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• Tuesday, December 6, 2005 08:29 AM

  I opted out.

  For a couple of reasons, which I'll get to in a moment. But I wanted to say at the outset that my life doesn't sound anything like the Total180! people's. And also that I would never in a million years buy a magazine with a "!" in the title. Especially a women's magazine. That's way too perky for this curmudgeon.

  Back to opting out, it wasn't so much that I opted out of the work force (because I do work part-time), it was that I opted out of the lifestyle race. I don't need to work a fancy job so that other people will "respect" me, and I don't need a McMansion and a brand-new car and Jimmy Choos and a pantload of credit card debt to go with all of that. *That's* what I opted out of. My husband and I live comfortably but modestly on his salary, and that's fine with both of us.

  The other reason was that I grew up in very crappy daycare. Daycare is fine if you can find a quality childcare situation and if your kid likes it, but I know exactly what it's like to be away from your parents most of the day and miserable about it. I wasn't going to do that to my kids if I could help it. I can help it, so there you go. I don't think some parents really appreciate how stressful full-time daycare can be (note that I said CAN BE, not IS) for kids. And like somebody said upthread, you don't get to pick whether you get the kid who can't wait to get to daycare or the one who bawls and grabs your leg as you're heading out the door.

  One more thing--I don't think my job is that hard. But I have an easy kid, so that makes a huge difference.

  —NicoleM Read NicoleM's other letters
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