Are You Guilty of Joining the Brat Race?

February 28, 2008

If you think parents perusing childcares and preschools for their unnamed, unborn babies is a joke, think again. A recent piece in The Wall Street Journal focused on the ridiculous measures parents resort to in competitive parts of the country and dubbed it the brat race. It said:

As competition for good child care intensifies, parents in many regions are finding themselves on long wait lists, particularly for infant and toddler care; some are trying to nail down slots even before their babies are conceived. The trend poses a challenge for parents, who may not know how far to plan ahead and how to navigate the wait lists.

Did you put your child on a premature wait list for childcare or preschool?

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11 Comments

bbcobby 5 years 11 weeks

I would put my eggs on the waiting list for the pre-school and private k-12 school that I want my children to attend if I could.

Novaraen 5 years 11 weeks

I had a super hard time finding a daycare with two openings for my twin boys. I did have to put them on a wait list...but eventually i found a different place to enroll them. Its not easy having two kids to put in daycare...and its costly too. Some of them will give you a discount...but it isnt much more than like 20 bucks. *sigh*...atleast i was fortunate enough to stay home with them until they were 2..i cant imagine having to leave your newborn with someone for the day. :(

JudyRie 5 years 11 weeks

Nope. Planning on homeschooling, so not an issue.

jennifer76 5 years 11 weeks

If the only way to get your children good care is to get them on the list as early as possible, why <em>wouldn't</em> you? As far as I can tell, all this signals is that there aren't enough decent child care and education options. :?

jennifer76 5 years 11 weeks

If the only way to get your children good care is to get them on the list as early as possible, why wouldn't you? As far as I can tell, all this signals is that there aren't enough decent child care and education options. :?

amers230 5 years 11 weeks

my cousin was talking about something like this happening in baltimore. there are so few childcare centers available that they put themselves on a waiting list while his wife was still pregnant i think. and it wasn't even for some ritzy private school, i'm pretty sure their son just goes to a fairly common daycare. cah-razy.

peepshow 5 years 11 weeks

It seems a vicious cycle if you're signing up before you have a child- then the wait list is even longer b/c there are names on the list that technically aren't backed up by a real person! What do you do if they call your Unborn's name and there is no human to enroll?

Ericka 5 years 11 weeks

I'm actually currently looking for a preschool. Especially after my friend told me she put her son on a wait list a month before he was born and he's now a year and she's still waiting.

b5 5 years 11 weeks

it is not ridiculous to get on a waitlist while pregnant. It is practical. If the wait list at every daycare within miles of your work or home is six months to a year (as it is in many urban areas), of course you have to get on the list before the baby is born. The other option is to hire a nanny, which is far more expensive and not what every family wants or can afford. And it's certainly has nothing to do with the personality of your child.

b5 5 years 11 weeks

lickety split 5 years 12 weeks

no. but i don't see how a parent wanting their child in a certain school would make the child a brat.

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