RTO and No Childcare.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lest you think this is all about federal workers, I have a friend with three children who does not pay for childcare for any of them, including the toddler, because she works from home AND SHE'S NOT A GOVERMENT WORKER. No day care, no extended day, no summer camps, no day off camps. She thinks all of those are "a rip off." I have no idea how she gets away with all of this at work. How does she get anything done? It would never fly in my office, which is a government office. I get so tired of hearing people complain about the government workers not having childcare when it's far from unique to government.

Wow. If you don’t understand the difference between what a private company can and can’t do and what the federal government should and shouldn’t do please get off my payroll.

It is not ethical for any worker collecting a FT paycheck to not have FT childcare for their ES-age children. My comments were not specific to Feds. It’s only after last week that the Board is full of Fed parents panicking about what to do with their children after school, which should be a non-issue from 8-6 if you are currently a FT worker. This issue is not specific to WFH Fed parents. Many WFH parents are also double dipping.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Apparently I was in the minority, but my ES age kid did aftercare even though we had a hybrid schedule / someone is WFH most days. I don’t want my kid around when I am still working!

+1. DH and I work in private sector and one or the other is WFH every day. We still have a nanny for after school. If we couldn’t afford a nanny we would have signed up for aftercare at one of the 1,000 karate places or tutoring centers that offers them.

I have a hard time believing all these ESers are so independent after school. The fact is, the WFH parents are barely paying attention to work in the afternoons because they are transporting their children to activities, supervising them at home, etc. Which is fine if they can make it work (eg logging back in at night to compensate). But it’s a benefit they were taking advantage of, not something they were entitled to long term. So they shouldn’t act like the rug was pulled out from under them. They should have had childcare all along.

Well said

And that’s on a regular school day, which is, at most, 8 months of the year. There are snow days, delayed openings, teacher work days, sick days, long weekends, spring/winter break and summer. I don’t believe that most WFH parents without childcare are taking leave on those days. I suspect that they are doing the bare minimum at their jobs on those days, and that is the real reason why they are now panicking.

Ugh. I’ll bite on this. When you wfh on a snow day, you can set your school aged child up with a good video, hot cocoa and then go work for a solid chunk of time.
When you work in person on a snow day or delayed opening, either the government is code red which you get paid for if you can’t telework or you call into work and use leave and drink hot cocoa too.


Either way, less work is done with in person office parents than with ones who have telework.

My point is that these days (snow days, sick days, teacher work days, delayed opening and breaks) are not really outliers and equate to about 1/3 of the year. Not having childcare when you are collecting a FT WFH salary, and have ES-age children and no regular childcare, means that you are stealing from your employer.

Wow Elon must be thrilled to see how easily you fall into line. Ironically he brings his kid to work with him. Guess He’s stealing from us all.

Perfectly stated!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Apparently I was in the minority, but my ES age kid did aftercare even though we had a hybrid schedule / someone is WFH most days. I don’t want my kid around when I am still working!

+1. DH and I work in private sector and one or the other is WFH every day. We still have a nanny for after school. If we couldn’t afford a nanny we would have signed up for aftercare at one of the 1,000 karate places or tutoring centers that offers them.

I have a hard time believing all these ESers are so independent after school. The fact is, the WFH parents are barely paying attention to work in the afternoons because they are transporting their children to activities, supervising them at home, etc. Which is fine if they can make it work (eg logging back in at night to compensate). But it’s a benefit they were taking advantage of, not something they were entitled to long term. So they shouldn’t act like the rug was pulled out from under them. They should have had childcare all along.

Well said

And that’s on a regular school day, which is, at most, 8 months of the year. There are snow days, delayed openings, teacher work days, sick days, long weekends, spring/winter break and summer. I don’t believe that most WFH parents without childcare are taking leave on those days. I suspect that they are doing the bare minimum at their jobs on those days, and that is the real reason why they are now panicking.

Ugh. I’ll bite on this. When you wfh on a snow day, you can set your school aged child up with a good video, hot cocoa and then go work for a solid chunk of time.
When you work in person on a snow day or delayed opening, either the government is code red which you get paid for if you can’t telework or you call into work and use leave and drink hot cocoa too.


Either way, less work is done with in person office parents than with ones who have telework.

