Posted on 12/27/2006 2:05:31 PM PST by Diana in Wisconsin
(With schools closed between Christmas and New Year's, Mom and Dad are forced to find child care alternatives)
Kids are on vacation this week, but many working parents aren't.
School and work schedules misalign for snow days, teacher conferences, random holidays and, of course, summer, but the mismatch is at its worst between Christmas and New Year's.
West Allis resident Jeanne Rohde considers herself lucky to be a regular at one of the few programs that bridges the gap - vacation camp at the West Suburban YMCA of Metropolitan Milwaukee in Wauwatosa.
Daughters Stephanie, 10, and Michelle, 8, usually can be found in the Y's pool and gym with newfound friends when school's out but Mom's not.
"At Y camp, one of the rules was, no GameBoys or iPods. I don't want them sitting down, I want them active. And they can see some of the same friends that they see in summer," says Rohde, a process improvement specialist for Direct Supply Inc. in Milwaukee.
Christmas vacation camp starts filling up the day that registration opens in September, says Christine Larson, coordinator for teen, youth and family programs at the West Suburban Y.
S. C. Johnson & Son Inc. in Racine is officially closed this week, but its Child Development Center is open and has 10 to 30 children attending each day this week.
That's down from the non-vacation average of near 350, but it underscores parents' need for child care to fit their work schedules, not those of employers, says Kelly Semrau, vice president of global public affairs and communications.
She uses the center for occasional backup care for her own two children, ages 4 and 7, for the odd school holiday.
A study released in mid-December by Catalyst, a New York-based research and advocacy group for working women, estimates that nationally at least 2.5 million parents worry about kids' after-school care while working, affecting productivity and concentration. It found that nearly as many dads as moms - 44.7% and 55.3%, respectively - reported extreme worry about the out-of-school activities of their school-age children.
The study advocates for greater "understanding" from supervisors, paired with as-needed flexibility, to equip parents to care for school-age kids when classes are out. Among the flexibility tools most popular with parents, according to Catalyst: telecommuting, backup care and "bankable hours," which let parents spend accumulated paid time off when they most need it.
Backup care for vacations and emergencies is a safety net that catches kids when parents' daily arrangements aren't there, says Katie A. Keil, an associate with Catalyst's consulting arm. And that translates to employee loyalty.
"Companies are seeing this as a competitive advantage. It enables them to keep talented parents," she says.
They're also realizing that the mere presence of programs doesn't guarantee that managers let employees use them. Programs have to be complemented with training for supervisors so they develop an "informal culture" that supports flexibility, she says.
A culture change is exactly what's needed, says David A. Riley, professor of human development and family studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Extension.
"The problem for school-agers who are home alone, and for all children during school holidays, is that we have these two major institutions that are out of sync," he says. "The school day and school year are exquisitely designed to match the work needs of families - 19th-century agrarian families."
I am a single father that raise 2 girls solo from the time they were 1 and 4. That was 18 years ago. Cry me a river. The key to making it through the tough times is not to dwell on the fact they are tough but just work through the problems one at a time. Before long things get easier. When you look back you will be shocked at how far you made it.
well....what does the lib/dems and msm want ...oh that's right...moe money from the tax payers to pay for child care centers during out of school time.....after all...per the piaps.....it takes a village!!
it's not too tricky for us. i teach so i have off holidays
just as the kids do. for the professional days, our little
one goes to her afterschool childcare and the boys are
old enough to stay home now. dad can also work from
home at times there is a schedule conflict.
Children require additional time and commitment. Who knew?
I'm left wondering what a "process improvement specialist" is.
My daughter is a very lucky lady. I get six weeks vacation each year and I'm always off with pay for these two weeks. I have the joy of keeping the granddaugter. My daughter works the same place I do but she only has four weeks. The longer you are there the more vacation you get. Thirty years gets you six weeks paid vacation plus all holidays paid. :-)
God Bless You! I married a man who was a single father. Best decision I've ever made. He made it clear to me that they were a "package deal" and that I would be staying home to help raise his son, if I were up to the challenge. I was. ;)
I can't stand these whiners, either. Why are people so far removed from the idea of having one parent at home for their children?
I don't buy the line that it takes two incomes to support a family. We've always gotten by on one, though sometimes one and a half. ;)
The solution? Well, cradle to grave socialist "Day Care" for anyone and everyone, paid for by taxpayers like you and me who managed to raise our kids "the old fashioned way" by doing whatever needed to be done. Yeesh!
My Mom babysat when I was still a youth at home. She'd only watch Teachers' kids so she'd have the summers and holidays off.
She was one smart cookie. ;)
Here in Sacramento, California my kids get THREE WEEKS off for vacation. This is because the school district has found that many of the Latino children's families would go to Mexico for the holiday's and not come back in time when school started up again after the new year. So the district extended the vacation to accomodate them. Luckily I only work part time as a property manager, and my boss (my husband!) is very flexible with my hours.
