[Marilyn]

My girls had nice summers. They stayed with a friend who had other children at her home, so they got to play and she would take them to the $1.00 afternoon movie, to water parks, to the beach. I wish I could have been the one taking them to those places, however that was not how things worked out for us. I had to pay my friend + the expenses for the outings. She is licensed to care for children in her home and provided healthy meals and snacks. She picked them up after school for us too, until they were older, then hubby and I took turns picking them up and running them home after school. There were a couple of times when we got our wires crossed and no one picked them up. Melissa stayed at her middle school until 5 pm one afternoon. They had locked her out of the school. Fortunately she handled it well, and nothing happened.

And the government does not help with the expenses unless you meet certain low income standards, which most working 2 parent homes do not.