What do they expect people with infants/toddlers to do?

[Anonymous]

This is probably more venting than an actual question... But I'd still love to hear others' thoughts on this.

While Maryland is (sort of) loosening restrictions on who can use the essential personnel daycares, it's still being heavily regulated and restrictive. Daycares can't open without going through a fairly complicated process, so people's regular daycares are often not open.

Yet, many of us are expected to work- if not going into work, at least working from home.

What exactly does the county/state expect people with infants and toddlers to do? Do they really think we should be sending our kids to the opened daycares that are now filled with only high-risk kids? And now that the state is no longer paying for daycare, that might mean paying for daycare twice: 1) paying your "regular" daycare to reserve your spot, and 2) paying the temporary essential personnel daycare.

They're putting parents in an impossible situation by not giving parents more (paid) child care options. The least they could do would be to completely deregulate providers caring for children in a single family (or perhaps even 2-3 families).

[Anonymous]

They are expecting you to find a nanny.

[Anonymous]

They're putting you in a really shty situation. Our preschool is open and we are both essential workers, so DD has been going. I really feel for people who can't send their young kid in.

[Anonymous]

They expect our kids to watch all 50 season of Sesame Street.

[Anonymous]

They don’t care. I don’t agree but did you see the statement from the state superintendent who casually answered the daycare question as “(shrug)I guess they will do what we did when we had/were kids and have a parent stay home with them. Next question...”.

Total bullsh$&.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They don’t care. I don’t agree but did you see the statement from the state superintendent who casually answered the daycare question as “(shrug)I guess they will do what we did when we had/were kids and have a parent stay home with them. Next question...”.

Total bullsh$&.

Such a lack of understanding about how the economy works.

[Anonymous]

I'll probably use the 500+ hours of leave I have. So far, my DH and I have been each taking off a week a month while we WFH.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'll probably use the 500+ hours of leave I have. So far, my DH and I have been each taking off a week a month while we WFH.

Nice that you have that amount of leave. Most people with young kids don't have that -- especially moms who had to zero out their leave for maternity leave.

[Anonymous]

Ill enact FFCRA if I have to but right now my kid isn't entering daycare until Sept 8th. We were given the choice of June 8th or Sept 8th but we aren't phase 1 employees so we cant utilize the June 8th start date.

We are both WAH and our kid is watching too much TV. If DH gets called back into the office, which is unlikely since he works at a huge fed building and is not essential, then that will be a new sh**storm.

But you are correct, everyone at higher pay or power acts as if either 1) only one spouse works and childcare isn't an issue or 2) you have enough money to pay a nanny or two daycares

The other suggestion I see mentioned constantly is to get a high school or college kid to watch your kid. Ummmm, my kid is 2.5. I am not leaving him with another child for 8 hours a day not to mention a lot of parents may not LET their kids babysit due to the increased risk. Any kid who is able to babysit and has previous experience/necessary credentials (CPR, etc.) is going to get top dollar and see point #2 above. We all cant pay an unlimited amount towards childcare.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'll probably use the 500+ hours of leave I have. So far, my DH and I have been each taking off a week a month while we WFH.

Nice that you have that amount of leave. Most people with young kids don't have that -- especially moms who had to zero out their leave for maternity leave.

I actually took a lot of leave for maternity leave.

I am just really fortunate to work for a good employer that values employee loyalty/tenure and performance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They are expecting you to find a nanny.

Which not only means they're assuming you have the money for a nanny, but also that you have a big enough home that you can realistically work there while your kids are also there. That wouldn't be a problem in my current house, but it would have been a problem in the apartment I used to live in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I am just really fortunate to work for a good employer that values employee loyalty/tenure and performance.

OP here.

I'm actually in that situation. I actually have a ton of leave saved up, and I work for an employer that would bend over backwards to accommodate me. My spouse isn't as lucky in that regard.

But I don't think its fair to either me or my employer to expect me to either take an indefinite period of leave, or work with very low productivity for an extended period of time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They are expecting you to find a nanny.

Which not only means they're assuming you have the money for a nanny, but also that you have a big enough home that you can realistically work there while your kids are also there. That wouldn't be a problem in my current house, but it would have been a problem in the apartment I used to live in.

This. Our company has telework/home office requirements that mean you have to have a designated "home office" area. They're also big on video calls, particularly for anyone client facing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ill enact FFCRA if I have to but right now my kid isn't entering daycare until Sept 8th. We were given the choice of June 8th or Sept 8th but we aren't phase 1 employees so we cant utilize the June 8th start date.

We are both WAH and our kid is watching too much TV. If DH gets called back into the office, which is unlikely since he works at a huge fed building and is not essential, then that will be a new sh**storm.

But you are correct, everyone at higher pay or power acts as if either 1) only one spouse works and childcare isn't an issue or 2) you have enough money to pay a nanny or two daycares

The other suggestion I see mentioned constantly is to get a high school or college kid to watch your kid. Ummmm, my kid is 2.5. I am not leaving him with another child for 8 hours a day not to mention a lot of parents may not LET their kids babysit due to the increased risk. Any kid who is able to babysit and has previous experience/necessary credentials (CPR, etc.) is going to get top dollar and see point #2 above. We all cant pay an unlimited amount towards childcare.

Right. I don't understand the notion that there are unlimited numbers of high school/college kids who are:

1. Available for childcare.

2. Willing to care for a kid.

3. Able to do so competently.

Moreover, what happens if we're still closed come September, when those kids will be going back to school (either online or in person)? It's a halfway solution for the summer, at best. Plus, in this area, a babysitter will run you at least $15/hour. So say you need 40 hours/week to cover a standard workweek. Do people honestly have $2400/month to spend on a babysitter, especially given that many are still paying preschool tuition to keep their spot?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ill enact FFCRA if I have to but right now my kid isn't entering daycare until Sept 8th. We were given the choice of June 8th or Sept 8th but we aren't phase 1 employees so we cant utilize the June 8th start date.

We are both WAH and our kid is watching too much TV. If DH gets called back into the office, which is unlikely since he works at a huge fed building and is not essential, then that will be a new sh**storm.

But you are correct, everyone at higher pay or power acts as if either 1) only one spouse works and childcare isn't an issue or 2) you have enough money to pay a nanny or two daycares

The other suggestion I see mentioned constantly is to get a high school or college kid to watch your kid. Ummmm, my kid is 2.5. I am not leaving him with another child for 8 hours a day not to mention a lot of parents may not LET their kids babysit due to the increased risk. Any kid who is able to babysit and has previous experience/necessary credentials (CPR, etc.) is going to get top dollar and see point #2 above. We all cant pay an unlimited amount towards childcare.

Right. I don't understand the notion that there are unlimited numbers of high school/college kids who are:

1. Available for childcare.

2. Willing to care for a kid.

3. Able to do so competently.

Moreover, what happens if we're still closed come September, when those kids will be going back to school (either online or in person)? It's a halfway solution for the summer, at best. Plus, in this area, a babysitter will run you at least $15/hour. So say you need 40 hours/week to cover a standard workweek. Do people honestly have $2400/month to spend on a babysitter, especially given that many are still paying preschool tuition to keep their spot?

Exactly!

My 20 yo college DD lost her internship for the summer due to COVID. A few family friends have contacted her to see if she wanted to be a summer nanny for them. She's declined all offers. She said it's one thing to watch kids for a few hours but another to watch them for 8+ hours each day plus be responsible for them being in the car with her. I thought it was a very mature decision she made. She's going to do some online classes instead.

I know I wouldn't want to leave kids under age 7 with a teen under age 18 for 8+ hours.