Thursday, June 23, 2005

Childcare Blues

So I get a call last night and the Great God Tulane, who controls All Our Fates, has Lost.

Don't ask me what. Some sort of sports event. Those who know these things could tell me what I am sure. The important bit is that the grandparents are bringing the kid home a week early.

Not that I don't miss the kid, mind you. I miss the kid amazingly.

No: it is that I have no childcare for the kid and mr. delagar's summer school session does not, in fact, end until July 1. (You'll recall that mr. delagar is the kid's primary caregiver.)

My university has no childcare (but of course). His university has no childcare in the summer. While there are commercial childcare facilities in both of the cities our universities are located in (Fort Smith, Fayetteville) we did not apply to any of the decent ones because we assumed (foolishly) that we had childcare (grandparents) through next week.

My mother says, on the phone, "Well, we're staying through Friday. This gives you the weekend to figure something out."

Indeed it does.

And we do have a large walk-in closet. And I do know how to install a lock on the outside of the door. Unfortunately, as we do not live in either Florida or Texas*, I guess I'll have to come up with another option.**





*I'm kidding! I'm kidding! Apologies to all decent folk from Florida and Texas! I know you exist! I'm just way stressed right now!

**Actually I have come up with another option -- my fellow liberal professor, the one who just had a newborn, is going to take the kid for three of the days. And I'm so grateful. But still cranky.

3 comments:

Diane said...

It was terrible. They were up 7-0 and still managed to lose the game. They are now out of the World Series.

zelda1 said...

I got it, it's a baseball team. childcare was the single issue that constantly stayed in my mind when my monsters were children. Single parent, no child care, no grandparents around, meant, calling in sick. Not good for the job. I never have understood why the government doesn't give big tax credits to institutions where child care is provided for the employees and in the case of universities, the students too. I don't have young children but I do see the stress of mothers of young children and it so makes me remember those days of my own not having child care.
It's too bad, we are not equipped with kangaroo pouches so we can carry our young around in that pouch and the pouch immediately sedates the child, safely of course, and we can work at ease knowing they are safe and we can even feel them cuddled so safely in our little pouches.

delagar said...

Man, wouldn't pouches be great.

Course, she weighs in at 51 pounds now, so think of the back ache.