I must say, there is nothing like the possible start of yet another unwinnable war with yet another Mideastern country to put things into perspective. Yesterday afternoon I was feeling annoyed by an incident that happened at my son's daycare; yesterday evening I was rudely reminded that my country's military -- the most powerful in the world -- is controlled by a remarkably ignorant reality TV host whose defense "strategy" seems to be mostly influenced by whatever it was he last saw on cable news. Juxtaposing those two things will really help you get your priorities straight.
To be clear, Bashar al-Assad is a terrible, brutal, oppressive dictator who has little compunction about killing his own people (and others), but if he is forced out, he almost certainly will be replaced by a terrible, brutal, oppressive terrorist syndicate that has little compunction about killing their own people (and others). Either way, it's awful; either way, it's death for a lot of innocent people. There are no good options, and when there are no good options, my feeling is to chose one that doesn't involve another decades-long war. I read today that a former defense strategist for Obama called the strike "justified." It clearly was. But was it smart? I mean, we bombed an air force base -- okay, now what?
I guess we will see...
So here's the daycare story. Every morning, Monday through Thursday, I drop Lil' S1 off at school and then I drop Lil' S2 off at daycare. I very much prefer to do it in that order because the daycare is on the way from the school to my office, and it's easier to take Lil' S2 with me to his brother's school than vice-versa.
School drop-off is from 8:30 a.m. to 8:45 a.m., and I have to be at daycare before 9:00 a.m. It's only about a five minute drive from school to daycare, so the timing all works out -- or at least it should all work out. A few months ago one of the women who works at Lil' S2's daycare asked me if I could bring him in by 8:30, because otherwise he misses most of breakfast. I told her that I couldn't do that, and that I give him breakfast at home, so it's fine if he doesn't eat. I didn't think anything of the conversation.
But then about a week and a half ago several workers start dropping hints that it would be really nice if I could get him there earlier. Nobody came right out and said that again, but they would point out that he just missed pancakes or that all his "friends" were here already -- stuff like that. I would just smile and pretend to not get the hint, even though, of course, I knew exactly what was going on.
Not getting the response they wanted from me, they tried a new tactic: They went to S. It was well-played on their part, not because S agrees with them, but because she hates being the middle-person in these types of "disputes," and so she'll just want to resolve it as quickly and easily as possible. Already she's resentful of the fact that 99% of the time the daycare workers go to her first with any issue. Even though we both go in there everyday (usually I do drop-off, she does pickup), whenever something comes up, like Lil' S2 needs more spare pants or he broke a strap on his shoe or he pushed another kid, they almost never talk to me about and expect her to deal with it instead. In this case, they told S that if I bring Lil' S2 in after 8:30, then I have to wash his hands and put him in his seat before I leave.
This might not sound like a big deal, but it real, real annoys me. Getting my boys up and dressed and fed and out the door and into the car and out of the car and into school and back into the car and back out of car (parking is always an issue too) and into daycare is already an arduous process. (And then I have to turn around and hustle to work.) I don't want an extra little chore tacked on at the end, especially one they can easily do. I've seen their setup and their system. They aren't doing anything that can't be put aside for a few minutes when Lil' S2 comes in. I'm sure it's annoying for them that they have to do this, but it's annoying for me if I have to do it. Somebody has to be annoyed, and I don't think it should be me.
I have to admit, money is a big part of it. Lil' S2's daycare isn't a beleaguered public school or neighborhood co-op; it's a for-profit business. We pay a hefty amount of money to go there. It's on the expensive side for a daycare in DC, and DC is the most expensive city for daycare in the nation. I feel like accommodating the parents should be a priority (within reason, of course). I mean, isn't that supposed to be the whole deal with daycare -- you take your kids there, and then they do all the work, so that you don't have to? It's like if you hired people to clean your bathroom, and they asked you to get things ready by scrubbing your toilet before they got there.
But, of course, a child is not the same thing as a toilet. It probably doesn't behoove me to get on the bad sides of the people to whom I'm entrusting the well being of my son, even if I feel like I'm in the right. So I'll probably just suck it up and do it. (Plus, that will make S happy.) I thought about talking with the woman who runs the daycare. I feel pretty confident she would take my side -- in the contract it doesn't say anything about having to arrive before 8:30; the stated official start time is 9:00 -- but there's a good chance that will make it worse. The workers might view it as me ratting them out, which would probably make them really resent me. Plus, although S and I are paying a lot for this daycare, it's not like any individual employee gets a giant cut of it. I don't know how much they make. Maybe that's a big part of it from their perspective; maybe money is a significant factor for them too; maybe they don't feel like they make enough to be so accommodating to the parents. I don't know.
What I do know is that I basically have three choices: (1) Play dumb, pretend like nothing ever happened, and don't wash his hands or put him in his chair -- just drop him off and go, and if they ask me to do it, say I don't have time and walk away; (2) Talk to the woman who owns the daycare and try to get her to adjudicate the "dispute" in my favor; (3) Get annoyed, vent on my blog, and then do what they want, while outwardly acting friendly and pretending like it doesn't bother me.
