getting off the bus and going home to an empty house until 6 or after. You're saying 8-12 year olds (even 6-8) need so much supervision now that a parent working from home can't pick them up from school and work for another two hours and should be expected to find childcare at that time? My 8 year old generally just stays home on the random day off days and entertains himself. Other than taking a longer lunch to actually sit and interact rather than eating at my desk it's really no different. It'd be more disruptive to commute to day off camp options and be offline at peak meeting times on my team. Yes there are differences for the 3 and unders. |
Anonymous
+1 and I'll do you one better: I and many of my friends would go to our parents' workplaces after school and be expected to read or do homework until they were done, or even asked to help out. I remember filing papers at my dad's office or helping my mom load materials for classes she was teaching into the car. I also remember sitting and reading books in the corner while they took meetings or calls or got paperwork done. No one walked into my parents' workplaces and freaked out because there was a child there. No one was like "OMG, you can't do this! Why don't you have reliable childcare for your 9 year old! So unprofessional." In fact, on more than one occasion, their clients and students would note that I seemed like a responsible kid, would I be interested in babysitting their young children some afternoon for extra cash? So I don't get what the big deal is about my elementary kid doing homework and playing in her room while I finish my workday. |
Anonymous
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What do you mean camp is cancelled?
We have school or camp. Occasionally a kid is sick or there is a snow day - 2-4 days total per year. We have flexible jobs, local grandparents, a neighborhood full of parents who rotate coverage for snow days, school holidays, and early release days. |
Anonymous
All these families did before Covid. The school won’t even allow K and 1st graders to walk home alone, even if they are “walkers.” |