Childcare

I've said it before, I'll say it again: childcare for the kids is the hardest part of apprenticeship for me. I don't regret starting while they were so young, but for those who are interested in becoming a midwife and have young children, you have been warned.

Right now I am looking for full-time childcare for my kids from January-June, and this is the first time I have ever needed full-time. I feel extremely fortunate because it means that I am going to get a ton of experience, and six months isn't too long in the grand scheme of things. I also have flexible kids who absolutely love people, new or well-established in their lives. Still, one of the advantages of midwifery as a career path was the ability to limit my own workload in the long run, and while I'm perfectly willing to work my tail off as an apprentice, I'm sure I'll be glad to have more time with my kids after this intense phase I have coming up.

Anyway, to return to the point, today I got a response regarding my childcare job posting from a woman who gave me some references. One of the names, given as the mother of a 6 month old for whom the applicant had babysat, sounded familiar and I googled her. Her facebook profile popped up and I started looking to see whether I knew her. As it turns out, she does not have a six month old. She is, in fact, 9 months pregnant with her first child. And facebook friends with my applicant.

So, this lady wants to care for my kids but isn't honest enough to say, "here's a personal reference, she's a friend who can tell you what a great person I am but I haven't worked for her" but is willing to get a friend to lie for her and pose as a client. Sigh. I'm glad this friend didn't know about facebook privacy settings. And, I'll be googling all my applicants AND their references from now on.