You probably can guess which one I've already decided to go with.
Until next time...
To be clear, Bashar al-Assad is a terrible, brutal, oppressive dictator who has little compunction about killing his own people (and others), but if he is forced out, he almost certainly will be replaced by a terrible, brutal, oppressive terrorist syndicate that has little compunction about killing their own people (and others). Either way, it's awful; either way, it's death for a lot of innocent people. There are no good options, and when there are no good options, my feeling is to chose one that doesn't involve another decades-long war. I read today that a former defense strategist for Obama called the strike "justified." It clearly was. But was it smart? I mean, we bombed an air force base -- okay, now what?
I guess we will see...
[Lil' S2 has gotten really into stuffed animals lately. He loves Hulk...]
So here's the daycare story. Every morning, Monday through Thursday, I drop Lil' S1 off at school and then I drop Lil' S2 off at daycare. I very much prefer to do it in that order because the daycare is on the way from the school to my office, and it's easier to take Lil' S2 with me to his brother's school than vice-versa.
School drop-off is from 8:30 a.m. to 8:45 a.m., and I have to be at daycare before 9:00 a.m. It's only about a five minute drive from school to daycare, so the timing all works out -- or at least it should all work out. A few months ago one of the women who works at Lil' S2's daycare asked me if I could bring him in by 8:30, because otherwise he misses most of breakfast. I told her that I couldn't do that, and that I give him breakfast at home, so it's fine if he doesn't eat. I didn't think anything of the conversation.
But then about a week and a half ago several workers start dropping hints that it would be really nice if I could get him there earlier. Nobody came right out and said that again, but they would point out that he just missed pancakes or that all his "friends" were here already -- stuff like that. I would just smile and pretend to not get the hint, even though, of course, I knew exactly what was going on.
Not getting the response they wanted from me, they tried a new tactic: They went to S. It was well-played on their part, not because S agrees with them, but because she hates being the middle-person in these types of "disputes," and so she'll just want to resolve it as quickly and easily as possible. Already she's resentful of the fact that 99% of the time the daycare workers go to her first with any issue. Even though we both go in there everyday (usually I do drop-off, she does pickup), whenever something comes up, like Lil' S2 needs more spare pants or he broke a strap on his shoe or he pushed another kid, they almost never talk to me about and expect her to deal with it instead. In this case, they told S that if I bring Lil' S2 in after 8:30, then I have to wash his hands and put him in his seat before I leave.
[... and Wheedle ...]
This might not sound like a big deal, but it real, real annoys me. Getting my boys up and dressed and fed and out the door and into the car and out of the car and into school and back into the car and back out of car (parking is always an issue too) and into daycare is already an arduous process. (And then I have to turn around and hustle to work.) I don't want an extra little chore tacked on at the end, especially one they can easily do. I've seen their setup and their system. They aren't doing anything that can't be put aside for a few minutes when Lil' S2 comes in. I'm sure it's annoying for them that they have to do this, but it's annoying for me if I have to do it. Somebody has to be annoyed, and I don't think it should be me.
I have to admit, money is a big part of it. Lil' S2's daycare isn't a beleaguered public school or neighborhood co-op; it's a for-profit business. We pay a hefty amount of money to go there. It's on the expensive side for a daycare in DC, and DC is the most expensive city for daycare in the nation. I feel like accommodating the parents should be a priority (within reason, of course). I mean, isn't that supposed to be the whole deal with daycare -- you take your kids there, and then they do all the work, so that you don't have to? It's like if you hired people to clean your bathroom, and they asked you to get things ready by scrubbing your toilet before they got there.
But, of course, a child is not the same thing as a toilet. It probably doesn't behoove me to get on the bad sides of the people to whom I'm entrusting the well being of my son, even if I feel like I'm in the right. So I'll probably just suck it up and do it. (Plus, that will make S happy.) I thought about talking with the woman who runs the daycare. I feel pretty confident she would take my side -- in the contract it doesn't say anything about having to arrive before 8:30; the stated official start time is 9:00 -- but there's a good chance that will make it worse. The workers might view it as me ratting them out, which would probably make them really resent me. Plus, although S and I are paying a lot for this daycare, it's not like any individual employee gets a giant cut of it. I don't know how much they make. Maybe that's a big part of it from their perspective; maybe money is a significant factor for them too; maybe they don't feel like they make enough to be so accommodating to the parents. I don't know.
[... and Grover]
What I do know is that I basically have three choices: (1) Play dumb, pretend like nothing ever happened, and don't wash his hands or put him in his chair -- just drop him off and go, and if they ask me to do it, say I don't have time and walk away; (2) Talk to the woman who owns the daycare and try to get her to adjudicate the "dispute" in my favor; (3) Get annoyed, vent on my blog, and then do what they want, while outwardly acting friendly and pretending like it doesn't bother me.
You probably can guess which one I've already decided to go with.
Until next time...
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