In July of this year the Canadian Federal Government starting issuing a Child Care Credit of $100.00 a month to the lowest income parent for each child under the age of six. My sister and I are having a few differing opinions on this. She says that stay at home parents shouldn’t receive this unless they have a “real job“. If you don’t have to pay for daycare then it shouldn’t count. My initial reaction was to give her a swift kick in the ass for this, especially since she has three children of her own but I have now decided she just do doesn’t know any better.

She runs a company and works very hard at what she does. She also wanted to live on the lake so her entire family has moved in with my parents. It’s a big house and they can live separately in the same house. This also means she has live in babysitters in my parents. She can have a shower whenever she wants, go to the store alone, lie down when she isn’t feeling well etc… She just doesn’t understand how hard things can really be. Hubby and I have pretty much no one. My Father in law lives close by, but by that I mean forty five minutes away. Even with that he is from a different generation. He will be great when Thing 1 is older and more independent but not so much when he is still little. He doesn’t change diapers, has no idea what to feed him or how to do any of the baby/toddler stuff. When Thing 1 is old enough to let Grandpa know what he wants Thing 2 won’t be so it won’t help. When we do need a baby sitter he can only handle a few hours and we have to plan it out a long time in advance. We have to make a list of what to do when and also try to time it so we’re gone a short enough time where no diapers need to be changed.

Do you see the differences in challenges both my sister and I face? She gets breaks so her experiences as a parent are totally different.

Recently I have become a stay at home mom. We haven’t decided if it is permanent or temporary yet. I love what I do but two kids in daycare for $350.00 a week ($175.00 per child a week) plus my commuting costs almost don’t make it worth it. I’m not exactly sure what is going to happen yet and won’t make a decision until the spring. The part that is making it hard is the comments I am getting from others, like my sister for example. Some people just can’t understand why I would possibly feel fulfilled staying at home. It’s like I am not a real person unless I have an outside job. I brush these comments off and don’t argue my point since they won’t see it. It still eats me up inside though. Why do people feel the need to criticize my decisions? Why don’t people consider raising children a real job? It may not give me a paycheck but it’s the hardest job I’ve ever had. It tests my skills every minute, I don’t get to escape from it after 8 hours, there are no vacation days or sick days and it is always changing.