My Accidental Day Care
October 10, 2024 at 10:23PMWhen Atossa Araxia Abrahamian’s nursery shuts down she sets up a temporary day care in her home. It’s chaos. Abrahaimian holds nothing back as she spirals into desperation, eventually taking up the fight to have her old nursery reopened herself. Day care issues in New York may not seem that significant, but in Abrahmian’s world, it becomes everything.
What even happens at day care, anyway? Before the closure, we’d receive curated videos and photos of painting sessions, dance parties, and free play through an app called Brightwheel. But the actual rhythm of a day at day care was of another world. Day care exists for this purpose: to distance working parents from the tears and tantrums and blowouts that mark every passing hour in the company of toddlers. I felt awkward watching Iris and Raissa take care of my children in my house while I sat around, and I could tell they felt weird being watched as well. They brought lunch and took turns eating outside. They apologized for everything, which made me feel even more useless. My husband, who works from home two days a week, took to hiding in our bedroom, emerging only to make a sandwich that he’d eat on the bedroom floor.
from Longreads https://longreads.com/2024/10/10/my-accidental-day-care/
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