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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I have a newborn and 3.5 year old and am extremely unhappy with my life right now no childcare no school no family. Just chiming in as I’m reading about these happy families with all the help, smiles, money, and sunny dispositions. [/quote]

Chicken Little DCUMers tried to scare me into giving up childcare when I had a newborn to eliminate COVID risk (ie pull my older child out of preschool and tell my nanny to stay home). I am SO glad I did not listen to them. Mental health is important too.[/quote]

I put my daughter in preschool in the summer of 2020. I then went into a gigantic guilt and fear spiral but it was honestly the best decision I could have made at that time when I had a newborn at home and my daughter was desperate for social interaction with peers and I was desperate for solo time with the baby. [/quote]

You made the right decision. I shudder to think I *almost* followed DCUM advice until I talked to my pediatrician and she said it’s fine/good to keep childcare, especially as I’m breastfeeding and vaccinated/boosted. Don’t ever forget when getting advice that this site is full of anxiety-filled people.[/quote]

Agree with all PPs but adding that while I'm very happy right now with my 4 yr old in PK, I was miserable in the fall of 2020 because our then-childcare went out of business during the shutdown (so never reopened) and then our original plan for the year -- public PK -- was removed as an option when the school district went virtual. It took us almost 5 months to find a spot in another program because everyone else was scrambling too, and it was only part time. In the meantime we scratched by with sitters and a short-lived daycamp our kid absolutely hated. Back then, when I came on DCUM, I'd be told I was dumb for failing to find childcare during a massive childcare shortage/crisis, and for not having the money or foresight to be able to hire a full-time nanny. Oh, and I also got furloughed PT that year so we were short 20k for the year over our expected earnings.

Childcare isn't important, it's ESSENTIAL. Our kid is now in FT public PK plus aftercare and I feel like we honestly could not be happier, even with the delay on vaccines for this age group and other Covid restrictions. But going without adequate childcare for months and months was traumatic for my family and we are still dealing with some repercussions. One of them being the sheer rage I feel when I think about how much families were just abandoned during the pandemic to "figure it out" and how that burden fell much harder on families with in-person work, very young kids, and limited finances.[/quote]

What options should have been made available to parents? I never know what people mean when they say more support for parents during the pandemic. [b]More flexibility from their jobs? Stipends from the govt? [/b]Most professionals didn’t lose their jobs or have to go into the office unlike frontline workers. [/quote]

DP and yes to both of the bolded.  More money from the government for existing childcare options and also to create new ones, recognizing how vital they are.  A stronger national push to have kept schools open in-person, not the snotty "school isn't daycare" gaslighting we were treated to.  Recognition that stressed parents make for stressed kids, which isn't good for their development.[/quote]

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