The Tagesstätte Issue

The trouble when you are living abroad is – you have no relatives within your reach. Kong meron man, nakatira naman ito sa malayo kaya hindi rin posibling hingian ng tulong na kailangan mo. Haay naku, bakit nga ba ang buhay ay napakomplikado. Before I started going to school, everything was settled perfectly. Gillian started going to Kindergarten from morning til noon and I don’t have to worry about his lunchbreak and lunch dahil ang Kindergarten na pinapasukan niya ay may Tagesstätte day care din. We are paying €380.00 a month for both KG and day care. It’s quite expensive, but NRW Nordhein-Westfalia region has a very different computation compared to all other regions here in Germany. The monthly fee is based on the gross income of the primary breadwinner. Here in this region, the Kindergarten is free of charge if one earns less or don’t earn a penny at all. Nice huh? But then, the institution will get the money from the big earner. Sounds unfair, but we have no other choice because we are living in a welfare state. Well, Germany is in general a welfare state, but this particular Kindergarten Fee regulation is not practiced in a richer regions. Oh, medyo napalayo ako sa topic but I have to mention it because it’s part of this issue.

Okay, so we thought everything is settled what Gillian concerns. Until yesterday evening, there was a meeting in Kindergarten, and the major discussion was about the closing of the day care due to lack of personnel and that the government is saving therefore they can’t hire addiditonal staff. Whoa! I just can’t believe it. The head staff has given us the new schedule which I find impossible. This matter does not only concerns me but also to all other working mothers. How can I possibly pick up my son at 1:00 P.M when infact my classes is until 3:00 P.M? I felt so helpless about this. Buti sana kong sana Pilipinas ako, I can immediately hire someone. Or I can ask a relative to do this for me. We simply have no one to ask a favor here and I don’t feel comfortable of the idea of hiring a person who is completely a stranger to us. What a shit!

Now, we are thinking of inviting my mother to come here and stay with us ’til I’m done with my studies. It’s not final yet…but I can’t think of another solution.