Babies

Imagine that you are a single mother with two kids who has lost her job and been evicted from her apartment. You have been staying with friends, but you have been asked to leave. You are homeless. Where do...

Once I had explained our reasons for naming our friends legal guardian and reassured her that she would be part of Sam’s life, no matter what, things were easier. The honesty felt good.

Having reached a point where your grief has subsided to intermittent passing thoughts rather than a constant state of pain, technology throws a punch in the form of an algorithm from Facebook-land. A little message pops up to remind you that "5 years ago today you... were just letting everyone know that you "won't actually be having a baby in July, no heartbeat."" And you will get to relive that grief all over again.

In regards to parenting a young child, a dear friend once told me, “don’t lose yourself in the temporary.” It had been a tough day of juggling parenting and work – all my resources felt drained. From work deadlines...

Here's the thing—I secretly love it. I love that my son seeks us out for comfort. Even though the rational part of me is concerned about him relying on us too much. I love when I wake up first and my husband has a 30 pound toddler snuggled up next to his long torso. When I really think about it, these years will never come again.

The struggle to find child care is a constant battle and can cause major stress. It's a challenge to balance a convenient location, the number of facilities you have to pick up and drop off from (why do so few facilities take infants?!?) and the cost of care for multiple children.

Some child care centers, like the one my kids attend, offer extra curricular classes like dance or martial arts where they bring the instructor into the center to conduct class during the day. I was more than willing to pay extra for this class for the luxury of being able to skip the wait-list for a Saturday morning dance class we could otherwise attend and I not having to drive there. I wish there were more opportunities like that.

Costwise, In Home Child Care in Colorado Springs generally ranges from about $125 -$180 per week, per child depending on the operation. This rate often covers the hourly rate, plus any food the child consumes for meals and snacks. It usually does not cover diapers, wipes and formula.

Sometimes however, the main consideration is the hourly rate of childcare versus the hourly rate for the parents. Depending on your situation, sometimes the math just doesn't justify one alternative over the other. Fortunately, there are programs to help when ends don't meet.

As the employer, you actually need to budget for quite a bit more than the hourly rate. When you hire a nanny as a household employee, you have to pay Social Security and Medicare for that person, as well as unemployment insurance and often payroll services