I will be thinking about this article for a while. I didn't realize how much "mom guilt" I had been feeling about becoming one of "those moms" who is happy when Monday arrives and I get to take my child to daycare. I definitely have some things to think about -- Thanks for writing this!
I so appreciate this and am going to share it with my Friday Five newsletter audience tomorrow. Here's what I wrote as we think about the upcoming winter breaks, too: "I loved this article from Sarah Peck about the "parenting math" that doesn't add up when we shame families (or feel guilt ourselves if we're parents) for putting their kids into childcare. It's timely, too - as the winter break comes up, parents can sometimes feel bad about signing kids up for winter break camps because they should be enjoying every moment with them. Listen - my kids will be out of school for 20 days straight at the holidays when you include weekends. That's 480 hours. I have happily signed them up for 4 days of a fun camp (8 hours a day) where they will enjoy great activities and other children while I enjoy some not-responsible-for-little-people time. Those 32 hours represent just 6% of their winter break but will add so much value to our collective experience. If this kind of child care is available to you and you're avoiding it because of guilt, here's your permission slip to set down that guilt."
Wow this math blew my mind. How does parenting feel so overwhelming when I have 5 days of daycare? Bc it’s still only like 1/4 of the time that the child requires care!! Thank you for this.
The weekends!!! I used to get upset about all the work I had to do, but now I just think of it as time to focus on 'my second job' without worrying about the 9-5. Not sure how healthy that is, but it helps create an illusion of abundant time and resources. 😂
I will be thinking about this article for a while. I didn't realize how much "mom guilt" I had been feeling about becoming one of "those moms" who is happy when Monday arrives and I get to take my child to daycare. I definitely have some things to think about -- Thanks for writing this!
I so appreciate this and am going to share it with my Friday Five newsletter audience tomorrow. Here's what I wrote as we think about the upcoming winter breaks, too: "I loved this article from Sarah Peck about the "parenting math" that doesn't add up when we shame families (or feel guilt ourselves if we're parents) for putting their kids into childcare. It's timely, too - as the winter break comes up, parents can sometimes feel bad about signing kids up for winter break camps because they should be enjoying every moment with them. Listen - my kids will be out of school for 20 days straight at the holidays when you include weekends. That's 480 hours. I have happily signed them up for 4 days of a fun camp (8 hours a day) where they will enjoy great activities and other children while I enjoy some not-responsible-for-little-people time. Those 32 hours represent just 6% of their winter break but will add so much value to our collective experience. If this kind of child care is available to you and you're avoiding it because of guilt, here's your permission slip to set down that guilt."
Wow this math blew my mind. How does parenting feel so overwhelming when I have 5 days of daycare? Bc it’s still only like 1/4 of the time that the child requires care!! Thank you for this.
Sending this article to every parent I know. Every parent I talk to is burnt out, me included. Thank you for seeing us.
The weekends!!! I used to get upset about all the work I had to do, but now I just think of it as time to focus on 'my second job' without worrying about the 9-5. Not sure how healthy that is, but it helps create an illusion of abundant time and resources. 😂
This article popped up in my feed yesterday- researchers are trying to quantify the economic impact of 'lost breast milk' due to cultural/capitalist norms: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1152659/full