Detroit Free Press columnist Michael Rosenberg and his wife have reached a very difficult decision. Given the economic hard times, the couple has decided to lay off one of their children. At first, they tried reducing both of their children to part-time. “We tried it for a few days,” Rosenberg deadpans, “but it proved untenable.”
One night, as I was tucking my daughter into bed, she looked me in the eyes and said, “Daddy, will you stay with me for a few minutes?”
“I would love to, sweetheart,” I said, “but it is the end of your shift.”
I won’t go into detail on her reaction. Suffice it to say she was unprofessional. We attempted, on a trial basis, to have the kids pay for their own health care. But we had to nix that plan when our daughter made her first payment in pine cones and pretend pancakes. Clearly, she did not understand the gravity of the situation.
“”I’ll admit there have been moments when I wondered if we made the correct decision,” Rosenberg concludes. ”But true parenting is not always about doing the easy thing; it is about doing the right thing.”
One wag on the Free Press message board says it’s all the kids’ fault. If they hadn’t demanded health care and education benefits, they could compete with lower cost Asian import families.
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