It’s worth doing the maths on the tax - it can be advantageous for someone who is just into the 40% tax bracket to reduce a few hours. That’s what we did. Though my ‘day off’ seems much less fun than Daddy’s. Mine: moving through the house in a blur like the roadrunner, changing beds, vacuuming and tidying. His: drinking coffee and reading magazines ☹️
Ahh bless you but honestly I’ve had to recalibrate large parts of my (previously organised, quiet, neat, contemplative) personality to ride the wave of chaos. In my dotage, I shall wear exclusively yellow and eat cereal for dinner alone and in peace…
Another great post Helen and thank you. Yes childcare in this country is nuts, embrace the chaos (you’ve no choice, anyway) and if you think the mini vikings eat a lot now, wait ‘til their late teens. (I hired an office next to my local supermarket so the commute could do double duty 😱).
I know childcare is crazy expensive but it is a shared family cost, not just the mother’s burden to be paid for by her salary alone. I wonder if any fathers feel they can’t work because they believe they can’t afford childcare?
Yes, that is my exact experience. But I’ve never considered that I personally can’t afford childcare. Often I hear the argument from women that it’s not worth me working as I barely make anything after the daycare fees are paid. Why isn’t the total family income used in calculating that?
It’s worth doing the maths on the tax - it can be advantageous for someone who is just into the 40% tax bracket to reduce a few hours. That’s what we did. Though my ‘day off’ seems much less fun than Daddy’s. Mine: moving through the house in a blur like the roadrunner, changing beds, vacuuming and tidying. His: drinking coffee and reading magazines ☹️
We have no kids, there are two of us writing our three Substacks (two are only once a month), and yet I often feel overwhelmed.
Which is why I'm in awe of what you manage to do.
Ahh bless you but honestly I’ve had to recalibrate large parts of my (previously organised, quiet, neat, contemplative) personality to ride the wave of chaos. In my dotage, I shall wear exclusively yellow and eat cereal for dinner alone and in peace…
But I bet you'll have three pretty great kids there to wipe the milk from your chin!
Another great post Helen and thank you. Yes childcare in this country is nuts, embrace the chaos (you’ve no choice, anyway) and if you think the mini vikings eat a lot now, wait ‘til their late teens. (I hired an office next to my local supermarket so the commute could do double duty 😱).
I think you may have just won parenting - an inspired life hack
🤣🤣
I know childcare is crazy expensive but it is a shared family cost, not just the mother’s burden to be paid for by her salary alone. I wonder if any fathers feel they can’t work because they believe they can’t afford childcare?
It is absolutely a shared family - if not societal - cost. But so often it’s economics, with the lower earner’s career taking a back seat
Yes, that is my exact experience. But I’ve never considered that I personally can’t afford childcare. Often I hear the argument from women that it’s not worth me working as I barely make anything after the daycare fees are paid. Why isn’t the total family income used in calculating that?