If you ain't got no money, keep yo' broke ass in daycare!

Chugging along towards the twins' second birthday, i have a nagging thought in the back of my head:

how am i supposed to make pre-school work for the girls and myself?

See, here's the thing: around 3 years of age, a lot of parents start thinking about placing their kids in pre-school to prepare them for kindergarten. However, pre-school does not keep your child for the same length of time as daycares do, and many of them don't keep your child 5 days a week.

Which means, if you work, you'll still have to find childcare arrangements for your child until you get off work.

Now, i don't know if you noticed, gentle reader, but it was a nightmare just trying to find a daycare that i could afford. Having completed that mission, i know how to set my sights on finding a pre-school i can afford with aftercare services i can also afford.

Which, in the long run, is going to end up costing me even more money.

That i don't have. And may not have when the time comes because....no one is going to get a raise at my job until fiscal year 10-11.

And we may not even get one then.

Here's the harsh reality of the situation: unfortunately something as important as access to education for your child is based on your financial ability. If you don't have it, then no, little Kimmy is not going to be able to take language classes or go to a award winning pre-school.

and if little Kimmy is poor, she's going to go to her crappy neighborhood school.

and if little Kimmy graduates from a crappy school, she may not do well on her SAT.

but if she does and gets into a school but can't get financial aid, she ain't going to college.

and then Kimmy is going to be working in Burger King, dating convicts, rapping her orders, and telling customers who want to change their orders "Gurrrl, i will CUT.YOU!"












Yeah, yeah, the girls are only 21 months old. I have plenty of time to sort all of this out. But the whole notion has me feeling a little panicky, knowing this new problem is right around the corner.


Kinda like Uncle Frank in the attic, except with eyelids. Being caught out there unprepared can make a person a little jittery....

In Memoriam

When we look back upon the ones who were lost on September 11, 2001, rarely does anyone talk about the children who perished. Children taking trips with parents. Children excitedly flying across the country to take part in a special reward for doing well in school. Sibling groups. 


Children as young as Trixie and Dixie. 


All of the children lost were on the planes. Some had their parents with there to comfort them. Some hopefully were comforted by others on their plane. Comtemplating the horror and devastation felt by those parents left behind is almost too much to bear. 

I want to list these names and not only mourn for the loss their families have suffered but also for the loss to our society. What kind of people would they be now? How would they be doing in school? What colleges would they be attending this fall?


What might these children have accomplished in their lives if given the chance? 

Christine Lee Hanson - Age 2


David Reed Gamboa Brandhorst - Age 3


Dana Falkenberg - Age 3


Juliana Valentine McCourt - Age 4


Zoe Falkenberg - Age 8


Bernard Curtis Brown II - Age 11


Asia S. Cottom - Age 11


Rodney Dickens - Age 11