Child Care Part 1: The Juggling Act

Child care is an ongoing issue that we have.

For years when Kimmie was in after-school care or summer programs we worried about whether she was being taken care of ok. Are they helping her eat? Are they taking her to the restroom regularly? Is she safe?

Then, a year and a half ago, we lost our child care. At 16 years of age Kimmie was no longer allowed to attend child care with elementary and middle school aged children. It didn't matter that Kimmie is physically about the size of a 9 year old, or that she plays about like a 5 year old, she was 16 and could no longer attend the child care.

Since that time our family has juggled Kimmie's care. Her sister is the primary after-school and summer babysitter. When she is unavailable, brother and grandparents sometimes step in to help or Dad or I sometimes take off work to be with Kimmie.

We tried a couple other options last summer, a day program for adults with developmental disabilities and a summer program for teens with disabilities. Kimmie required too much supervision for the adult program and they cancelled her. The teen program was a little scary since some of the youth were combative. One attacked me when I was picking Kimmie up.

Kimmie likes going to care programs because she likes playing with different toys and it helps break things up so she doesn't get bored.

It's an ongoing challenge that we have to make sure Kimmie always has someone with her and is taken care of properly.

--Mom