Friday, January 18, 2008

Outsourcing Daycare

This is an area I haven't blogged on before, but the time is ripe. Today, my daughter does not have school due to a teacher in-service day. Not a huge deal, it just means she tags along in my world for most of the day. As she gets older, this does become less fun for her and more of a juggle for me. Today, she will "help" me teach two classes and create wonderful works of kid art while I rehearse. Or, I could have sent her to daycare at school for the bargain price of $80. I'd rather have the assistant!

I am reminded of the days before she went to school when I had to put her in daycare.

Nightmare.

And I had a pretty perfect arrangement. My friend's mom runs a daycare out of her home - it was near my work and she gave me a break on the fees - $50 a day instead of $70-$80. Still, it was $250/week and added 30 mins to my commute each way, given traffic. $1k per month for childcare. The numbers are shocking... and I paid less than many! EEK!

As an artist, it's cool for me to "bring my kid to work" as needed, but a lot of people don't have that option. Ultimately, there are many great and terrible aspects of any childcare situation... and it's about finding what will work for all - kid, parents, work, etc. Still, I found the below funny. Thanks for sharing Andrew (poet's paradox).





2 comments:

Anonymous said...

My mother is an artist and growing up we also "helped" her create her artwork. I think that all of us were very lucky to have that setup, as are the two of you. Not only did we get to spend more time with our mother, but we had plenty of artistic outlets, which enriched our development.

k.k. said...

I'm so glad to hear this... she's a gift to me every day, that's for sure. She's taught me many lessons; the two greatest: patience & unconditional love. I am grateful and hopeful that she will grow into her dreams.