Snow days (and sick days, within reason) are somewhat unexpected and it’s important to give grace to working parents during that time.

However, I know a few who literally have 0 childcare even afterschool and during school holidays, all of which can be planned for well in advance. So they are distracted during meetings and non-responsive to Slacks. They brute force their work by logging in at night so overall they are average-ish, but it’s really frustrating to work with them bc they slow everyone else down by being so distracted and non-responsive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I remember hustling pick up and drop off logistics with DH during our kids early years. Both of us had inflexible jobs. Very stressful and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.

We are supposed to evolve. Just because I did it 15 years ago doesn’t mean today’s generation should have to as well. Why are Americans so infatuated with punishment?

Once again, no one is. It’s the whining and the hysterics of it all.

If we could wave our magic wand, we’d keep at least regular telework, if not full telework. But it’s not happening and a lot of people here are saying it’s impossible to figure out childcare. That their lives are being turned upside down. It’s perspective that is missing.

My kids were in full time daycare, and then before and after care, and yeah it’s expensive. And there are wait lists. BTDT. The hours with a commute are tough too, so I found a daycare that was closer to my office so we could manage the daycare’s hours. I have a long commute and getting my toddler out of bed at 6:30am was hard.

We staggered our tours of duty, we used a lot of leave, we hired high schooler to shuttle one kid to her sport when we weren’t home in time to get her there. We had zero telework then.

I don’t begrudge anyone who doesn’t have to do that. But reality is this is what’s happening now.

Some of us don’t even know where our office will be so it’s hard to pick a daycare that aligns with commute. Not to mention people normally get on daycare waitlists while they’re still pregnant.

I'm confused. Have you been working from home full-time with a daycare aged child? Because that's not allowed. Everyone I know that teleworks but has an infant or toddler has someone caring for them during the day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lest you think this is all about federal workers, I have a friend with three children who does not pay for childcare for any of them, including the toddler, because she works from home AND SHE'S NOT A GOVERMENT WORKER. No day care, no extended day, no summer camps, no day off camps. She thinks all of those are "a rip off." I have no idea how she gets away with all of this at work. How does she get anything done? It would never fly in my office, which is a government office. I get so tired of hearing people complain about the government workers not having childcare when it's far from unique to government.

Wow. If you don’t understand the difference between what a private company can and can’t do and what the federal government should and shouldn’t do please get off my payroll.

It is not ethical for any worker collecting a FT paycheck to not have FT childcare for their ES-age children. My comments were not specific to Feds. It’s only after last week that the Board is full of Fed parents panicking about what to do with their children after school, which should be a non-issue from 8-6 if you are currently a FT worker. This issue is not specific to WFH Fed parents. Many WFH parents are also double dipping.

You still don’t understand that making parent come in removes 2 hours from their days and requires 2 extra hours of childcare.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I remember hustling pick up and drop off logistics with DH during our kids early years. Both of us had inflexible jobs. Very stressful and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.

We are supposed to evolve. Just because I did it 15 years ago doesn’t mean today’s generation should have to as well. Why are Americans so infatuated with punishment?

Once again, no one is. It’s the whining and the hysterics of it all.

If we could wave our magic wand, we’d keep at least regular telework, if not full telework. But it’s not happening and a lot of people here are saying it’s impossible to figure out childcare. That their lives are being turned upside down. It’s perspective that is missing.

My kids were in full time daycare, and then before and after care, and yeah it’s expensive. And there are wait lists. BTDT. The hours with a commute are tough too, so I found a daycare that was closer to my office so we could manage the daycare’s hours. I have a long commute and getting my toddler out of bed at 6:30am was hard.

We staggered our tours of duty, we used a lot of leave, we hired high schooler to shuttle one kid to her sport when we weren’t home in time to get her there. We had zero telework then.

I don’t begrudge anyone who doesn’t have to do that. But reality is this is what’s happening now.

Some of us don’t even know where our office will be so it’s hard to pick a daycare that aligns with commute. Not to mention people normally get on daycare waitlists while they’re still pregnant.

I'm confused. Have you been working from home full-time with a daycare aged child? Because that's not allowed. Everyone I know that teleworks but has an infant or toddler has someone caring for them during the day.

