Thursday, November 04, 2004

Parenting Lifestyle

It's no coincidence that I started this lifestylism project while I have two young kids at home. Having kids completely changes the equation of lifestyle choices and values. Time management and financial decisions get a lot more complicated and difficult. Rob Paterson pokes into some of these issues in Early Childhood or Early Parenting. I've added some comments there -- if you have any ideas on the topic, please contribute your thoughts too.

I was interested in a related report the same week: The New Realities of Earning and Caring. Instead of proposing more money for daycare programs, they're looking at some of the root causes and concerns surrounding why families feel they have no choice but to put their kids in daycare:
"A single earner and a stay-at-home spouse is a luxury few families with dependent children and seniors can afford.
Therefore, families 'struggle to care' as well as to earn."
Rob also discusses a provincial program on the way out in PEI called Best Start -- it's worth the read if you're at all interested in how helping kids early can pay dividends later on.

1 comment:

Jeremy said...

Wow, Phil. Thanks for this extensive response!

Looks like we've got lots of common ground here. I like what you've said about happy childhoods and quality time. The humour example is excellent -- difficult to quantify or measure, of course, but I think you're onto something.

I don't really like the Lifestylism label much either, but it seems to be working ok as a bucket to throw these ideas into. Glad you're seeing some value. Please comment whenever you feel like it -- I always appreciate feedback. It sounds like you've got the basis for a great site on your own! Let me know if you get one up and running.

Thanks again!