the dilemmas of working parents

Today was another cold morning and I sure didn't want to get out of bed I forced myself out of bed and jr heard me of course and cried so I took him out of the crib and brought him to the livingroom.  He's been cranky for the past few days b/c of fever and we think he may have pink eye.  I hope not b/c it's contagious.  I was late to work today thanks to the wonderfully competent MTA the buses came 3 at a time and the one I was on decided he wanted to let us off mid way b/c it was too much work for him to drive up to the bus stop and let us off so we winded up getting off between a big heap of snow and passing cars.  I was so annoyed I had to pick him up and hurry up and cross the street.  I get to the sitter and give her the children's motrin and she asks me if I had taken him to the dr but I couldn't b/c all of them were closed due to the snow.  I told I her I didn't have a chance and just when I arrive to work 13 minutes late a little while after that my cell phone goes off and it's her telling me that he has discharge coming from his eye and I thought he didn't have any when he was at home either way she says she has pink eye and how she had to keep him away from the other kids  and how it's contagious and not fair to the other kids or her now I get this but don't make it seem like I knowingly brought my son to you with pink eye and couldn't be bothered b/c I had to get to work now that maybe the case for a lot of parents but it's not with me.  I then was stuck with the dilemma of having to leave work early or his father leaving early and I opted for him to leave early.  I was pissed off at first initially b/c he tells me to leave MY job and I thought why is it that men always say so are you going to leave early? I said I don't think so I don't have enough time off so I have to be careful and I was already out due to snow so I thought it was only fair he left and he did.  He says that he didn't see any discharge either I think she just wanted him out of the daycare so that the other kids weren't around him.  I made the appointment for the dr and I hope that they will give him something for it but another dilemma was he will have to be out of daycare until he gets better this is the hardest part for working parents these are times I wish I was home with my child b/c no one will take care of your child like you do and who wants to worry about having to answer to a manager boss or having to worry about having paid time off? I sure wish I didn't.  Some women can be a parent and not have to worry about being a provider but some have to be both parent and provider or partial provider in my case.  I think society has lost focus on what's important these days.  It shows in our ridiculous maternity leave packages that companies give out, the outrageous cost of daycare, and parents who want to live a certain lifestyle have two cars, the latest stuff etc. but no one realizes who's paying the price in the process, the children.  They're being raised as latch key kids, or by after school programs, babysitters, etc. while the parents bust their asses at work and come home tired from commuting and working all day and sometimes don't have even the energy or the patience to deal with the children.  I know b/c this is how I feel sometimes.  I sometimes lose my patience and get aggravated and I realize that children don't know and realize that we are tired aggravated need a break, etc.  There's only so much you can do in a day and usually by the time I get home from work I don't want to do much but change my clothes, watch some tv, have dinner which neither of us usually wants to do and most of the time he does while I watch jr give him his bath and get him ready for bed, etc.  I think people really need to think twice before they have children especially women b/c I think that everyone gets caught up in the pregnancy, getting all of these things for the baby most over priced latest gadgets that don't really matter no one thinks about childcare, your job and having to juggle all of these tasks as a full time working parent, without going postal.  Earlier this week it was determined jr needed speech therapy help with motor skills and early intervention is really getting on my nerves b/c we tell them specifically we need evening or weekend services I get a call from a speech therapist and tell her these needs only to be told that was "impossible" due to her busy schedule and I thought wtf is wrong with these people do they think that everyone has the luxury of staying home or living off the system well I sure wish I did while I know my son needs the help these agencies have to realize the dilemmas we face as working parents and try to work with us not against us and stress us out even more.  So his father is supposed to contact the new coordinator and I hope this is resolved b/c I'd like jr to start receiving the help he needs ASAP.   These are things that no one thinks about and we wanted to have another child but I doubt very much that will happen at least not now and definitely not living here in NY.  It's too expensive to live here and I don't want to deal with the same stress I deal with now two fold and having to pay out daycare for 2.   These are the times when I think it's best for us to move out of here.  Our relocation plans for now are on hold due to job issues, me driving, etc. etc. sometimes I think it was the vacation nostalgia but there still is a part of me that does want to relocate but things have to be set in place in order for it to happen.   Right now he's at the dr with jr and I hope the dr can give him something for the infection and someone is willing to do us the favor of watching him while he's out of daycare which will always will be eternally grateful to him since I can't afford to miss any more time from work.  These are the days I wish I was a SAHM but these days with the rising cost of living especially here with rent as high as some mortgage payments it's not possible for most.  I think if more people managed their money better a lot more things can be done but sometimes even just buying the basics I find myself coming up short seems like a no win situation money doesn't go as far as it used to anymore and it seems like everything is going up metro card, food, cable is another rip off I thought about getting rid of that at one point b/c of their ridiculous fees and taxes but I do like to watch an occasional show on TV once in a while maybe it wouldn't be so expensive if they didn't add all of these ridiculous surcharges taxes and fees.