Patricia Lincoln Stresses Over the What Ifs of Finding Childcare
Story By: Bruce Poinsette
Illustration By: Paola De La Cruz
This story is made possible by a grant from the Oregon Community Foundation.
Patricia Lincoln’s daughter was born during the COVID 19 pandemic. As her daughter approaches her first birthday, one of Lincoln and her husband’s biggest concerns is securing child care for the future.
“Trying to plan for the what if is challenging and stressful,” says Lincoln.
During her investigation of available options, she found a few recurring obstacles. First, many of the waitlists were overwhelmingly long. Second, many facilities just aren’t accepting as many children as they use to, due to COVID precautions. Third, and conversely, other facilities Lincoln looked into were too lax with their pandemic safety measures for her comfort. Fourth, and perhaps the most pressing, childcare is expensive.
“It is astronomical,” she says. “The lowest I’ve found for 4 weeks in a month is $1,600.”
At the time of this interview, Lincoln’s daughter was still too young to qualify to get on any of the waitlists.
Lincoln spends most of the time looking after her daughter while working from home. Her husband is able to help in the evenings when he gets off of work and they also rely on Lincoln’s grandparents for support at times.
While more support would be nice, she is also afraid to leave her daughter with others, especially since she’s in the process of transitioning to solid foods from nursing.
“It’s a lot of energy to pump enough milk to leave the baby for a day,” says Lincoln. “It’s a lot easier for me to nurse. Before she was on solid foods, I thought it was easier to leave her with me. It’s what worked and it’s what I felt I had the capacity to do.”
Lincoln also feels lucky when it comes to the timing of her daughter’s birth. Like her husband, she was working full-time onsite when the pandemic started. Then her role changed and she was able to work from home. In fact, She got the news of the role change on Tuesday April 13, 2021. She found out she was expecting the next day.
Working from home with a toddler has meant adjusting things like her workspace. Lincoln says it often becomes the carpet, where she will utilize two screens, one for her meetings and one for her daughter to watch cartoons if Lincoln really needs to focus with coworkers. She also utilizes her 15 minute breaks to provide her daughter with storytime.
The biggest cost for Lincoln and her husband right now is food. She says they’ve been lucky when it comes to entertainment because they’ve been able to get toys from friends for their daughter.
The relatively small network Lincoln relies on for childcare sits in contrast to how she grew up. Her mom worked in education and she went to a neighborhood daycare in Portland at 6 weeks old. The provider ran the facility from her home and had a maximum of 15 children at a time. Lincoln reflects fondly on the close relationship they developed.
“I did have an amazing relationship with her and her family and we just adored her,” she says. “It’s a bummer my child won’t have that but we’re in a different position where we don’t need that”
When she thinks about what she would like to see in her wildest dreams for childcare, Lincoln desires cost not being an issue. She also envisions options for Black providers who have spaces where her daughter can be around other children of color. These facilities would include snacks, outside time, storytime and the option for parents to observe their children in the environment before they go home.
Throughout her research, Lincoln says finding Black providers has been difficult, but she’s been more encouraged recently by some of the options she’s found out about through word of mouth.
As the time grows nearer to make a decision, she worries about the costs but also doesn’t want to keep leaning on her parents when she and her husband aren’t available.
“[Childcare is] stressful for a lot of people,” says Lincoln. “It’s expensive for a lot of people. Yet, you can’t not have it.”