I know a lot of us have been hit hard by the current economy crisis-'es'. My wife just lost her marketing executive job, forcing her to re-take her old job back at the phone-banks. She now makes LESS money than my "supplemental" job. I know, we are lucky to have ANY jobs at ALL right now, and I AM thankful for that much.
But the one thing that heart-wrenching to me because of this, is we had to pull our 14-month-old daughter, Emaline, out of her Daycare. luckily, Grandma & Grandpa live 15 mins away, and they accepted taking care of her. Again, yes, I am counting my blessings in this current economic bad time.
What makes it so sad for me (well, US really) Is the daycare she was in was more like a "school", or pre-school than just a "daycare". She would make little paper projects, or play duck-duck goose (in a slooow, wobbly, toddling way of course) with all of her friends there. The main reason we put her into this type of daycare was not JUST for someone to 'keep her from dying' as we worked our full-time jobs, but also to socialize her with other kids, and get her used to a "school" environment (ok, and build her immune system with a million snotty kids around her too -LOL). But now, She's back at Grandma's.
DON'T get me wrong- my parents are WONDERFUL in helping to raise her, and they DO follow our "rules" (with a grain of salt of course) in how we like to raise our own daughter. But at Grandma's house, there is only one neighbour kid roughly her age, and shes gone most of the day in her own daycare, so they hardly meet.
So gone is Emma's friends, her teachers, and the kid that bites her from time to time. (Ok THAT I wont miss.)
Grandma and Grandpa will now do their best not to let her little just-walking feet touch the ground, and Kim & I have to UN-spoil her every evening. Not that the daycare ladies didn't take a liking to Emma and spoil her there too- but now she is the ONLY kid around lavish attention is being heaped on to.
I really hate having to pull her away from somewhere she likes to go every day. She will like Grandma's too- but leaving all your friends at any age is hard, especially at her age, when by the time we are making good enough money again to afford her going back, she won't remember anyone, and will have to start all over.
I know, if THIS is my biggest bitch about the job-switch and crappy economy that I have, then it must seem to a lot of less-well-off people that I should gag on whatever silver spoon they see in my mouth. I am solidly in the middle class, and I see now that yes, WE are the ones hardest-hit. We still make too much money to qualify for ANY financial assistance of ANY kind, yet, we can barley afford the mortgage and food on our table with TWO jobs- and we do NOT live in a huge house. So, what does one do of our economic status?
Work harder.
Wait.
Hope.
