Posted on 04/15/2006 3:13:59 PM PDT by SmithL
With the summer on the way, it isn't hard to know what many parents feel as the school year comes to an end.
Panic.
"Every year it comes to the end of the school year and parents start scrambling,'' says Monica Kortz, recreation director for the city of El Cerrito. "They start coming in our office when we open at 8 in the morning, and it just continues until we close at 5.''
That's nothing new, of course. Parents have been wondering what their kids are going to do for the summer since the days when school recessed so children could help with the harvest.
But this is different.
Last week Michelle Fadelli sent me an e-mail explaining the problem. She has a 3-year-old and an 11-year-old and works part time. When she and her husband calculated the cost of summer camps or day care, they came to an odd realization.
"It gets to where I might not be able to afford to work,'' she said.
She's not kidding. Her paycheck will barely cover the cost of child care. She is reaching the point where it would be cheaper to stay home and devote her summer to taking care of her kids.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Oh, the humanity!! Sending Junior to drama camp is getting to be a real drain on this guy's resources. Just heartbreaking.
As a homeschooling parent, I would point out that it's not just a summer thing for us.
There's horseback lessons, karate lessons, skiing lessons, acting lessons, in addition to math books, science books, history books, BrainPop, Cosmeo, etc.
Plus I'm paying for HER kids' education as well.
Is there a subsidy for me?
"It would cost almost exactly the same amount for day care as it would for my wife to work,'' Berger says. "It just came down to, it was easier for us to be a little bit poor and try to find other ways to socialize our daughter.''
So many things wrong with the thinking contained in these two paragraphs.
Don't teachers get the summer off, too?
What kind of person believes that daycare is actually better than a mother?
What kind of person talks in terms of "socializing" their 2 1/2 year old daughter?
These can't be real people, can they?
It's a problem for those of us who have to work in order to eat and don't have a husband to help pick up the tab for lessons and camp.
I was going to post something snide but thought better of it because I thought of women in a situtation like yours and didn't. When I scrolled down and saw your post, I'm glad I didn't. It must be very hard being a single parent.
And what would be wrong with that?
A lot of the reason I stay home is because I realized it was ridiculous just to work to pay a babysitter. But, some people like that. I know a few women who have said they could not stand to be at home with their children. By the way, I make this comment, but I am ready to scream because I need a break for a few hours. LOL!
Just so you know, any comments I make do not apply to single parents. I save my snide remarks for those who say they don't know how anyone could be around their children. My mother-in-law was a single mom. She had things tough, but her children love her for all the sacrifices she made.
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