the trade economy

January 24, 2008

Radical mamas and the trade economy: this is why I live in Austin, despite the fact that the allergies are slowly killing my husband, there's no beach worth a damn around here, and no family to help me raise these babies.

For the past few weeks, a combination of crappy weather and a crabby child have pushed me almost over the edge of reason. Though I've been toying with the idea of physically going back to work in some capacity, it's never seemed right. I don't want my kids in daycare, and other options were eluding me so I sat on it for a few months. Today, however, I was offered a wonderful position with the flexibility to grow into it at my own pace so I've decided to jump back into the working world on a very part time basis and see what happens....

In the meantime, my babies will be under the care of some radical mamas twice a week so, not only do I know they will be safe and sound, I'm excited about the influence these women will have over my kids on a regular basis. In exchange, I hope to babysit and offer my varied and eclectic mix of services as payment. As I've said a hundred times before, I am not enough for these babies--they need aunts and uncles and cousins and grandparents and neighbors and friends to teach them about the world. But that is really hard to achieve in our isolationist society so this feels like one step closer to the community child rearing model that feels more natural to me. At least until I pack up our things and get the hell out of the US for a few months.....