Childcare

Today my childcare plans fell through. I had appointments that couldn't be changed and that were not activities that your typical two year old would have enjoyed. Perhaps Katherine would would have had fun pulling all the tissues out of a box at the doctor's office or stealing all the pens at the attorney's office when Rob and I updated our wills but needless to say, I wanted to go solo.

We were able to figure things out but it was a stressful day. Full of confusion, change and flexibility- all things that I do not love. I found myself thinking a lot today about mothering in America. When Caroline was first born, I read Judith Warner's, Perfect Madness: Motherhood in the Age of Anxiety. In the book, among many other things, Warner discusses the differences between mothering in America and in France. She had done both and the differences she felt personally were startling. One of the contrasts that stuck with me and resonated the most today, was the ease, affordability and guilt free nature of childcare centers in France. I kept thinking that if I lived in France, I might not have felt today's stressors.

There is a fabulous on-line organization called Moms Rising. I have read their book and I often visit their website. I receive their e-mails that ask for simple calls to action- things as easy as calling my senators when a family related bill is on it's way to Congress. I have to admit to ignoring many of these e-mails feeling a lack of time. Perhaps if I stopped complaining long enough to respond to these e-mails, I would have nothing left to complain about and nothing but time to contemplate the positive changes to the American family.