As a working parent, I sometimes feel discriminated against. There have been numerous times during the past few years that I have wanted to sign my children up for activities that are just not available on the weekends.
Being in the working world, I certainly understand that for businesses (especially small businesses) the frequency and timeframes in which services are delivered is dependent upon demand. In other words, if the business will get more customers during the week and not many on the weekends, then I understand that it may not be possible to offer services over the weekends.
That being said, we just recently signed up for a pool club after being on a waiting list for 2 years. As a family, we are all excited about this and are really looking forward to our upcoming summers there. But I have to admit that when I was told that they do not offer swim lessons over the weekends, I was a bit frustrated. I have now spoken with about 4 or 5 parents who all have the same issue. So why wouldn't they offer the lessons over the weekends? Or at 5pm so that I could at least leave a little bit early once per week to take the kids over.
Sometimes I want to shout to the world that the scheduling challenges for working families are tough and I wish that businesses, companies and individuals would spend a bit more time to make things accessible for all and not just the stay-at-home parents.
I have a few choices...pay for private lessons at the club, sign up somewhere else (probably will not get spots now since it's high season) or try to speak with someone at the club about the situation. We'll see how it goes...
Cheers,
Renay
2 comments:
My husband and I were having the same issue with swim lessons. Right now our son is too young (3m), but when he turns at an appropriate age, all lessons are during the day. We did finally find one place (Aquatots) that offers some classes at 6pm. You'd think that since most families have two working parents now, that more activities would be offered during the day.
Hi Renay,
What you are writing about is so true in every part of the world. I am here in India, miles away from where you sit and write and I still face the same problems.
There are little or no activities that I can enrol my 2 year old in that we can all enjoy over the weekend. It's so not fair to working mothers.
Btw, I love your posts. You are as if echoing my sentiments. Keep writing.
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