You trolls have been warned.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I remember hustling pick up and drop off logistics with DH during our kids early years. Both of us had inflexible jobs. Very stressful and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.

We are supposed to evolve. Just because I did it 15 years ago doesn’t mean today’s generation should have to as well. Why are Americans so infatuated with punishment?

Once again, no one is. It’s the whining and the hysterics of it all.

If we could wave our magic wand, we’d keep at least regular telework, if not full telework. But it’s not happening and a lot of people here are saying it’s impossible to figure out childcare. That their lives are being turned upside down. It’s perspective that is missing.

My kids were in full time daycare, and then before and after care, and yeah it’s expensive. And there are wait lists. BTDT. The hours with a commute are tough too, so I found a daycare that was closer to my office so we could manage the daycare’s hours. I have a long commute and getting my toddler out of bed at 6:30am was hard.

We staggered our tours of duty, we used a lot of leave, we hired high schooler to shuttle one kid to her sport when we weren’t home in time to get her there. We had zero telework then.

I don’t begrudge anyone who doesn’t have to do that. But reality is this is what’s happening now.

Some of us don’t even know where our office will be so it’s hard to pick a daycare that aligns with commute. Not to mention people normally get on daycare waitlists while they’re still pregnant.

You can keep them in their current daycare for the time being. Are they not in daycare?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Apparently I was in the minority, but my ES age kid did aftercare even though we had a hybrid schedule / someone is WFH most days. I don’t want my kid around when I am still working!

+1. DH and I work in private sector and one or the other is WFH every day. We still have a nanny for after school. If we couldn’t afford a nanny we would have signed up for aftercare at one of the 1,000 karate places or tutoring centers that offers them.

I have a hard time believing all these ESers are so independent after school. The fact is, the WFH parents are barely paying attention to work in the afternoons because they are transporting their children to activities, supervising them at home, etc. Which is fine if they can make it work (eg logging back in at night to compensate). But it’s a benefit they were taking advantage of, not something they were entitled to long term. So they shouldn’t act like the rug was pulled out from under them. They should have had childcare all along.

Well said

And that’s on a regular school day, which is, at most, 8 months of the year. There are snow days, delayed openings, teacher work days, sick days, long weekends, spring/winter break and summer. I don’t believe that most WFH parents without childcare are taking leave on those days. I suspect that they are doing the bare minimum at their jobs on those days, and that is the real reason why they are now panicking.

Ugh. I’ll bite on this. When you wfh on a snow day, you can set your school aged child up with a good video, hot cocoa and then go work for a solid chunk of time.
When you work in person on a snow day or delayed opening, either the government is code red which you get paid for if you can’t telework or you call into work and use leave and drink hot cocoa too.


Either way, less work is done with in person office parents than with ones who have telework.

My point is that these days (snow days, sick days, teacher work days, delayed opening and breaks) are not really outliers and equate to about 1/3 of the year. Not having childcare when you are collecting a FT WFH salary, and have ES-age children and no regular childcare, means that you are stealing from your employer.

PP. I personally don’t care if someone is stealing from their employer because most employers are pretty sh*tty and the US Govt wastes way more money on propping up Boeing and huge farmers than on time theft.

But to reiterate my earlier point - WFH folks, you’ve had it pretty good until now. I hope you enjoyed it, and I don’t begrudge you the money and time you saved the last few years. The rest of us have been living in an RTO world and paying for FT childcare during this time. Now it’s your turn to figure it out.

Dumabass, everyone is paying for ft childcare already.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lest you think this is all about federal workers, I have a friend with three children who does not pay for childcare for any of them, including the toddler, because she works from home AND SHE'S NOT A GOVERMENT WORKER. No day care, no extended day, no summer camps, no day off camps. She thinks all of those are "a rip off." I have no idea how she gets away with all of this at work. How does she get anything done? It would never fly in my office, which is a government office. I get so tired of hearing people complain about the government workers not having childcare when it's far from unique to government.

Wow. If you don’t understand the difference between what a private company can and can’t do and what the federal government should and shouldn’t do please get off my payroll.

It is not ethical for any worker collecting a FT paycheck to not have FT childcare for their ES-age children. My comments were not specific to Feds. It’s only after last week that the Board is full of Fed parents panicking about what to do with their children after school, which should be a non-issue from 8-6 if you are currently a FT worker. This issue is not specific to WFH Fed parents. Many WFH parents are also double dipping.

