There’s no getting around day care for pre-kindergarten kids. My son usually plays all afternoon with a few other boys and girls in the neighborhood. I give him a walkie-talkie for simple communication.
There’s no excuse for how our society deals with childcare. It’s too expensive for most, yet the caretakers are extremely low paid. We need to at least consider something like the European approach.
Right now, if we can’t find service, we can’t work a well paying job, so we fall into poverty and need to get welfare. How is that better than the alternative?
7 year old, goes to school. I save on after-care, which ain’t cheap. Where I am, one can lose their kids for neglect if s/he comes home to an empty house up to 12 years old.
Hell, when I was in grade school, I walked to and from school, got home, got a snack, watched TV, or played with friends until parents got home.
Since there is statistically less crime now than then, I’m scratching my head over why we all have to be so scared of everything.