I used to work in a day care center. We always were prepared to take extra kids during vacations. I do not see why this week is any different from spring break or those ridiculous teacher convention weeks. The cost was prohibitive for me when my son was younger and I worked a different job, but we got by.
Maybe like the old time and movement guys that plagued us blue collar workers, only for suits.
I'm left wondering what a "process improvement specialist" is.
_______________________________________
Similar to "Facilitator" The absolute embodiment of evil with a soft squishy name.
People that do not have the talent to otherwise accomplish anything, but hide behind fancy titles to wield power over the people that actually get things done in an organization
We were very lucky to have a Grandma near-by too, in emergencies. Our boys have an excellent relationship with their Grandparents. I highly recommend it! :)
I was pretty much raised by my Grandma & Grandpa. My Dad was in college and getting his apprenticeships as a plumber, steam fitter and carpenter. (He was rather ambitious, but he did it for us!) Mom worked in a factory to support us for the time being. We all lived together during those years. By the time my sister came along, Dad had a great job, we had a house of our own WITH a garage and a dog and bikes and all that "American Dream" stuff. D@mn their hard work and sacrifice in their youth, LOL!
I wish more people had the brains to live "generationally," at least for the short term. It really sets you ahead in life.
But of course, since socialism and being "PC" is woven into our every move these days, we must blame every shortcoming of our own on our Mothers, then abandon them in their old age to nursing homes or to the street. ;)
Someone that holds meeting on top of meeting to "improve the process", thereby keeping productive people from getting real work done.
"Luckily I only work part time as a property manager, and my boss (my husband!) is very flexible with my hours."
You've got the best of all situations! We're now self-employed, too. Why we didn't take the plunge years ago escapes me. ;)
If I worked we could have a nicer house, nicer cars, more money for nicer things like nice furniture in the house, new name brand clothes for the kids, but since I don't the kids get clothes from Target, hand me downs from my sisters kids, small bedrooms, and less stuff as some other kids. But they have me at home with them and I have to say that is a whole lot better than them sitting in day care on their Christmas break cause they would be missing out having fun together today playing with their new stuff and hanging out together.
Boo-Hoo! When both parents are working, they should use a little foresight and arrange vacation days so that one of them is at home with the children over winter break.
Is this so hard to do?
I suspect most of these two-income households are led by parents who would rather NOT have to deal with the kids 24/7, especially in the wintertime, when the kids can't go outdoors.
Then maybe the parents should schedule some vacation.
We spent a lot of time with our grandparents too. My Mom's parents followed us wherever we lived and my Dad's parents lived in Chattanooga. Mom didn't work when we were little (there were five of us) but I spent summers in Chattanooga with my grandparents every summer. We lived in Pompano Beach Florida at that time. Children need grandparents. You know, I can't remember anything my parents taught me but I remember everything my grandparents taught me. They can get through to kids when parents can't.
We gave our daughter an acre of land on the farm and she lives 500 feet away so we get the granddaughter quite a bit. It's a good environment.
You must work with fedex.
This has all the earmarks of a leftist moonbat call for "universal after school care programs." Will probably be picked up by Pelosi and turned into a multibillion dollar program.
Every working family manages their way through this. If you didn't want such "problems" in your life, then you are too selfish to have kids.
We did it by cutting our expenses to the bone so my wife could stay home for several years, then she began working for the school district so her hours and vacation schedule matched the kids' schedules. She gave up an excellent professional salary, but the time she spent with our kids while they were growing up made up for it many times over.
As another poster said, "cry me a river."
This is true. The rest of it is your basic, "You should have thought of that before."
"I raided a son from the age of 3 on"
ROFL, oh my that was quite a typo!! Correction "RAISED" my son.
Hey, at least be thankful for proper punctuation! Capitalization may be mastered any year now.
Exactly. You get it. ;)
Nope, Duracell/Proctor&Gamble.
hahahaha
A sense of humor goes a long way in life, does it not?
A mothers priority should be tending the children, the father should be earning a living.
I stayed home with my kids. It was tough, and we didn't have new cars or VCRs or most of the cool things other people had, but I also knew where my boys were and we managed. I went back to school when they started school and got my college degree so I could go to work when the first one started college and help with the cost. The last two were in high school by then.
Life is about making choices. No one can do it all or have it all. We make the best with what we have.
susie
Time and motion guy.
They changed the name the same day the started calling the personnel department human resources.
AS I recall, that Absenteeism is cause for a decrease in state funding.
As you see from the article, many parents would like that...they'd have to pay so much less for day care!
I am outraged that, as a child growing up in the '70s, I had no weeklong Christmas break.
"You know, I can't remember anything my parents taught me but I remember everything my grandparents taught me. They can get through to kids when parents can't."
