Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Childcare subsidies

[Kay Argyle (argyle]

In the dominant Utah (LDS) culture, having/raising children is regarded as a
noble duty.  People who choose to be childless are regarded as selfish -- I
remember neighborhood grownups making sneering comments about a neighbor's
purchase of a new tv, instead of spending the money having a new baby.  The
government joins in with preferential treatment.  For those of us who see
the matter from quite the opposite perspective -- people selfishly making as
many copies of themselves as they can, crowding out open space, using up
more of the world's resources, and then expecting to be *thanked* -- this is
maddening, and yes, a sense of resentment arises.  Unfortunately this does
come with us into cohousing.

Our group compromised by subsidizing childcare during the planning stages.
Since move-in, the parents committee has its own budget and can spend it as
they see fit; I don't know if this has included childcare (until recently,
the kids were almost all school age and needed only loose supervision during
meetings, playing in the children's room or outside) -- and honestly, I
don't care anymore if the community is picking up the full cost; I've gotten
more relaxed on the issue.

Kay Argyle
Wasatch Commons
Salt Lake City, Utah
argyle [at] mines.utah.edu

_______________________________________________
Cohousing-L mailing list
Cohousing-L [at] cohousing.org  Unsubscribe  and other info:
http://www.communityforum.net/mailman/listinfo/cohousing-l