You still don’t understand that making parent come in removes 2 hours from their days and requires 2 extra hours of childcare.

I’m sure daycare and afterschool centers will stay open later in response, in response to parents having to work earlier/later. The market will respond. The price might go up since childcare workers are hourly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I remember hustling pick up and drop off logistics with DH during our kids early years. Both of us had inflexible jobs. Very stressful and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.

We are supposed to evolve. Just because I did it 15 years ago doesn’t mean today’s generation should have to as well. Why are Americans so infatuated with punishment?

Once again, no one is. It’s the whining and the hysterics of it all.

If we could wave our magic wand, we’d keep at least regular telework, if not full telework. But it’s not happening and a lot of people here are saying it’s impossible to figure out childcare. That their lives are being turned upside down. It’s perspective that is missing.

My kids were in full time daycare, and then before and after care, and yeah it’s expensive. And there are wait lists. BTDT. The hours with a commute are tough too, so I found a daycare that was closer to my office so we could manage the daycare’s hours. I have a long commute and getting my toddler out of bed at 6:30am was hard.

We staggered our tours of duty, we used a lot of leave, we hired high schooler to shuttle one kid to her sport when we weren’t home in time to get her there. We had zero telework then.

I don’t begrudge anyone who doesn’t have to do that. But reality is this is what’s happening now.

Some of us don’t even know where our office will be so it’s hard to pick a daycare that aligns with commute. Not to mention people normally get on daycare waitlists while they’re still pregnant.

You can keep them in their current daycare for the time being. Are they not in daycare?

If your new office is a couple of hours from your day care, which it easily can be, that's not going to work because it's not going to cover enough hours.

Do you normally have these types of problems understanding basic things?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lest you think this is all about federal workers, I have a friend with three children who does not pay for childcare for any of them, including the toddler, because she works from home AND SHE'S NOT A GOVERMENT WORKER. No day care, no extended day, no summer camps, no day off camps. She thinks all of those are "a rip off." I have no idea how she gets away with all of this at work. How does she get anything done? It would never fly in my office, which is a government office. I get so tired of hearing people complain about the government workers not having childcare when it's far from unique to government.

Wow. If you don’t understand the difference between what a private company can and can’t do and what the federal government should and shouldn’t do please get off my payroll.

It is not ethical for any worker collecting a FT paycheck to not have FT childcare for their ES-age children. My comments were not specific to Feds. It’s only after last week that the Board is full of Fed parents panicking about what to do with their children after school, which should be a non-issue from 8-6 if you are currently a FT worker. This issue is not specific to WFH Fed parents. Many WFH parents are also double dipping.

You still don’t understand that making parent come in removes 2 hours from their days and requires 2 extra hours of childcare.

Which is why I specifically said that the hours between 8-6 should be a non-issue for any parent who is currently working from home. I am responding specifically to all of the parents who are complaining about summer and what to do after the bus drops their kid off at 3:30. They should already have that covered if they are truly working FT from home. Obviously long commutes, which will now take a parent outside of the normal hours of 8-6 daycare/aftercare coverage are another issue entirely.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lest you think this is all about federal workers, I have a friend with three children who does not pay for childcare for any of them, including the toddler, because she works from home AND SHE'S NOT A GOVERMENT WORKER. No day care, no extended day, no summer camps, no day off camps. She thinks all of those are "a rip off." I have no idea how she gets away with all of this at work. How does she get anything done? It would never fly in my office, which is a government office. I get so tired of hearing people complain about the government workers not having childcare when it's far from unique to government.

Wow. If you don’t understand the difference between what a private company can and can’t do and what the federal government should and shouldn’t do please get off my payroll.

It is not ethical for any worker collecting a FT paycheck to not have FT childcare for their ES-age children. My comments were not specific to Feds. It’s only after last week that the Board is full of Fed parents panicking about what to do with their children after school, which should be a non-issue from 8-6 if you are currently a FT worker. This issue is not specific to WFH Fed parents. Many WFH parents are also double dipping.

You still don’t understand that making parent come in removes 2 hours from their days and requires 2 extra hours of childcare.

