Childcare and work

[dreece05]

How many of you, LEO's, Nurses, Students, etc, can afford Childcare, and if they can or can't would send their children to childcare? what are your reasons for your choice? And in your area what are the prices... if you know?

This is currently a subject that my Comp. teacher is asking us to write about; and I just though to ask other people in various fields to provide some info.

[Kailarain]

I am lucky that all I pay now is for after school care. The program in our area is about $3 per hour. I am a firm believer in having children attend childcare at least part time from a young age. I believe it helps them socialize and adapt to various people and situations. It also gives them access to experiences they would not have at home. The after school programs in our area are truly amazing. They bring in various presenters, and programs. My son has gone out and learned some basic outdoor survival techniques, has gone to call elk, learned rock climbing, dance, hip hop, violin,(an extra $15 per month for violin rental) geology, and more. There is no way I could afford to pay for all of those lessons seperately. On top of that, he is in a safe secure environment with lots of other kids his age. For your comp class, I am an Accountant.

[nebraska_deputy]

How many of you, LEO's, Nurses, Students, etc, can afford Childcare, and if they can or can't would send their children to childcare? what are your reasons for your choice? And in your area what are the prices... if you know?

This is currently a subject that my Comp. teacher is asking us to write about; and I just though to ask other people in various fields to provide some info.

I'm a deputy sheriff and my wife is an RN and yes we use child care. We don't use child care full time it depends on our schedules. One week use child care two to three days the other week we only use it one day. Basically stating when I'm off I have my son and when my wife's off she has him.

My department we work 12 hour shifts so I'm off every other weekend. The last day I'm off work I get home take a nap for two to three hours then I'm up the entire day with my son. My wife just got a promotion and she for the most part only works day. The days I have to work the next day I go home take a nap until my son wakes up and then I take him to daycare.

The only thing that really sucks about taking him to daycare is when I go to drop him off and he wont let go and he keeps crying no daddy. That really sucks, but I know if I don't take him to daycare I will never get to sleep before having to go to work. There are some odds and end times we have to take him to daycare too suck as training, OT, etc.

As for cost we pay $50 a day pre-taxed. My wife has it setup through her work that we send them a pre-schedule and they send a check each week pre-taxed. We checked several day cares in our area, but wasn't able to find any that would be able to take our son part-time. They all wanted to charge us full-time rates. All of the day cares we check we would of had to pay even if he wasn't there.

[David Hineline]

I believe that parents should not pay others to raise thier children, one parent should stay home or work split shifts untill the child enters the school system.

Why do you even have children if spending time with them is not the goal.

[Smurfette_76]

Why do you even have children if spending time with them is not the goal.

Get off the cross, we need the wood.

[Smurfette_76]

To answer the question:

I've been a single mother for 10 years and a LEO for the same amount of time. That will change in two weeks Then I'll have a husband and two other children to take care of! LOL

This summer, I have a young lady that needs both extra money AND a letter of reference for working with special needs children (her major in college). She helps me with my son (Aspergers syndrome) and my soon to be step children. Because both me and my intended are LEO, we work strange schedules and don't need her everyday. I work 5 days one week, 2 days the next basically.

[SgtD401]

How many of you, LEO's, Nurses, Students, etc, can afford Childcare, and if they can or can't would send their children to childcare? what are your reasons for your choice? And in your area what are the prices... if you know?

This is currently a subject that my Comp. teacher is asking us to write about; and I just though to ask other people in various fields to provide some info.

My wife has a 9-5 corporate job. My work schedule allows for us to cut back on daycare. In the fall, her school has early and late care so that helps. Plus we have an excellent provider for the times that she is not in school.

Roughly costs about $200.00 per week for day care.

[SgtD401]

I believe that parents should not pay others to raise thier children, one parent should stay home or work split shifts untill the child enters the school system.

Why do you even have children if spending time with them is not the goal.

I'm hoping that you're trying to stir the pot and this isn't your real opinion.

On the chance that it is. If you can afford to keep a roof over your head, feed, clothe and provide insurance for your child on one income you are not working in law enforcement.

Spending time with my children is my goal. My child also needs to develop socially, gain confidence in herself through athletics and improve her mind with academics.

[Kailarain]

I believe that parents should not pay others to raise thier children, one parent should stay home or work split shifts untill the child enters the school system.

Why do you even have children if spending time with them is not the goal.

So do you spend every minute of every day with your children?

I don't feel that it is necessary to spend every moment with my child. In fact I don't feel it is healthy to do so. It is extremely important that children are socialized with others from a relatively early age. How do they learn to work, communicate, and get along with people if they don't have that opportunity.

In some Native American cultures it is considered very strange to raise a child on your own, you would have their aunts and uncles taking care of the bulk of the raising, and you would spend your time with them, on say a weekend just enjoying them. In Victorian England you were considered a bad parent if you did not have a governess or a nanny to raise your children. Your values are yours, I respect that they may work for you and your family, but not everyone has the choice, or wants your choice.

