Yesterday, I saw a post on Facebook about the lottery for full day kindergarten in my town. And suddenly, all the fear I’d felt a year ago came flooding back….
What if my kid doesn’t get into full day kindergarten? (Which only goes till 2:30pm by the way–it’s just short of criminal to call that “full day”.)
What will I do with her for those three extra hours when afterschool doesn’t start till 2:45?
What will I dooooo??????
Fortunately, we got a spot in the lottery. Most people did. If I had moved to our town in February with a pre-K kid, I would have been out of luck for the next year because there were no spots left by then. Oh, and if I didn’t already have my kids enrolled in the afterschool program the year before, I would have no chance of getting in.
Sometimes it frustrates me that the school systems (at least, outside of big cities) are not set up for working parents. Most moms I know work, yet we all have to scramble. Holidays are always rough. And what about that stupid week between school and camp?
I keep telling myself that someday things will change. The powers that be will realize that with so many women in the workforce, there needs to be good childcare options. But I’m giving up hope. Women have been in a workforce for a long time, and it doesn’t seem like there’s any movement to help us, at least where I am.
I’m really glad women are coming forward in the media to discuss their experiences with sexual harassment lately and I hope some progress is made because of it. But now maybe we can discuss the sexual oppression women face when society makes it so challenging to go back to work after having a child.
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