I went to the gym this morning, my son was in school, my daughter was in montessori so there was just me and the little guy. Now I've been having problems since Christmas, he just won't settle in the creche. When I am there he is grand all confident and happy. But once I start to leave he starts to totally freak out, screaming, crying totally losing his wits! I find it so difficult to leave him, I get a cold hand around the pit of my stomach, the crying echoes around my brain, but still I walk away and leave him. I know he has to get used to childcare, if I am ever to have any life to myself in the next three years!
The problem could be solved if the girls who worked in the creche weren't so bloody lazy!!! I mean amazingly lazy! The kids are crawling and toddling around and they just sit in chairs (not even on the floor at the kids level) they literally are being paid minimum wage to just "watch" the kids, now there are only three kids to each girl so the numbers are ok, the work isn't too hard, but they obvioulsy don't want to be there and who can blame them, childcare workers are underpaid and undervalued, just as mothers are.
I have had this discussion with a male friend recently why childcare is so crap in Ireland, how more than half the population of Ireland is female and yet we appear to be unable to unite and make political change that would result in state supported childcare. Now maybe the fact that women are working and raising children is enough of a reason for us not to strive for change, or the fact the historically men and not women have instigated change. Personally I think it goes deeper than that, women seem unable to unite.
I know that seems like a wide sweeping statement, but I feel it to be true, look at our inability to form a united front as mothers, it's always breast versus bottle, working versus stay at home mums...the list goes on! Then as women we are our own worst enemies, we judge ourselves against models and unrealistic role models, why do we set these standards so high for ourselves?
My conspiracy therory inner voice tells me that men are of course behind all this. That as long as we are divided we'll never change anything! Imagine if there was a serious woman led political group in Ireland (which will never happen as the straight women and the lesbians will never unite either) childcare, education and healthcare would all be top of their lists of priorities!
I mean imagine a world where tampax and birth control was all provided and paid for by the state? Imagine affordable creches in all places of work and shopping centers, recreational centers, gosh to go to the gym and leave my son for an hour without feeling like a terible mother, to leave him with workers who actually had an interest in "caring" for children!
Re creche workers, baby business is like so many careers where your either at the bottom or the very top and there's no inbetween.
ReplyDeleteIronically childcare is a great area to make money if you're an entrepreneur, there's about 10 grants, subsidies, tax reliefs, anything you can think of for people setting up small, medium and big creches. It's not a case of their being no govt support for it.
Govt could never give tax relief for creche fees cause that would be favouring working mothers over the stay-at-home ones, so they went for a new child benefit payment with a new name, cause its the only payment that serves both types of mothers.
Reputation would have it that eastern european workers are very into work. There's a million other jobs at minimum wage, I don't know why creche workers would feel hard done by on that front.
This borders on the Communist Manifesto MW. Never knew you had it in you :)
ReplyDelete