Childcare

Or, an excuse to post a couple of cute pictures of Nora in an adorable hat.

The twin whisperer, who specializes in infants, has promised to stay with us until the semester ends in May. Then we're on our own. There is an organization in our state that sends out a list of all of the registered child care facilities within a particular radius of your home, so I started looking at it recently. It's a handy service because they let you know whether there have ever been any enforcements on a place, whether they have dogs or allow smoking, that sort of thing. Okay, so places that have dogs or smoking, no. Places that have had enforcements, no. Places in a sketchy part of town or somewhere super far, no. Places that have nowhere outdoors to play, no.

That doesn't leave a ton of options, at least in the registered child care world. It leaves the two university preschools/daycares, both of which are accredited and wonderful. They house child development specialists, they're connected to the university child development programs, and obviously either one would be fabulous. The only problem is that we've been on the waiting list ever since May 2007, when I was barely pregnant. We're still on the waiting list. I don't know if we'll ever get off it because student parents have the first priority on slots. Also, the cost is daunting. Full time care would top out at over 30K a year. That's 30K after taxes. Even twice-a-week care would be 15K a year.

This whole thing is giving me an anxiety attack. Just looking at these places and then thinking about leaving Milo and Nora there with strangers upsets me. I can't get too attached to the university daycare, because I'll probably never get off the waiting list. Maybe we should get another nanny, maybe a college student, but on the other hand this summer the kids will be old enough to benefit from some more structured activities and some variety.

Our university has a committee on equity and a committee on women faculty issues. Here's a major issue about women faculty issues: you want to support my ability to get tenure? Provide more daycare options. We are an enormous campus. If I've been on a waiting list for 17 months already with no end in sight, then there's obviously enough demand for additional childcare facilities. And if you really want to support female faculty tenure bids, provide affordable childcare options. Give me a way to confidently leave my kids so that I can really focus on working. This issue seems like such an obvious no-brainer that I'm kind of surprised it's a problem on our campus. On the other hand, I work at a place with no parental leave policy, so maybe it's not such a surprise that this is a problem. This stuff makes me mad. I feel trapped, and I feel like I can see the trap closing all around me, slowly, day by day. But what was I supposed to do, just not have a family? Sacrifice my entire life for my job?