Okay, I know that's a rather contentious post-title. I trust you, gentle reader, to decide for yourself, of course.
So on the first day of school, I'm hanging out with our Aussie neighbour whose kids are in classes with my kids and we're discussing the differences between Canadian and Australian schools. This and that. The he says "It's sort of inconvenient that you have to pick them up every day at lunch."
Eh?
Yep. Whereas in Ottawa you have to fill out a dozen forms if your child is going to be off school property at all between 9:00 and 3:30, here they not only assume, but they insist that you pick up your kids for lunch. There is a program run by the YMCA for $100 ($90 for each additional child) and they'll look after your kids for the 90 minute lunch period -- food not included. There are only 24 spots for the entire school, though, and they were filled up long before we even considered coming to Halifax.
If we lived accross the street it wouldn't be too bad, but we have a 10 minute drive (through the dreaded Rotary) to the school. That is 4 round-trips per day -- 1 hour and 20 minutes of driving -- every day, to the school.
Have I mentioned that intend to find a job soon? If I work a 9:00-5:00 job, I will have to take 2 hours off in the middle of each day to get the kids for lunch. Then have to pick them up at 3:00. Hmmn. I'm now looking for a job that is either part-time, lots of evenings and weekends, or so well emunerated that I can hire a chauffeur for the tots.
The whole system seems to assume that mom is staying home with the kids. If mom does need to escape an abusive relationship and find a job to support her independence (or some less dramatic, but valid and realistic, scenario) she had better have supportive friends, family or neighbours.
Our neighbors are in the same boat, so for now we are switching off the pick-up/drop off until the schedule gets messed up by Claire and me becoming employed.
I think that the economy would see instant benefits in productivity if the schools would just let the kids eat their lunches in the school.
4 comments:
Hi Michael,
It is great to hear from you, (and to be able to read about your new adventures) and nice to see that you have settled into life on the east coast.
Ah yes, the joys of chauffeuring. Toss in a recital, jujitsu class, choir practice, theatre rehearsals, and band practice (at 7am 3 days a week) in addition to the various after school activities…! I am thankful that my youngest daughter’s school lets them remain for the lunch break. The eldest, being in high school, is way too cool to come home for lunch, so here at least it is not an issue. I managed to get the youngest into the after school program, so I do not have to worry about being home/picking her up right after classes end. This should make things easier if I finally manage to land a job.
Good luck with the job hunt and the logistics when that happens.
Cheers
We just ate lunch where-have-you as kids. Think of it as a growing experience. :]
Of course, depending on where the kids are at it's a good excuse to check out the sites...
Mike, I think you are sexist, how do you know the schoolboard isn't expecting all the dads to stay home ;0)
CAJN dad
I asked. Boy, that did the exact opposite of endear me to the staff. And they avoided the question, so it wasn't really worth it.
Nah, not really. I just did a head count at lunch-time and realized the only other men were 1) A grandfather and 2) another Dad who was on holidays for the week and figured that the staff must have noticed too.
Cheers
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