Does the government only value lifestyle choices that lead to taxable income? In a country that so values diversity, why would we want everybody to embrace one method of caring for and teaching our young children? Should we not instead reward and recognize the creativity and sacrifice of all parents by helping whoever has financial need?
I appreciate the attempt to help young families with their financial challenges, because it affirms the importance of our children to society at large. At the risk of using a cliché, they are the future of the country, but to parents, they are more than that. To those of us who work in the trenches, civilizing the next generation, they are not a concept or an ideal. We are the ones who fret and worry about how they will make their way in the world. We are the ones listening to them, putting our arms around them, and looking into their eyes trying to understand the inner workings of their minds. We are the ones strategizing how to handle discipline issues and motivate them to reach for lofty goals. Our motives are pure and have nothing to do with money. To us, their parents, they are not the impersonal entity of the future. To us they are much more. They are everything; for them we would do anything. Who is better qualified to decide what is best for them?
I ask my government to provide funding to families who have financial need, regardless of why they are in financial need. Rather than only helping those who require a child care space, I ask you to trust individual families with the details of how they care and provide for their children.