No resolutions for me this year.  I’ve had plenty of experience with those buggers, and I can’t remember a single one that ended up changing my life.  So I’m starting a new tradition: The New Year’s Wish.  Wishes are lower pressure, and since they have just about as much chance of success as a resolution, why not go big?

Here’s my wish:

Imagine a daycare center that is open from 6:30 am to 7:30 pm, seven days a week.  You can sign up for regular hours, but drop-ins are also fine.  There is a separate wing for mildly ill children.  When you drop your child off in the morning, you can drop your laundry as well; it will be ready when you pick up your kid at the end of the day.  You can also pre-order that night’s take-home dinner.   While you’re at work, your child will be fed wholesome meals prepared on-site.  There is plenty of space for outdoor play, and lots of materials available indoors for creative and constructive exploration.  The center is well staffed with credentialed early childhood educators who are paid what they’re worth and who receive benefits, so there is little staff turnover.

My wish sounds positively Socialist, but it’s not.  What I described is the childcare that was available to Americans during World War II, specifically in the years when women streamed into the workforce for the war effort.  The Lanham Act of 1943 provided funding for what became 3,102 childcare centers across the country.  The funds also went toward extended school and recreational programs for older children who were in need of care during after-school hours and vacations. The centers were not free for parents and not government-run, but the cost was subsidized by federal dollars with the realization that mothers and fathers are more productive and better employees if their childcare needs are met in a way that doesn’t leave them wondering if they should really be at home instead.

Since everyone seems OK with re-purposing the TARP money that’s being hot-potatoed back to the government, I wish that we would use some of that cash to solve the childcare crisis in this country.  We could give working families the support they need, while also creating jobs in the construction, maintenance, nursing, education, and childcare fields.  That’s much more important than losing 10 pounds, don’t you agree?

This entry was posted on December 22nd, 2009 and is filed under Mother Tongue. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or Trackback from your own site.

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