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SeaStar
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| Posted: April 11 2011 at 9:02pm | IP Logged
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How ironic- I am feeling the effects of reverse discrimination.
About a month ago I tried to take my dc roller skating at the local rink.
I called for hours and was astonished to hear that the rink has only 3 public sessions a week- and one of those is on Monday nights.
I talked to the manager, who explained that with all their "after school" programs and "summer camps" they just don't have the available hours to let the public in more often. After I hung up it hit me- the roller rink is a day care! 
So that was a shock to me. Then this weekend at a local museum I saw a list of many interesting programs that are being offered this summer. But there were no dates listed. So I asked at the front desk and was told that those programs are mainly for day care and "summer programs" (daycare)
and have to be scheduled for groups of more than 10.
How I WISH I had ten kids of my own and could book a private showing  But honestly- I am beginning to feel shut out. Is the whole world catering to daycare and "nonparent" child care?
Is this happening in your area?
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Melinda, mom to ds ('02) and dd ('04)
SQUILT Music Appreciation
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: April 11 2011 at 9:38pm | IP Logged
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we don't have anything like that in our area. The only thing that we have similiar I think is still 2 hrs away.. and so we don't tend to plan to go for A program.. but they have programs that run during week days.. those might be more like what you're dealing with.. but on weekends everything is open and I don't think we've ever been there on a weekday because we would go when we had to be in the area for other things.. that usually happen on the weekend.
Of course one of those times I took our then 8 kids by myself because DH needed to be there for something for the Knights of Columbus.. and since we had to pay the gas for the drive.. we all went and I took the kids to the museum. I think every single person in the museum that we interacted with told me I was amazing.  I guess they're just not used to a group of kids that behaves well enough to be an 8:1 ratio.. how sad is that. But the kids had a BLAST. It happened to be when they had the 1880's sawmill running so we got to watch that and the kids got to try using a misery whip  actually the older two together could get it working pretty well. After we got back to pick up DH I told him that he was married to the "amazing mother of 8"
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Jodie, wife to Dave
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mom2mpr
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| Posted: April 11 2011 at 9:48pm | IP Logged
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Some.
When we moved I would take my kids to playgrounds and meet...no one. We were so disappointed. It made it so hard to make new friends when the kids were all in school or daycare and both parents working.
We are able, by going through homeschool groups, to get enough people to do field trips during the days. We have found recently that area museums are wanting homeschoolers because the schools have funding cuts and cannot do but one field trip a year. 
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Anne, married to dh 16 years!, ds,(97), Little One (02), and dd (02).
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CatholicMommy
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| Posted: April 11 2011 at 11:24pm | IP Logged
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The museums "near" us (we're not actually near anything - but near*est*) set up programs for homeschoolers as well. My son and I were at the natural history museum one day just on our own - it happened to coincide with a homeschool program, but we didn't participate with that as we were there for our own purposes - wow, you could feel the difference when the homeschool were there/not and when the daycare kids were there/not - the place was DEAD without those groups!
I'm just starting to call around to local-ish factories and the like to see about doing tours - the ones I've called thus far are open to homeschoolers but they want a group (and they don't just have a weekly scheduled tour time or anything like that). And well, one mom and one son does not make a group - even three kids does not make a group! I understand about the need to pay employees and have them functional, etc. too - so it's hard.
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SeaStar
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| Posted: April 12 2011 at 6:24am | IP Logged
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mom2mpr wrote:
Some.
When we moved I would take my kids to playgrounds and meet...no one. We were so disappointed. It made it so hard to make new friends when the kids were all in school or daycare and both parents working. |
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We still encounter that... going to a park and being the only ones there.
mom2mpr wrote:
We are able, by going through homeschool groups, to get enough people to do field trips during the days. We have found recently that area museums are wanting homeschoolers because the schools have funding cuts and cannot do but one field trip a year.
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We also try to go in with groups of other homeschoolers, and sometimes that works well. Others not. But the places and events here are not out looking for us (HS groups). There is definitely that push to get the day care dollars.
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Melinda, mom to ds ('02) and dd ('04)
SQUILT Music Appreciation
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kristacecilia
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| Posted: April 12 2011 at 6:50am | IP Logged
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Yes, it's like that here, too. I can't figure out when I can get my kids in swimming lessons because most pools don't offer them anymore. They just offer summer camp type deals instead. I am not putting my kids in summer day camp. I just want them to take swimming lessons!
Also, we are usually the only ones at the park. Everyone else is in school or at daycare.
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Krista
Wife to a great guy, mom to two boys ('04, '06) and three girls ('08, '10, '12!)
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Christine
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| Posted: April 12 2011 at 7:16am | IP Logged
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This is definitely happening in our area. Our local community center turns into a day care during every school vacation. They even advertise there summer day camps as an "alternative to day care". There "camps" run all day long, every day of the week during the public school vacations.
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Christine
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guitarnan
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| Posted: April 12 2011 at 7:39am | IP Logged
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You're absolutely right.
Where I live, there are still families at the playgrounds after school - sometimes with au pairs or nannies or grandmas instead of moms, but we have a decent percentage of SAHMs, too.
Krista, try calling pools that belong to specific housing communities instead of your city. Our community pool offers swim lessons - the traditional kind - and they accept nonmembers for a slightly (like, $7) higher fee.
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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SaraP
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| Posted: April 12 2011 at 6:49pm | IP Logged
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We've run into the problem that the children's museums are often no fun during the school day because they are so full of wild, wild, WILD groups of school/daycare kids. But I have also found that when we go to these museums during the first few days when schools are back after a vacation we have the place pretty much to ourselves.
I have also had very good luck with the Smithsonian museums allowing us to use independently materials they have for school programs if I call ahead and plan our trip for a day when they don't have any school groups scheduled.
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4Real Forums : Mothering and Family Life
Topic: It's a Day Care World
