The big story on the news yesterday was the findings from a study by the National Institutes of Health, that said that the more time children spent in daycare in their early years, the more behavior problems they had as older kids.  Day care linked to later behavior problems

This is not the kind of news that is easy to hear for working parents that don't have any other options for child care.  The positive finding was that there was a correlation between early child care and larger volcabularies in the younger kids.

What do you think about this story, and will it change anything you are doing with your kids?

I work part time and my daughter asked me last night if I wanted to work full time.  I used to be a flight attendant, which is hard work on the days you are working, but you get a lot of flexibility and lots more days off than a regular full time job.  You work a lot of holidays, weekends and weird hours to get that, though.

I wonder how well I would do at a full-time desk job.  It has to be hard to get your job done, and get all the other stuff in your life taken care of.  How do you manage to get it all done?  Is your employer flexible?  Do you just give up sometimes?

My son and I were visiting my father last weekend and talking about all sorts of things.  We got on the topic of work.  My father used to work for a large company as an aeronautical engineer.  He worked on a lot of classified projects, but even when he could tell us what he was doing, I had no concept of what he did.  Something about stress and loads-- with a lot of math involved-- not exactly my strong point.

On the other hand, my job is pretty basic and I'm glad my kids can relate to what I do.  My kids are in middle school, and I think it is important to start talking to them about work.  They are starting to get jobs themselves and can now relate to the working world.  They are also learning that a lot of your job has to do with interpersonal relationships.  People want their babysitters, dog walkers and grass cutters to be polite and friendly, also.  And a job well-done will get you recommendations for other jobs. 

There are a never ending stream of teachable moments.  I find that if I am negative about working, the kids are soaking it all in.  So I try to be positive and give them details of my day.  I'm hoping it will help give them a realistic picture of the working world, for the time is coming soon that they will be getting full-time jobs.

I just started back to work this year, so I am running into things that other parents have had to deal with before.  I'm only working part time, which makes it easier, but it is Spring Break time! 

My daughter was asked to go to the beach with a friend, so she will be gone.  My son and I can use some one -on-one time, so I'm glad he will be here, but I'm not exactly sure how to schedule myself.  I need to work some, but I hate to leave him too much.  He's 13, and has started sleeping in like a teenager, so I think he won't even notice I'm gone in the mornings.  It just feels wierd! 

This makes me start thinking about summer and the challenges it will present.  I am going to have to get myself organized.  Any suggestions or tips?