For many children, summer is all about joy—long days playing in the sun, running through sprinklers, chasing ice cream trucks, and, of course, no school. But for many parents, summer is synonymous with stress. The end of the school year creates a massive gap in children’s daily schedules—a gap that working parents must fill with some form of childcare, which, unlike public school, is often expensive.
Where do you find affordable child care for the entire summer that gives kids an enriching, positive experience and helps stave off summer learning loss? Not to mention all the additional services that public schools offer, such as transportation and meals? In the U.S., there are very few options.
Earlier this summer, Meg St-Esprit, a mom of four children in Pennsylvania called out the hypocrisy of an economy that expects mothers to work, but makes no effort to provide comprehensive child care, especially in the summer months. How? By adding one sentence to her signature. Her plea went viral.
Take a look:
Mom makes statement on child care with viral email signature
Like many moms, Meg St-Esprit has a lot on her plate.
With summer starting to settle in, the Pennsylvania mom, along with her husband, has to figure out child care for their four children, who range in age from 4 to 11.
That means she'll have to rework her schedule, and at times, look at her email inbox less frequently than she usually does during other months, something she tries to do often as a freelance journalist.
But when she recently received a follow-up email from a client about a work matter, it prompted her to add a one-liner to her email signature that has since gone viral after she posted about it on Twitter.
Underneath her name and credential, St-Esprit's email signature now also reads: "Please note I may be slower to respond to email in the months of June, July, and August due to the United States' inability to provide affordable childcare for working mothers."
Image via Good Morning America