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Comment by code_duck | Hacker News Reader

I find this to be a revealing time for people with children - as in, it's made clear to them that their children are an incredibly annoying burden which they only survived previously due to the system of offloading them to professionals.

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My wife is a SAHM. Usually during summer vacation she does just fine handling the kids without their being offloaded to professionals.

The current situation is a lot tougher, though, since a lot of the things she'd normally do with the kids during the day are denied right now: the zoo is closed, museums are closed, playgrounds and parks are closed, gymnasiums are closed, no play dates with friends, no visits from family, etc.

I think it's unfair to try to draw your conclusion from the present situation.

That's a good point that we are experiencing exceptional circumstances. Many people can't handle being home this long on their own, children aside. However the zoo, playgrounds, museums, play dates and family are all systems for offloading the burden of one's children onto something external.

Haha. I probably share your viewpoint about 90% of the time (I do not have kids), but people do not like to hear harsh statements like this.

Exactly, which is why it's so amazing that finally people don't have the option of merely protesting and attacking others over such observations. They're being forced to deal with the reality of their children, themselves.

Or perhaps it's hard to both have a full time job and to watch children who need full time care? Similarly for elderly parents, or family members who are sick.

That's essentially the point I'm trying to make. People have only survived in prior times because they pay people to handle their children, in some form.

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