The Never-Ending Plight of Working Mothers

One of the issues that seems to consistently come up for me as a working mother is that of babysitting.  It's such a frustrating thing!

Some of the points that stick out for me are:

1. It's hard to leave your child(ren) in the care of others instead of your own, and what makes it even harder is finding help from those your feel secure about.

  












2.  It's REALLY hard to watch other people's children!  It's draining and stressful and not always a very fun job.  The number of people readily willing to consistently babysit tends to reflect this fact.



3.  Childcare often costs more than the average paycheck.  Obviously, sitters need to make a living too.  But it gets to be really difficult to afford someone who charges close to (or more than) what you make an hour!
      



4.  The correlation between a great babysitter and their lack of availability go hand-in-hand.  Once you find someone you really like, they undoubtedly will be booked before you can reach out to them.




5.  Even when you find someone to consistently watch your child, illnesses can make the situation very difficult.  Either illnesses at the sitter's house or with your child.  (Or at the backup sitter's house!)  And when Plan A doesn't work, see above to the other points when trying to work out Plan B.  Or C.  Or Z.....



6.  When illness strikes in one location or the other(s), calling-in to work can jeopardize your employment, causing a panic or desperation to ensue as you try to find other options.  Even ones you wouldn't have otherwise felt comfortable with (see point 1).


7.  You can't even always be angry with your job for having rules or expectations around calling-in.  After all, they have to function as well and many institutions cannot function effectively or safely with call-offs.



8.  When the person you find to watch your child regularly is a close friend or family member, it becomes extremely easily to unconsciously abuse the situation.  Sometimes to the detriment of your relationship or arrangement.



















9.  Once this arrangement has been jeopardized, or something else occurs to end it such as a move, change in situation for the sitter, etc, the cycle starts all over again.
 


And this is where I leave my ranting.  

I'd love to learn more about how other working moms handle the issue of childcare.  Leave your comments below!