Exactly! My Mom tells me all the time that I'm "just like Grandma." (We lost her in 1976 and I miss her every day.) My Mother-in-Law is the one that finally lit a fire under our son to get his butt back into college. He's not partying or anything...just getting stuck in the rut of working for a living at cr@ppy jobs and having spending money; and he's SO much smarter than that! It took Grandma to knock a little sense into him. (I think she used his GORGEOUS girlfriend as leverage. Along the lines of, "She's not going to tolerate you being a LOSER much longer," LOL! Only a Grandma could get away with saying that.)
"We gave our daughter an acre of land on the farm and she lives 500 feet away so we get the granddaughter quite a bit. It's a good environment."
You are a genius!
Somehow I intuitively knew you were a Farm Gal. I'm one myself, but I just have 2 acres and raise chickens, a fruit & berry orchard and a big, organic garden. I'm not doing too bad for someone who grew up on cement in 'The City.' :)
"We did it by cutting our expenses to the bone so my wife could stay home for several years, then she began working for the school district so her hours and vacation schedule matched the kids' schedules."
We lived so "close the the bone" for so many years that all I know how to make for supper is soup, LOL! :)
I have a girlfriend who did as your wife did so she could be home to raise their daughter. And if you didn't catch it above, my Mom babysat for kids while I was growing up, but she'd only take Teachers' kids so she'd have the summers and holidays off. :)
"No one can do it all or have it all."
Really. What a load of cr@p we've been sold by the FemiGnatzies!
But I'm a firm believer that you CAN have it all...you just can't have it all at once. ;)
My life kind of went this way:
High School
Army Career
Retired (Early Out at age 35, I started at 17...)
A few years of college
Corporate Shill
Met the Man of My Dreams
Married him
Stayed Home, raised his kids
Kids off on their own or in college
Started a business
More free time for Husband & me! :)
And I crammed all of that in before I was 45. Wa-Hoo! Those FemiGnatzies got nothin' on me. ;)
i was home when the kids were younger for many years.
i also did part time childcare to help out. most of the
kids i watched were teachers kids (friends from work
before #3 came along) or were just part time so moms
could have some time to do the mom thing without kids
in tow. i never took in more than a couple of kids and
loved the closeness and flexibility.
long before #2 and 3 were born, we also lived in a three
generation household. that 18 month old son of ours had
two parents and two grandparents looking after him. it
was wonderful living with my inlaws.
we are very close to our large extended family. christmas
day was spent at great grandmas house. nearly 30 of us sat
down in one room around two full sized dining room tables.
we are truly so blessed to have such a family.
Bless you for staying at home with your kids. They're very lucky.
"I'm left wondering what a "process improvement specialist" is."
Without getting too deep into the weeds, a process improvement specialist is someone who evaulates a company's process of getting it's product out to customers. The "in" thing in this is the use of LEAN and SIX SIGMA principles developed by Toyota. The Navy and Marine Corps are using this now to get NAVAIR healthier, and to save money. If you hold a Green Belt rating or above, you will be in high demand, and well compensated by numerous companies.
Hope that helps!
it's just a thing of mine. i'm sorry it bugs some.
most have just gotten used to it by now, i suppose.
Then you know just what I mean. :) I am SO looking forward to Grandkids, but I hopefully have another 5 years or so to go.
My husband? Well, he's the Peter Pan type. Being called "Grandpa" is going to be really hard on him...until the first time he holds the baby, LOL!
We have 43 acres way out in the country and I figured if we gave her a piece of land she wouldn't move to town. She was raised on the farm and doesn't know squat about city living. I didn't want my granddaughter living in the city. Farm life is SO much better for kids and the kids in our area are very good kids. Growing up on a farm keeps them busy and out of trouble for the most part. She is a single mother so it lets us keep a close eye on both of them. LOL
grandkids are most likely a ways off for us. our oldest is
a senior in h.s. this year. he is still a pretty special grandkid
himself, though. it's because of that extra one on one time
he had with his grandparents when he was little.
it's likely our husbands were cast from similar molds. ;)
That's what I meant. I did mine a little differently than you, but I'm pleased enough with the results. Do I wish I had done even more? Sure, but heck, I'm still alive so there's still time!
I do have to say I don't regret one minute I spent with my boys. And I think they would say the same thing.
susie
"She is a single mother so it lets us keep a close eye on both of them."
"How you gonna keep them down on the farm once they've been to Gay Pareee?" ;)
I hear ya. As I said in another post, I'm looking forward to being a Grandma...but I'm hoping for at least a five-year extension right about now, LOL!
"I do have to say I don't regret one minute I spent with my boys. And I think they would say the same thing."
I was cleaning closets today and came across an old photo calendar that my Mom had made us from 1998. I wouldn't have missed a second of it, either.
I really thought I was going to be one of those women who'd never have kids in her life. Instead I ended up raising three boys! I can't have kids of my own, and my only sibling is gay...so that doesn't make for much 'fertile ground' between the two of us, LOL!
Not to get all preachy & sappy about it but God's Hand has truly led me through life and given me everything I could've hoped for...and more! :)
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