I’m sure daycare and afterschool centers will stay open later in response, in response to parents having to work earlier/later. The market will respond. The price might go up since childcare workers are hourly.

Lololol. For sure. Her daycare is going to start being open 12.5 hours a day. Hopefully next week!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lest you think this is all about federal workers, I have a friend with three children who does not pay for childcare for any of them, including the toddler, because she works from home AND SHE'S NOT A GOVERMENT WORKER. No day care, no extended day, no summer camps, no day off camps. She thinks all of those are "a rip off." I have no idea how she gets away with all of this at work. How does she get anything done? It would never fly in my office, which is a government office. I get so tired of hearing people complain about the government workers not having childcare when it's far from unique to government.

Wow. If you don’t understand the difference between what a private company can and can’t do and what the federal government should and shouldn’t do please get off my payroll.

It is not ethical for any worker collecting a FT paycheck to not have FT childcare for their ES-age children. My comments were not specific to Feds. It’s only after last week that the Board is full of Fed parents panicking about what to do with their children after school, which should be a non-issue from 8-6 if you are currently a FT worker. This issue is not specific to WFH Fed parents. Many WFH parents are also double dipping.

You still don’t understand that making parent come in removes 2 hours from their days and requires 2 extra hours of childcare.

I’m sure daycare and afterschool centers will stay open later in response, in response to parents having to work earlier/later. The market will respond. The price might go up since childcare workers are hourly.

You have a poor understanding of the current market. But you should be an opportunist and bust on in to meet this market need! Go for it! I’m sure you will make a million dollars in providing child care after hours!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lest you think this is all about federal workers, I have a friend with three children who does not pay for childcare for any of them, including the toddler, because she works from home AND SHE'S NOT A GOVERMENT WORKER. No day care, no extended day, no summer camps, no day off camps. She thinks all of those are "a rip off." I have no idea how she gets away with all of this at work. How does she get anything done? It would never fly in my office, which is a government office. I get so tired of hearing people complain about the government workers not having childcare when it's far from unique to government.

Wow. If you don’t understand the difference between what a private company can and can’t do and what the federal government should and shouldn’t do please get off my payroll.

It is not ethical for any worker collecting a FT paycheck to not have FT childcare for their ES-age children. My comments were not specific to Feds. It’s only after last week that the Board is full of Fed parents panicking about what to do with their children after school, which should be a non-issue from 8-6 if you are currently a FT worker. This issue is not specific to WFH Fed parents. Many WFH parents are also double dipping.

You still don’t understand that making parent come in removes 2 hours from their days and requires 2 extra hours of childcare.

I’m sure daycare and afterschool centers will stay open later in response, in response to parents having to work earlier/later. The market will respond. The price might go up since childcare workers are hourly.

Such a flippant response.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lest you think this is all about federal workers, I have a friend with three children who does not pay for childcare for any of them, including the toddler, because she works from home AND SHE'S NOT A GOVERMENT WORKER. No day care, no extended day, no summer camps, no day off camps. She thinks all of those are "a rip off." I have no idea how she gets away with all of this at work. How does she get anything done? It would never fly in my office, which is a government office. I get so tired of hearing people complain about the government workers not having childcare when it's far from unique to government.

Wow. If you don’t understand the difference between what a private company can and can’t do and what the federal government should and shouldn’t do please get off my payroll.

It is not ethical for any worker collecting a FT paycheck to not have FT childcare for their ES-age children. My comments were not specific to Feds. It’s only after last week that the Board is full of Fed parents panicking about what to do with their children after school, which should be a non-issue from 8-6 if you are currently a FT worker. This issue is not specific to WFH Fed parents. Many WFH parents are also double dipping.

You still don’t understand that making parent come in removes 2 hours from their days and requires 2 extra hours of childcare.

Which is why I specifically said that the hours between 8-6 should be a non-issue for any parent who is currently working from home. I am responding specifically to all of the parents who are complaining about summer and what to do after the bus drops their kid off at 3:30. They should already have that covered if they are truly working FT from home. Obviously long commutes, which will now take a parent outside of the normal hours of 8-6 daycare/aftercare coverage are another issue entirely.

I'm glad you think those of us with those situations are "another issue entirely", but since there's not some kind of exception for us, we're actually just as affected. Obviously.