Children - (nf)
fra...@tekcad.uucp
tekcad!franka Sep 11 14:26:00 1983
I have heard many people talk about how businesses should try to
accomidate job sharing, at home work, etc. to allow people more time to
parent (I apologize to all English language lovers out there who bemoan
my misuse of the language by using a noun as a newverb). I hate to say this,
but it's not up to your company to make life easier for you who have FREELY
CHOSEN to have children at the expense of those who FREELY CHOOSE not to
have children. The costs to provide benefits for two people doing the same
job as one person or to provide extra equipment to work at home must be gotten
somewhere. This is usually subsidized by the entire company. This includes
MANY people who will never benefit from the services provided.
I don't begrudge your choice to have children. I do resent the fact
that some of you seem to believe that other people in your company have the
obligation to lighten your responsibilities of being BOTH a parent and an
employee (by your own choice) by forcing changes in the workplace which will
increase business costs at the expense of others (I'm sorry, but we're trying
to save money which we spent by giving benefits to 200 people instead of 100
people. No raise this year.).
You made the choice to have children. How about taking the added
responsibilities without forcing others to pay for it?
Frank Adrian
P.S. I know that it's always been hard to raise children. But why should that
stop you if you really want them? And why try to lighten the burden on your-
selves by putting more burdens on the backs of others.
P.P.S. I also think that I should say that these opinions are my own and may not
reflect the views of Tektronix, Inc., who employ me.
pre...@uicsl.uucp
uicsl!preece Sep 15 09:02:00 1983
I'd like to see a little broader notion of 'quality time' than just
time spent 'verbally communicating.' I think quality time is any time
you give your children in which you are directly and obviously responsive
to what they want. If they want to watch tv, ok, let them do it in your
lap. If they want you to build castles with their Legos, that's ok. The point
is that it's time when they know they have your attention, whether you're
talking or not. I've been fortunate in my employment -- I can get home a
lot earlier than most people, so I've been more a part of my kids' lives
than many men, but even my brother-in-law the (medical) doctor spends
more than 38 seconds a day paying attention to his kids.
As to daycare, I think parttime daycare is very valuable to kids in
several ways. I think kids need some time every day when they are NOT
the center of attention. I think kids need to learn to deal with kids
their own age long before school. I think kids need to learn early on
that the world doesn't end if Mommy and Daddy are both away for a while.
But I definitely don't think 8-to-6 care is a good idea unless it's
the only thing that keeps the wolf from the door.
scott preece
pur-ee!uiucdcs!uicsl!preece
eng...@ihuxs.uucp
Being a woman doesn't mean I'm a parent.
pre...@uicsl.uucp
uicsl!preece Sep 12 11:21:00 1983
I hate to suggest new notefiles, but it might be interesting to have
a group called something like net.kids or net.parenting for the
discussion of the obvious subject. Given the age distribution of the
industry, there must be a lot of us with young kids, and there's no good
reason for parenting to be a sub-topic within net.women.
scott preece
pur-ee!uiucdcs!uicsl!preece