'Toronto hates families': One mom fed up with high cost of child care
"I'm over it, I'm over being a parent right now. That's not the nicest thing to say, but it's the most honest. I'm just so over it. I'm so done."
To say that Rhiannon Archer is frustrated with Toronto's lack of affordable childcare is an understatement. Both she and her husband work full time, and she freelances on the side. Their non-standard schedules, coupled with the fact they can't afford to pay many of the private daycare prices, have left them scrambling for child care.
"My child care situation right now is basically begging and pleading and bartering," she said. "I don't have anyone I can go to. I barter with other moms being like 'can I drop him off for two hours and then whenever you need I can take your child?'"
To find affordable child care, she's asked friends who've "never changed a diaper before," to watch her 16-month-old son Jude, and placed an ad on Craigslist.
"I wasn't too comfortable with it ... and I'd rather find someone you know, with more references than some rando on Craigslist."
"I've pestered a lot of daycares," she said. "I would be so annoyed if somebody phoned and emailed as much as I have."
While Archer has been able to maintain a sense of humour about the situation, the anxiety it is causing is no joke.
"It really casts a horrible shadow over what should be some of the best times of your life. Just the sheer cost of it breaks my heart," she said. "We should feel confident in who we leave our children with, and we should aso not be put in financial ruin. I know this is very blunt, but I just feel that Toronto hates families at this point."
Archer's friend Rachel is facing a similar struggle. Rachel had always thought she'd have two children, but the child care costs are so high it's affecting when, and even if, she has a second child.
"That probably shouldn't be the reason why we delay having another baby, it should be about what's right for our family."