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Jun 22, 2022

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A newsletter, community that a social change laboratory for moms. Created by Katherine Goldstein.

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Double Shifter just shared her story about going on waitlist at 16 weeks prg staying on daycare waitlist after her baby died at 24 weeks prg and then getting offered a slot 3 yrs later for a subsequent child. I just cannot even.

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Katherine Goldstein Retweeted

Feb 3

Sometimes I feel like the world is divided btw people who've spent some portion of their life desperately revolving around trying to get expensive childcare & personally solving for catastrophic publicly policy failures & the people who literally have no idea this is going on

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Rep. Julie von Haefen

@juliefornc

Feb 3

👀 North Carolina is losing $3.5 BILLION a year because of our lack of access to affordable infant-toddler care. Childcare IS an economic issue.

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Dan Wuori

@DanWuori

Feb 2

How much is lack of affordable infant toddler care costing your state each year? @Ready_Nation @strongnationUSA break this down in their newest report.

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Feb 3

leaving a child home alone all day during virtual school as a single parent who had to work, sending your covid exposed toddler to stay with your parents bc you were out of sick time to take off, planning to spend 1000s to scope and place deposits for daycare in a new city...

even parents who have teenagers now really may not be in tune to how dire the situation has become. These comments from Double Shift Newsletter readers are just the tip of the iceberg.

What’s the Most Desperate Thing You’ve Done to Secure Childcare? (Thread)

Normally, our Thursday thread is a perk for paying members of The Double Shift. Today I'm opening it up for commenting to all.

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I had a great time reporting this newsletter and digging into feminist history with the support of

we now must spend our time fighting for summer camp spots at 9:01am on January 27th to even get access to pay thousands of dollars so we can work and support our kids, contribute to society and the economy.

The Little-Known History of Your Desperate Summer Camp Struggle

Here we are in 2023 paying the literal price for Richard Nixon’s veto because he wanted to look tough on communists for the 1972 election.

Rather than fighting for the idea that childcare should be widely available and affordable for all to enjoy, like a public park...

So here we are, 52 years later, paying the literal price for Richard Nixon’s veto because he wanted to look tough on communists for the 1972 election.

His veto statement promoted the idea that universal child care was un-American, an affront to individualism and the nuclear family, with plenty of subtext sprinkled in that daycare also went against traditional Christian values.

Universal daycare passed both houses of Congress with bi-partisan support...at was vetoed by Richard Nixon. But it wasn't JUST the veto that did in the movement, it's the way he framed it.

– for their own interests, activism and self-actualization outside the lonely drudgery of raising children in a nuclear family.

Universal childcare wasn’t initially envisioned as merely a tool to enable women to work in traditional 9 to 5s. It was conceived as a necessary right in order for women to have time for themselves...

Childcare access was positioned not only as an essential service for the increasing numbers of mothers entering the workforce but more generally for women to contribute to society in any way they saw fit.

Y'all, did you know that in 1967 there was wide support for the idea that quality childcare should be seen as a public good and funded similarly to libraries, parks, and public schools?

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Thank you Judith for this thoughtful response! excited to continue to integrate the idea of sabbath rest through a gender/caregiver lens

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Judith Shulevitz

@JudithShulevitz

Jan 26

.@KGeee So that you don't think I neglect women's work when I talk about the Sabbath, herewith, excerpts from my Forward article. The Sabbath never offered respite to one kind of laborer, and that's the housewife. She's left off the list in the Ten Commandments: 1/-

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Jan 26

reading about 1970s feminists who pushed a platform for universal childcare to be freely available like public parks and seeing the report that households average 19% of their income on childcare now... man capitalism is a sham

Jan 25

Also, I'm here doing thoughtful, feminist, non-corporate journalism on mothers and caregivers every week.. join me

The Double Shift Newsletter

A newsletter about the forces that shape family life in America and challenging the status quo of motherhood. Written by Katherine Goldstein.

I don’t have perfect answers for how to bring what I'm calling “rest culture” into our lives, (when the biggest problem is capitalism!) but here are a few concrete ideas in the hopes of allowing us to take baby steps into imagining a more restful world

What Is a “Sabbath” When You Are a Caregiver?

The idea of weekly Sabbath in Judeo-Christian traditions seems created by and for the benefit of men. A traditional Sabbath is predicated on the idea that “women’s work” is not labor at all.

This week I'm riffing off a podcast conversation between

@ezraklein

@JudithShulevitz

because they didn't reach a satisfying answer to my burning questions: What does a sabbath look like when you are caregiver? and who is "rest" typically for?

"In our society, mothers are often socialized to justify 'personal time' by filling with domestic needs that serve others."

Anyone have good book, podcast or other media recs on this history of the US labor movement?

Jan 25

already paid for 4 other weeks LAST YEAR for this summer

i'm feeling the triumphant high of getting my kid in all 6 weeks of camp I was angling for by completing my registration by 9:01 on opening day, total cost $1730. Conclusion: this country is the worst

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"When you are in a default parent role, especially for a long period of time, it can lead you to compromise some of the desires that you have for your career. "

Sometimes gender equality at home can seem so daunting, which is why I love

@dramberthornton

's extremely concrete and practical tips for undoing default parenting today in the newsletter

The power of undoing “default parenting”

How to identify and undo "default parenting"with Dr. Amber Thornton.

How we divide caregiver labor at home has everything to do who with who thrives at work.

I will be going strong with the lovely double shift community and newsletter, so you can read about my non-resolutions here at sign up, too.

Three Things I’m Doing Differently This Year

I’m recognizing that time off of paid work is not the same as rest.

3. I'm setting some ACHIEVABLE professional goals for the year. I’ve set professional goals for myself in the past, especially during the podcast days, but they were usually overly ambitious, and somewhat manic, so I either forgot about them or felt bad about not achieving them.

2. I'm relishing the ability to plan some things after 3 yrs of pandemic, and 7 yrs of professional reinventions and moving

I don't do resolutions, but instead I'm focusing on some hard won changes I'm bringing into the new year. 1. Recognizing that time off of paid work is NOT the same as rest, esp when you are traveling + caring for little kids + dealing w/illness.

and feel free to send me ideas and tips!

I'll be publishing op-eds etc on my findings, and you'll be able to read extended interviews and additional ideas in my newsletter in the coming months, stay tuned.