have after school care, I have said at least 200 times since school began. And then I think to myself, "Not that it is any of your damn business." Inevitably, I get a look of astonishment, followed by, "Oh, okay, I guess we'll have to make meetings work around that schedule." And I respond, "Yes, I guess we will, or else I'll just have to miss the meeting."
So no, we don't have after school care for Wild Man and Bear. Actually, we only have it two days a week. Those two days a former student of mine brings them home from school and stays with them until we get home. Mondays I work from home, so Archer gets to stay a bit later at his office. Fridays Archer works from home, so I get to stay a bit later at my office. We did this for several reasons. First, we're paying for full-time childcare for George. Adding in the cost of after school care for Wild Man and Bear was more than our budget could take, or more accurately, it was more than we were willing for our budget to take. Second, we're in the habit of picking our children up by 4:15 or 4:30, which means we'd be paying roughly $280 per child per month (for a total of $560 per month) for about forty-five minutes of care per day. That didn't make sense. This is a schedule/arrangement that works for us. And if one more person asks me about it, I am likely to lose my cool.
As an aside, my colleagues who don't have children (or who have grown children) seem to get this decision. It's the colleagues who have children the same age as Wild Man and Bear who are the most judgmental. I am struggling to understand that.
5 comments:
I was thinking about this but time has been so tight that I usually can just read a blog and not comment. :P
I just don't get why anyone is asking that, unless it was just a "hey how do other people manage this"--which totally not what it sounds like in your case. The cost alone for such a small period of time should be enough for people to not even think to ask. If you did snap at someone, I'd say they had it coming. There are stupid questions.
RL, it's super annoying. No one stops to ask how much it costs, which, in all honesty, was the major factor. Yes, it causes issues w/ work, and no, it isn't ideal. But I'm much less stressed out with this arrangement than I would be figuring out how to add $600 to our childcare budget every single month. We'd have to cut out a lot of things, like Wild Man's violin lessons and swimming lessons for all three boys. It seems to be more about how our choice affects other people, and you know what, I have absolutely no sympathy for that. If I have to set through a meeting in which someone's stinky dog has his head in my lap (yes, this happens), others can manage to schedule meetings around my schedule.
Sit, that is.
Dogs? Oh lord. I'm so allergic I'd be pitching a fit. (You could fake allergies.) I immediately think of costs and maybe that's just because my budget is so tight that I'm sensitive to that, but I don't think that's it. I only know a few couples that have after school care and they all have jobs where they have to be there until 5-6pm so there is no other option and they do comment on the cost. I've also worked at a few schools where meetings were rarely held after 3pm (for faculty anyway). People who had been there since 8 didn't want late meetings. So there is that.
Oh, yes, CU is a "dog friendly" campus, so lots of people bring their dogs to work. It's meant to promote a healthy work environment. I hate it. When I have had to bring my children to work (which is rare), they sit quietly and color or watch something on an iPod. I hear colleagues' dogs barking all. the. time.
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