We have just finished celebrating another commercial time of year, Easter.  These things come around too fast for me.  It seems that Christmas has only just finished.  Next is mother’s day and then what…. It seems that every year the shopping list of gifts grows longer, mostly for the children as the marketers know that parents are any easy target. 

I must admit that I didn’t even go down the chocolate easter egg isle at the supermarket this year.  I’m not saying my children went without their chocolate treat this year.  It’s impossible to avoid with our four year old.  In her Montessori class she made the standard egg basket in which her teacher kindly placed several chocolate eggs which disappeared immediately after lunch on the day she received them.  She counted down to Easter for the entire week prior and I couldn’t be the one responsible for the disappointment on her face on Easter morning if the Easter bunny hadn’t been?

What my children didn’t receive was the latest licenced carton character themed gift.  The chocolate is always of poor quality and the remainder of the gift usually lays broken at the bottom of my rubbish bin within two days.

Now unfortunately I am not the most crafty of people so I will confess to having purchased two beautiful decorative eggs on string and some small chocolate eggs for a treat.  These were presented using cut up tissue paper and cane baskets, all from previous gifts received.  The girls were delighted with their gifts and went about sharing their chocolates and leaving chocolate crumbs all over the house.

Now in case you are wondering why I am feeling particularly passionate about the enormous amount of consumerism that surrounds us, it is due to recently being given the opportunity to view a short video called The Story of Stuff by Annie Leonard.  It is with great humour that Annie Leonard presents a factual tale about our global production of consumer goods and the detriment to our planet and neighbours. 

The short video presents some frightening statistics, many of things that I had never considered before, and with those statistics you begin to understand just how badly we are treating our planet and how urgent change is. 

 The video only takes about 20 minutes to watch and the facts are presented simply so that even young children will benefit.

Simply enter the website and watch the video through your browser, no downloading to your pc required.  And if you feel that it is worth passing on then perhaps you may also wish to forward the link onto your friends.

We must remember that as consumers we have the power to make a difference by purchasing products that have been manufactured in a way to minimalise their impact on the environment.  We must all strive to reuse and recycle, reducing waste and slowing our consumption of natural rescources.  And we must consider the human impact of our purchases, has everyone in the manufacturing and distribution process been treated fairly?  So, let’s all make a change, for it is definitely time. 

I very recently read an article criticising working mothers and their use of long daycare facilities.  The article begins by depicting young children out in the playground at 5.30pm looking around nervously awaiting their mother’s arrival and it pulls at your heart strings whilst mentioning a young boy standing in the cold at the fence.  Whilst the writer has done a very good job at creating a sad picture I feel that the intent was cruel and unfair to most working mothers.  The article suggests that we are glorifying working mothers who use long daycare facilities to further their own careers and lifestyles at the expense of their children’s emotional development.

Living in Brisbane, Australia I know of many families where parents struggle financially for about six months to a year after the birth of their child, before they are forced to return to work for at least most of the working week.  Simply the cost of housing, whether renting or buying, has now become so significant that the average income of a young person wishing to start a family can no longer support these costs.  The choice is not always between Johnny and that next promotion, or the shiny new car in the driveway.  For many it is just the financial reality of life.

So what is the alternative?  Wait until we are 45 and financially well off  to start having a family?  My parents became grandparents for the first time at 47 and for that reason they have a fantastic relationship with their eldest grandchild.  I’m not sure that would have been possible if they had to wait until they were 70 living in a retirement village somewhere.  

The writer of this particular article suggests mothers should work from home slotting in work during child sleep times.   I know many mothers dream of having their own business that they can run from home, working around the children.  But many that have tried have soon realised that it is just not that easy.  If you only have one child under two then there may be some time available in the day where you are able to use it for financial gain.  But even then there are many days spent comforting a teething child, or one that is just simply under the weather and needs some extra care.  These days can’t be planned ahead and slotted around important teleconference calls.

And once your child no longer has day sleeps, what then?  How great is it for your marital relationship if you need to work every evening when hubby comes home and the tots in bed?  And what if there is more than one child at home?  What’s more young children soon learn when your attention is being taken away from them as you are urgently trying to send a quick email to avert some disaster.  No matter how much you try to distract them with a book or pen and paper first before sitting down at the computer.

And managing the balance between spending time with your child, household chores and work tasks is an almost impossible feat that you may feel you never succeed in.  And then you the difficulty of finding a means to earn an income from home.  If it means starting your own business, this isn’t necessarily something you can do with your spare five to ten hours per week.  

Now I agree that long daycare facilities aren’t for everyone. In fact our daughter, now four, hated it.  So much so that we eventually decided to change her to the local Montessori school where she has blossomed and truly enjoys her time there.  But I have seen many children that love the daycare environment and have become strong confident little people that have no problems in asserting themselves or creating new friendships.  Not all of them are standing by the fence watching each car go past, desperately looking for Mummy or Daddy.

The most important thing that I feel needs to be said here is that there is no right or wrong answer.  Every family has its own unique situation and its not the responsibility of outsiders to make judgement of the choices parents make.

I too hold empathy for the children of today, of the so-called daycare survivors or middle class warriors.  But I also hold empathy for the parents of those children who feel their only option is to use long daycare facilities to house and feed their family.  I’m sure for most there isn’t a day that goes by where they don’t reflect on what they have missed out on, just what did their child learn today whilst they were away?