[jonm0303]

My wife and I both work and have to just to pay for daycare ($275 a week.) It's hard to pay for it on both of our salaries when coupled with all of the other bills but to get him into a great daycare where we'll both be okay with leaving him there it's more than worth it. Plus, the cost will go down in six months when my son turns 2.

[nebraska_deputy]

I'm hoping that you're trying to stir the pot and this isn't your real opinion.

On the chance that it is. If you can afford to keep a roof over your head, feed, clothe and provide insurance for your child on one income you are not working in law enforcement.

Spending time with my children is my goal. My child also needs to develop socially, gain confidence in herself through athletics and improve her mind with academics.

1+

My wife and I both work and have to just to pay for daycare ($275 a week.) It's hard to pay for it on both of our salaries when coupled with all of the other bills but to get him into a great daycare where we'll both be okay with leaving him there it's more than worth it. Plus, the cost will go down in six months when my son turns 2.

1+

Finding a good daycare, Yes, that's our top priority. It took us a while to find an opening in are area. Now that we found one we have some time and were actually look for another daycare. Every place we called was full and it took us about two months to find a place.

The problem we have with the current daycare is they really only bring the kids in if it's raining and for meals. With that being said, my son has been getting really sick the days he goes to daycare. He comes home and he drinks two to three full sippy cups of juice. Three times in the last month he has come home and been so sick all he does is vomit and run a high temp. We have only been with this daycare a month or two, but I don't want him to keep going through this. So will see what happens.

[PlainSilverTin]

well the pot is stirred...lol

+1 to everything Smurfette said

...If you can afford to keep a roof over your head, feed, clothe and provide insurance for your child on one income you are not working in law enforcement.

Spending time with my children is my goal. My child also needs to develop socially, gain confidence in herself through athletics and improve her mind with academics.

+1

I don't feel that it is necessary to spend every moment with my child. In fact I don't feel it is healthy to do so. It is extremely important that children are socialized with others from a relatively early age. How do they learn to work, communicate, and get along with people if they don't have that opportunity.

In some Native American cultures it is considered very strange to raise a child on your own, you would have their aunts and uncles taking care of the bulk of the raising, and you would spend your time with them, on say a weekend just enjoying them. In Victorian England you were considered a bad parent if you did not have a governess or a nanny to raise your children. Your values are yours, I respect that they may work for you and your family, but not everyone has the choice, or wants your choice.

+1



i have crazy hours, my wife's an rn that works the day shift, my daughter goes between grandparents and day care. My wife and I sacrifice and do our best to spend our time with her in the afternoons/Evenings and weekends. my daughter at 22 months old is well behaved and socialized (for the most part, us parents know how 2 year olds can be) i can understand the sentiment that a parent should be at home, but in this day and age it's just not feasable. one income in NYC will not get you anything, especially on a leo's salary. my wife and i both choose work, we take home decent pay and with our combined salaries we provide a house that we own, good healthy food, clothes and extra activities my wife and i both partake in for my daughter through gymboree, our local church, and our local ymca. none of that is cheap but i tell you one thing, one salary would not cover it all, and my daughter is very happy, i would not trade that in for anything, especially since i see my daughters eyes light up every time she finds out it's daddy fun day.

[JMTX]

It is extremely important that children are socialized with others from a relatively early age

From the perspective of a kid who was raised without social interaction, I want to give you a great big DITTO!!!!!

I was never around other children at ALL until I began school. I was an only child and the only people around me much were my parents and grandmother. No neighbor children, no other children in the family, no daycare, etc. By the time I started pre-school, I was WAY ahead of the game in terms of learning/education (already reading, adding, etc) but WAY WAY behind in social skills, and I'm not sure I ever really caught up.

I know they tell you that in dogs, the first 8 weeks of life are CRITICAL in developing social skills to get along with other dogs...I'm starting to suspect the same is true of humans. I'm thinking the first 4yrs of life are probably a VERY important time to develop social skills, and because I had almost ZERO interaction with other kids during that period, I never did learn to socialize very well. It's something I've struggled with my entire life...

[Chit2001]

^^Soooo..... is that why you went on a terror spree in Gotham City?

[Roner]

I am a LEO and married to a Fire Captain and between our two schedules, we need childcare about 5-7 days/month. These days/nights are usually 20-22 hour shifts and are overnight since I work nights and the Captain works 24 hour shifts. Luckily, the kids are sleeping most of the time we are gone. We pay $15/hr. w/no adjustment for overnight care. Our kids our 8 and 3 now. It is definitely tougher to leave your kids in the care of a nanny when they are babies. We thought we were in heaven when our retired, trusted neighbors offered to help with our firstborn and never asked for money. After almost 5 years of their help, my daughter disclosed that the husband was molesting her. If it's too good to be true, then it probably is. I hope no one ever has to experience this. As LEO's we see this quite alot unfortunately. It's usually the people you trust that end up molesting your children, even family. We'll both be retiring soon and staying home with the kids.