Childcare on the Night Shift

There are times when my “flexible” schedule makes me twist myself into a pretzel to make certain writing assignments, and those times are usually during the night. I need to cover a school board or community meeting, or attend an art exhibit or play, but obviously can’t drag the kids with me. Dad doesn’t get home until 7, factoring in his commute and hot yoga class, which is usually too late for me to make any nighttime engagements.

Now, I’m lucky that my in-laws live in the next town over so I have free, family help I can tap first, but sometimes grandma and grandpa will have the temerity to book a cruise, go to the Indian casino for some wholesome gambling, and basically have, you know, a life. So when I read about this, I was intrigued, and even halfway tempted to ditch my writing career and start one of these nighttime childcare centers in the States. (After all, so many writing jobs are outsourced to India it’d be nice to work it the other way around.)

I wonder how many part-time JAMS could use nighttime care. There’s no reason, with my job, that I shouldn’t be home regularly to tuck my kids in bed, but for those times when I’m in a pinch for a special event, I could see how it would be appealing to drop the kids off for an hour or so until dad could pick them up. So, “night care”–next big thing or nutty?

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