... another bad story coming out of Quebec's daycare system. A model for the rest of Canada, indeed. :\

This isn't as bad as leaving a child out in freezing temperatures for four hours, but could easily have been worse if the child had an illness or had woken up alone. How much trouble could a toddler get into while completely unsupervised?

I have to remind myself every once in awhile that, thankfully, this nightmare of a system will not be coming to Alberta. We won't have to pay taxes to support it, we won't have to hear horror stories from friends who need to use it, and we will definitely not be using it ourselves.

I'm thankful that, finally, our choices as parents will be respected. When Matt and I got married, we talked about our views on kids and childrearing beforehand so there were no surprises afterwards. We both feel that having a parent at home with the wee ones (especially when they are young, before they get to school) is the right choice for us and our family, and I'm glad we're not going to be punished by the government for that choice.

I've heard so many people say lately that they have no choice, they need to go back to work, have to put their kids in daycare, etc. etc. etc. There is almost always a choice. I hate being told that I'm so lucky to be able to stay home - we are making sacrifices to make this work because it is a choice and not fate or luck or anything else. We don't have a big fancy house. We don't have a second vehicle. We don't go on a yearly tropical vacation. We don't do these things so we can do what is right for our family - having a parent at home who loves and cares for them and can be there just for them.

I don't think you're ever going to be able to pay a stranger enough to care for your child the same way, and in Quebec, it seems they care a heck of a lot less.

Edited to add: Fantastic entry at Kerplonka about all the reasons to run from a Liberal-style top-down union-run daycare system, and more childcare opinion at Choice for Childcare. Apparently today is a blog burst so I'll try to write more about childcare later.